UFC Rankings: Good Calls and Bad Calls Following UFC on Fox 13 and TUF 20 Finale
With The Ultimate Fighter 20 coming to an end, a new UFC champion was crowned on Friday.
Recording a submission win over Rose Namajunas at the show's finale, Carla Esparza became the first strawweight champion in UFC history. She'll now lead the division as it finds its place among the nine other weight classes in the world's top MMA organization.
Now that the 115-pound division has its queen, Top 15 rankings have been released. Obviously, as titleholder, Esparza sits at the top, but how do the contenders stack up against one another?
Here are the latest official UFC rankings, via UFC.com, which are voted on by several MMA media members.
Pound for Pound
1 of 11
Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| 1 | Jon Jones |
| 2 | Jose Aldo |
| 3 | Demetrious Johnson |
| 4 | Chris Weidman |
| 5 | Cain Velasquez |
| 6 | Anthony Pettis |
| 7 | Ronda Rousey |
| 8 | Anderson Silva |
| 9 | TJ Dillashaw |
| 10 | Renan Barao |
| 11 | Robbie Lawler |
| 12 | Johny Hendricks |
| 13 | Dominick Cruz |
| 14 | Daniel Cormier |
| 15 | Vitor Belfort |
Removed: None
Analysis
Good Calls
No changes were made to the pound-for-pound rankings.
Bad Calls
No changes were made to the pound-for-pound rankings.
Heavyweight
2 of 11
Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Cain Velasquez |
| 1 | Fabricio Werdum (IC) |
| 2 | Junior dos Santos |
| 3 | Travis Browne |
| 4 | Stipe Miocic |
| 5 | Mark Hunt |
| 6 | Josh Barnett |
| 7 | Andrei Arlovski |
| 8 | Antonio Silva |
| 9 | Roy Nelson |
| 10 | Ben Rothwell |
| 11 | Alistair Overeem |
| 12 | Matt Mitrione (+2) |
| 13 | Frank Mir |
| 14 | Gabriel Gonzaga (-2) |
| 15 | Stefan Struve |
Analysis
Good Calls
Matt Mitrione Surpasses Frank Mir and Gabriel Gonzaga
It's taken Matt Mitrione some time to develop into a contender, but he's certainly there now.
With his win over Gabriel Gonzaga on Saturday, Mitrione cemented a spot among the Top 15 and now has a stronger recent resume than former champion Frank Mir. Although Brendan Schaub is getting a raw deal, having only lost to Top 10 heavyweights since submitting Meathead, Mitrione certainly deserves his current position in the rankings.
Mitrione has won three in a row, with all those victories coming via knockout. Meanwhile, Mir has lost four in a row. The former titleholder is also without a win over a currently ranked heavyweight since his May 2011 decision win over Roy Nelson.
Bad Calls
Gabriel Gonzaga Falls Behind Frank Mir
Mir held onto his No. 13 position, as Gonzaga fell two spots, but it should have been the former champion who dropped the the No. 14 slot rather than the Brazilian.
Napao is a ho-hum 2-3 over his past five fights. However, he does have a win over a Top 10 heavyweight as recently as January 2013, when he submitted Ben Rothwell.
That same Rothwell recently knocked out Alistair Overeem, who was responsible for Mir's most recent loss. Until Mir gets back into the win column, he should be ranked below Gonzaga.
Light Heavyweight
3 of 11
Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Jon Jones |
| 1 | Alexander Gustafsson |
| 2 | Daniel Cormier |
| 3 | Anthony Johnson |
| 4 | Rashad Evans |
| 5 | Phil Davis |
| 6 | Glover Teixeira |
| 7 | Ryan Bader |
| 8 | Dan Henderson |
| 8 | Ovince Saint Preux (+1) |
| 10 | Jimi Manuwa |
| 11 | Mauricio Rua |
| 12 | Rafael Cavalcante |
| 13 | Fabio Maldonado |
| 14 | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira |
| 15 | Vitor Belfort |
Analysis
Good Calls
No changes were made to the light heavyweight rankings.
Bad Calls
Ovince Saint Preux Draws Even with Dan Henderson
Following a quick knockout win over Mauricio Rua, Ovince Saint Preux should be alone in the No. 8 position, but he is tied with Dan Henderson.
Yes, Henderson has a more impressive overall resume than Saint Preux and also knocked Shogun out recently. However, Henderson is 1-4 over his past five appearances and was getting destroyed by Rua in March before landing a big shot out of nowhere in the third round.
With a 5-1 UFC record, Saint Preux has emerged as a serious contender in the light heavyweight division. Unless Henderson turns things around in a hurry, Saint Preux should be ranked higher than the fading legend.
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Middleweight
4 of 11
Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Chris Weidman |
| 1 | Anderson Silva |
| 2 | Ronaldo Souza |
| 3 | Vitor Belfort |
| 4 | Lyoto Machida |
| 5 | Luke Rockhold |
| 6 | Yoel Romero |
| 7 | Tim Kennedy |
| 8 | Gegard Mousasi |
| 9 | Michael Bisping |
| 10 | CB Dollaway |
| 11 | Thales Leites |
| 12 | Costas Philippou |
| 13 | Tim Boetsch |
| 14 | Mark Munoz |
| 15 | Brad Tavares |
Analysis
Good Calls
No changes were made to the middleweight rankings.
Bad Calls
No changes were made to the middleweight rankings.
Welterweight
5 of 11
Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Robbie Lawler |
| 1 | Johny Hendricks |
| 2 | Rory MacDonald |
| 3 | Tyron Woodley |
| 4 | Carlos Condit |
| 5 | Matt Brown |
| 6 | Hector Lombard |
| 7 | Kelvin Gastelum |
| 8 | Demian Maia |
| 9 | Tarec Saffiedine |
| 10 | Dong Hyun Kim |
| 11 | Jake Ellenberger |
| 12 | Rick Story |
| 13 | Jordan Mein |
| 14 | Gunnar Nelson |
| 15 | Ryan LaFlare |
Analysis
Good Calls
No changes were made to the welterweight rankings.
Bad Calls
No changes were made to the welterweight rankings.
Lightweight
6 of 11
Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Anthony Pettis |
| 1 | Khabib Nurmagomedov |
| 1 | Rafael dos Anjos (+2) |
| 3 | Gilbert Melendez (-1) |
| 4 | Donald Cerrone |
| 5 | Benson Henderson |
| 6 | Edson Barboza |
| 7 | Josh Thomson |
| 8 | Myles Jury |
| 9 | Bobby Green |
| 10 | Jim Miller |
| 11 | Eddie Alvarez |
| 12 | Michael Johnson |
| 13 | Jorge Masvidal |
| 14 | Nate Diaz |
| 15 | Rustam Khabilov |
Analysis
Good Calls
No good calls were made in this edition of the lightweight rankings.
Bad Calls
Rafael dos Anjos and Khabib Nurmagomedov Now Tied
Remember when Khabib Nurmagomedov took Rafael dos Anjos down six times en route to a clear decision victory in April? Well, apparently, the voting panel has forgotten.
With three straight wins since then, dos Anjos has been on a roll and is arguably the obvious No. 2 lightweight contender. However, it's hard to justify him being even with Nurmagomedov in the 155-pound rankings.
Nurmagomedov has not competed since that win over dos Anjos. If the Russian were healthy, he'd be next in line to challenge lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, and there wouldn't be an argument.
Featherweight
7 of 11
Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Jose Aldo |
| 1 | Chad Mendes |
| 2 | Frankie Edgar |
| 3 | Ricardo Lamas |
| 4 | Cub Swanson |
| 5 | Conor McGregor |
| 6 | Dustin Poirier |
| 7 | Dennis Bermudez |
| 8 | Dennis Siver |
| 9 | Nik Lentz |
| 10 | Charles Oliveira (+4) |
| 11 | Jeremy Stephens (-1) |
| 12 | Clay Guida (-1) |
| 13 | Darren Elkins (-1) |
| 14 | Max Holloway (-1) |
| 15 | Tatsuya Kawajiri |
Analysis
Good Calls
Charles Oliveira Jumps Four Spots; Jeremy Stephens Bounced from Top 10
With his decision win over Jeremy Stephens on Friday, Charles Oliveira obviously deserved to make a big move in the featherweight rankings. He did, leaping four contenders to earn a Top 10 position.
Despite his loss to Oliveira, Stephens didn't deserve to fall far in the 145-pound rankings. Since moving to the featherweight division, Oliveira has only lost to elite 145-pounders Frankie Edgar and Cub Swanson, so a loss to the Brazilian shouldn't be crippling.
Stephens rightly lost his Top 10 spot, but he remains within striking distance should he rebound with a victory over a different featherweight contender.
Bad Calls
No bad calls were made in this edition of the featherweight rankings.
Bantamweight
8 of 11
Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| C | TJ Dillashaw |
| 1 | Renan Barao |
| 2 | Dominick Cruz |
| 3 | Urijah Faber |
| 4 | Raphael Assuncao |
| 5 | Michael McDonald |
| 6 | Takeya Mizugaki |
| 7 | Eddie Wineland |
| 8 | Iuri Alcantara |
| 9 | Johnny Eduardo |
| 10 | Bryan Caraway |
| 11 | Francisco Rivera |
| 12 | Alex Caceres |
| 13 | Erik Perez |
| 14 | Mitch Gagnon |
| 15 | Joe Soto |
Analysis
Good Calls
No changes were made to the bantamweight rankings.
Bad Calls
No changes were made to the bantamweight rankings.
Flyweight
9 of 11
Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Demetrious Johnson |
| 1 | John Dodson |
| 2 | Joseph Benavidez |
| 3 | Ian McCall |
| 4 | John Moraga (+1) |
| 5 | Jussier Formiga (-1) |
| 6 | John Lineker |
| 7 | Ali Bagautinov |
| 8 | Chris Cariaso |
| 9 | Zach Makovsky |
| 10 | Tim Elliott |
| 11 | Kyoji Horiguchi |
| 12 | Brad Pickett |
| 13 | Dustin Ortiz |
| 14 | Chico Camus (+1) |
| 15 | Louis Gaudinot (-1) |
Analysis
Good Calls
Chico Camus Takes No. 14 Spot from Louis Gaudinot
On the heels of a win over No. 12 Brad Pickett, Chico Camus should be ranked even higher than this, but it's a step in the right direction.
Louis Gaudinot does have a win over No. 6 contender John Lineker. However, that win came in May 2012, and Gaudinot has since lost to No. 10 Tim Elliott by a wide margin.
An argument could be made, but Gaudinot does probably deserve to be ranked below Camus until he gets back into the win column against a ranked adversary.
Bad Calls
Win Over UFC Newcomer Elevates John Moraga
Both having beaten Chris Cariaso and lost to John Dodson, John Moraga and Jussier Formiga have very comparable resumes.
That said, Formiga has done more lately, so Moraga's win over Willie Gates on Saturday should not have been enough to earn him a spot above the Brazilian.
Moraga's most recent win over a ranked opponent came via split decision in January against No. 13 Dustin Ortiz. Meanwhile, Formiga is coming off a unanimous-decision win over Top 10 flyweight Zach Makovsky.
Women's Bantamweight
10 of 11
Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Ronda Rousey |
| 1 | Cat Zingano |
| 2 | Miesha Tate |
| 3 | Sara McMann |
| 4 | Alexis Davis |
| 5 | Sarah Kaufman |
| 6 | Jessica Eye |
| 7 | Liz Carmouche |
| 8 | Bethe Correia |
| 9 | Amanda Nunes |
| 10 | Jessica Andrade |
| 11 | Julianna Pena |
| 12 | Raquel Pennington |
| 13 | Germaine de Randamie |
| 14 | Holly Holm |
| 15 | Leslie Smith |
Analysis
Good Calls
No changes were made to the women's bantamweight rankings.
Bad Calls
No changes were made to the women's bantamweight rankings.
Women's Strawweight
11 of 11
Rankings
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Carla Esparza |
| 1 | Joanna Jedrzejczyk |
| 2 | Claudia Gadelha |
| 3 | Jessica Penne |
| 4 | Rose Namajunas |
| 5 | Tecia Torres |
| 6 | Joanne Calderwood |
| 7 | Randa Markos |
| 8 | Felice Herrig |
| 9 | Aisling Daly |
| 10 | Heather Clark |
| 11 | Paige VanZant |
| 12 | Juliana Lima |
| 13 | Angela Hill |
| 14 | Bec Rawlings |
| 15 | Seo Hee Ham |
Analysis
Good Calls
This is the first edition of the women's strawweight rankings.
Bad Calls
This is the first edition of the women's strawweight rankings.
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