UFC Rankings: Rafael Dos Anjos Now Top 10 Pound-for-Pound Following UFC 185
With two title bouts, UFC 185 brought big changes in multiple divisions.
In the co-main event, Joanna Jedrzejczyk stopped Carla Esparza with strikes to capture the women's strawweight championship. Having dethroned the inaugural 115-pound titleholder, Jedrzejczyk now has a chance to become the first fighter to ever defend the division's belt.
Later on, in the main attraction, Rafael dos Anjos cruised to a decision win over Anthony Pettis. The upset really shook up the lightweight division and likely set dos Anjos up for a rematch with either Khabib Nurmagomedov or Donald Cerrone.
Pound-for-Pound
1 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| 1 | Jon Jones |
| 2 | Jose Aldo |
| 3 | Demetrious Johnson |
| 4 | Chris Weidman |
| 5 | Cain Velasquez (+1) |
| 6 | Ronda Rousey (+1) |
| 7 | TJ Dillashaw (+1) |
| 8 | Robbie Lawler (+2) |
| 9 | Rafael dos Anjos (NR) |
| 10 | Anthony Pettis (-5) |
| 11 | Anderson Silva (-2) |
| 12 | Renan Barao (-1) |
| 13 | Johny Hendricks (-1) |
| 14 | Fabricio Werdum (+1) |
| 15 | Vitor Belfort (-2) |
Removed: Dominick Cruz
Having lost his lightweight belt, Pettis unsurprisingly plummeted in the pound-for-pound rankings as a result of his UFC 185 loss to dos Anjos. All the individuals who surpassed Pettis are current UFC champions, so it's hard to have qualms with Showtime's new position.
At 28 years old, Pettis should have time to climb his way back toward another shot at the 155-pound championship. However, considering how badly he was beaten on Saturday, Pettis will have some work to do should dos Anjos remain champion.
On the other side of the coin, dos Anjos went from being unranked on the pound-for-pound list to being considered one of the 10 best fighters on the UFC roster. It's a bit staggering to see dos Anjos standing above the likes of Anderson Silva, but I suppose he's earned that now that he's at the top of arguably the toughest division in MMA.
With dos Anjos moving in, Dominick Cruz was bumped out of the Top 15 as Fabricio Werdum surpassed the former bantamweight champion as well as Vitor Belfort. Since Cruz has only won once since 2011 and is now dealing with another knee injury, it makes more sense for him to be removed than Werdum, who is an interim heavyweight champion.
Heavyweight
2 of 11
| 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 | Alistair Overeem (+1) |
| 9 | Ben Rothwell (+1) |
| 10 | Roy Nelson (-2) |
| 11 | Frank Mir |
| 12 | Antonio Silva |
| 13 | Matt Mitrione |
| 14 | Gabriel Gonzaga |
| 15 | Stefan Struve |
Removed: None
Obviously, Roy Nelson deserved to fall below Alistair Overeem with his loss to the former Strikeforce champion on Saturday.
Along with that, though, "Big Country" also rightly moved behind Ben Rothwell. While Rothwell is still curiously ranked behind Overeem, he should at least be ranked above Nelson now, seeing as he knocked The Reem out in September.
Having also lost to Rothwell during his IFL days and with four losses in his past five outings, Big Country is barely clinging to a Top 10 position at this point. He'll need to get it turned around quickly in order to maintain his current standing.
Light Heavyweight
3 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Jon Jones |
| 1 | Anthony Johnson |
| 2 | Alexander Gustafsson |
| 3 | Daniel Cormier |
| 4 | Rashad Evans |
| 5 | Ryan Bader |
| 6 | Glover Teixeira |
| 7 | Phil Davis |
| 8 | Ovince Saint Preux |
| 9 | Jimi Manuwa |
| 10 | Mauricio Rua |
| 11 | Rafael Cavalcante |
| 12 | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (+1) |
| 13 | Fabio Maldonado (-1) |
| 14 | Patrick Cummins |
| 15 | Dan Henderson |
Removed: None
No light heavyweight bouts were contested at UFC 185, but one change was still made to the division's Top 15 rankings.
While Antonio Rogerio Nogueira might not have had a win since February 2013, at least he owns a win over a Top 15 light heavyweight. The same cannot be said about Fabio Maldonado.
Although Maldonado has surprised with wins in four of his past five appearances, he doesn't really deserve to be ranked as highly as he is. Having beaten No. 4 Rashad Evans, Nogueira might be nearing retirement, but he's at least proven he can be competitive with the best at 205 pounds.
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Middleweight
4 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Chris Weidman |
| 1 | Ronaldo Souza |
| 2 | Lyoto Machida (-1) |
| 3 | Vitor Belfort |
| 4 | Luke Rockhold |
| 5 | Anderson Silva |
| 6 | Yoel Romero |
| 7 | Gegard Mousasi |
| 8 | Tim Kennedy |
| 9 | Thales Leites (+1) |
| 10 | Michael Bisping (-1) |
| 11 | C.B. Dollaway |
| 12 | Costas Philippou |
| 13 | Tim Boetsch |
| 14 | Brad Tavares |
| 15 | Roan Carneiro |
Removed: None
Elias Theodorou recorded a win in the only middleweight bout on Saturday, but The Ultimate Fighter winner and up-and-coming fighter did not factor into any of the changes to the 185-pound rankings.
Instead, Lyoto Machida fell out of his tie with Ronaldo Souza and into the No. 2 position. Considering how close "The Dragon" came to beating champion Chris Weidman, it seemed he'd be able to hold onto the No. 1 contender spot until he lost, but a surging Jacare now stands alone above all other middleweight contenders.
With Souza having won seven in a row, an argument can certainly be made that the former Strikeforce champion has earned his standing.
With eight wins in a row, Thales Leites also pulled ahead of Michael Bisping to take the No. 9 position. While Bisping has been a perennial contender, he actually does not own a win over a currently ranked 185-pounder and hasn't won consecutive bouts since 2011, so it's not at all shocking to see him fall behind a resurgent Leites.
Welterweight
5 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Robbie Lawler |
| 1 | Johny Hendricks |
| 2 | Rory MacDonald |
| 3 | Tyron Woodley |
| 4 | Carlos Condit |
| 5 | Matt Brown |
| 6 | Hector Lombard |
| 7 | Demian Maia |
| 8 | Tarec Saffiedine |
| 9 | Dong Hyun Kim |
| 10 | Kelvin Gastelum (+1) |
| 11 | Jake Ellenberger (-1) |
| 12 | Rick Story |
| 13 | Thiago Alves |
| 14 | Ryan LaFlare (+1) |
| 15 | Gunnar Nelson (-1) |
Removed: None
With a dominant win over Matt Brown at UFC 185, Johny Hendricks solidified his position as the top contender in the welterweight class.
Meanwhile, the rankings panel moved Kelvin Gastelum into the Top 10 and above Jake Ellenberger. Considering Gastelum defeated Ellenberger at UFC 180, it was a necessary revision. However, having come in at 180 pounds prior to his recent loss to Tyron Woodley, Gastelum could be headed to the middleweight division.
In another change, Ryan LaFlare moved above Gunnar Nelson as his UFC Fight Night 62 contest with Demian Maia approaches. Undefeated in 11 MMA bouts, LaFlare does have a slight edge over Gunnar Nelson, and he'll have a chance to widen the gap by beating Maia.
Lightweight
6 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Rafael dos Anjos (+1) |
| 1 | Anthony Pettis (-1) |
| 2 | Khabib Nurmagomedov |
| 3 | Donald Cerrone |
| 4 | Gilbert Melendez |
| 5 | Benson Henderson |
| 6 | Michael Johnson |
| 7 | Edson Barboza (+1) |
| 8 | Myles Jury (+1) |
| 9 | Josh Thomson (-2) |
| 10 | Eddie Alvarez |
| 11 | Bobby Green |
| 12 | Jim Miller |
| 13 | Tony Ferguson |
| 14 | Jorge Masvidal |
| 15 | Al Iaquinta |
Removed: None
It took more than six years since he made his UFC debut, but dos Anjos has finally reached the top of the lightweight class.
Pettis, on the other hand, is now considered the No. 1 contender at 155 pounds. That is debatable, though, considering Khabib Nurmagomedov dominated dos Anjos more than a year ago and hasn't lost since then.
A move unrelated to UFC 185 events, Josh Thomson also fell two spots. Considering he's coming off a loss to No. 11 Bobby Green, it was a move in the right direction, especially with Edson Barboza having beaten Green and Myles Jury owning a victory over No. 6 Michael Johnson.
Featherweight
7 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Jose Aldo |
| 1 | Chad Mendes (+1) |
| 2 | Frankie Edgar (-1) |
| 3 | Conor McGregor |
| 4 | Ricardo Lamas |
| 5 | Cub Swanson |
| 6 | Dennis Bermudez |
| 7 | Dustin Poirier |
| 8 | Nik Lentz |
| 9 | Charles Oliveira |
| 10 | Max Holloway |
| 11 | Jeremy Stephens |
| 12 | Clay Guida |
| 13 | Dennis Siver |
| 14 | Darren Elkins |
| 15 | Hacran Dias |
Removed: None
While no featherweights competed at UFC 185, one major change was made to the division's rankings.
Coming off a narrow loss to champion Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes took the No. 1 contender spot from Frankie Edgar, who has also gone the distance with Aldo in a competitive contest. Considering their accomplishments and performances against Aldo, Mendes and Edgar are pretty much interchangeable.
Unless they meet one another inside the Octagon or lose to somebody other than Aldo, it's going to be hard to give either Mendes or Edgar a definite edge over the other.
Bantamweight
8 of 11
| 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 | Johnny Eduardo |
| 9 | Bryan Caraway |
| 10 | Iuri Alcantara |
| 11 | Francisco Rivera |
| 12 | Frankie Saenz |
| 13 | Erik Perez |
| 14 | Mitch Gagnon (+1) |
| 15 | Alex Caceres (-1) |
Removed: None
Despite no male bantamweights competing on Saturday, a small change was made to the 135-pound rankings.
While Mitch Gagnon doesn't really deserve to move up in the rankings on the heels of a loss to Renan Barao, Alex Caceres was ranked too high.
In September, Caceres was beaten by Masanori Kanehara. Seeing as Kanehara does not have a spot in the Top 15, it doesn't make much sense for Caceres to have one, so his dropping one spot was a move in the right direction.
Flyweight
9 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Demetrious Johnson |
| 1 | John Dodson |
| 2 | Joseph Benavidez |
| 3 | Ian McCall |
| 4 | Jussier Formiga (+1) |
| 5 | John Moraga (-1) |
| 6 | Ali Bagautinov |
| 7 | John Lineker |
| 8 | Kyoji Horiguchi |
| 9 | Zach Makovsky |
| 10 | Henry Cejudo (NR) |
| 11 | Chris Cariaso (-1) |
| 12 | Dustin Ortiz |
| 13 | Tim Elliott (-2) |
| 14 | Wilson Reis (-1) |
| 15 | Chico Camus |
Removed: Brad Pickett
At UFC 185, Henry Cejudo emerged as a serious contender in the 125-pound division. The Olympic wrestling champion has the skill to become champion as long as he's able to make weight consistently. Beating Chris Cariaso on Saturday was a big step toward that end goal.
The victory allowed Cejudo to jump from unranked to Top 10 in the flyweight class. Expected to return to 135 pounds, Brad Pickett was the man who was bounced from the rankings as a result. The Englishman had also lost to No. 15 Chico Camus recently, so he didn't really deserve a Top 15 spot anyway.
Jussier Formiga also moved up a spot, and that was a good call. The Brazilian has beaten Zach Makovsky and Scott Jorgensen in his past two outings, while John Moraga didn't look all that great against UFC newcomer Willie Gates in his latest trip to the Octagon.
Women's Bantamweight
10 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Ronda Rousey |
| 1 | Cat Zingano |
| 2 | Miesha Tate |
| 3 | Alexis Davis |
| 4 | Sara McMann |
| 5 | Sarah Kaufman |
| 6 | Jessica Eye |
| 7 | Bethe Correia |
| 8 | Liz Carmouche |
| 9 | Amanda Nunes |
| 10 | Holly Holm |
| 11 | Jessica Andrade |
| 12 | Marion Reneau |
| 13 | Julianna Pena |
| 14 | Germaine de Randamie (-1) |
| 15 | Raquel Pennington (-1) |
Removed: None
Following a 16-month hiatus, Germaine de Randamie returned with an impressive performance against Larissa Pachecho.
A knockout win at UFC 185 was enough to earn de Randamie a slight bump in the rankings, but it wasn't quite deserved. Beating an opponent with no UFC wins shouldn't have elevated de Randamie above Raquel Pennington.
In February, Pennington fought to a split decision with Top 10 bantamweight Holly Holm. So, it's hard to justify her being ranked so far behind Holm and below de Randamie right now.
Women's Strawweight
11 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Joanna Jedrzejczyk (+1) |
| 1 | Carla Esparza (-1) |
| 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 (+1) |
| 11 | Paige VanZant (-1) |
| 12 | Juliana Lima |
| 13 | Seo Hee Ham (+1) |
| 14 | Angela Hill (-1) |
| 15 | Bec Rawlings |
Removed: None
A relative unknown three fights ago, Joanna Jedrzejczyk is now a UFC champion. The Polish striker wasn't the only competitor to move in the strawweight rankings, though.
Heather Clark surpassed Paige VanZant to claim a Top 10 position. At the moment, VanZant is too young in her career to really know where she belongs in the rankings, but she'll have a chance to make things more clear when she meets Felice Herrig in April.
Despite being 0-1 inside the Octagon, Seo Hee Ham surpassed Angela Hill. Ham might have a higher ceiling than Hill, but she hasn't proven she's better in competition.
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