UFC Rankings: Demian Maia Moves Up at Welterweight with UFC Fight Night 62 Win
Now 37 years old, Demian Maia is looking to make one more run at a second UFC title shot.
At UFC Fight Night 62, the Brazilian took a step in the right direction. His conditioning left something to be desired, but Maia controlled Ryan LaFlare on the ground and cruised to a decision victory.
With two wins in a row, Maia is now back in the hunt for a shot at the 170-pound championship. Was a win over LaFlare enough to push Maia into the Top Five, though?
Pound-for-Pound
1 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| 1 | Jon Jones |
| 2 | Jose Aldo |
| 3 | Demetrious Johnson |
| 4 | Chris Weidman |
| 5 | Cain Velasquez |
| 6 | Ronda Rousey |
| 7 | TJ Dillashaw |
| 8 | Robbie Lawler |
| 9 | Rafael dos Anjos |
| 10 | Anthony Pettis |
| 11 | Anderson Silva |
| 12 | Renan Barao |
| 13 | Johny Hendricks |
| 14 | Fabricio Werdum |
| 15 | Vitor Belfort |
Removed: None
With Demian Maia being the most highly ranked fighter to compete at UFC Fight Night 62, it isn't surprising that no changes were made to the pound-for-pound rankings.
Maia has the potential to work his way toward a shot at the welterweight belt. However, given his age and track record against elite welterweights, it seems unlikely that the Brazilian will ever sneak into the Top 15 pound-for-pound rankings.
At UFC Fight Night 63, Chad Mendes will meet Ricardo Lamas in the main event. Given his most recent clash with Jose Aldo and the fact that he hasn't lost to anybody except the 145-pound champion, Mendes has a chance to break into these rankings with an impressive win over Lamas.
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 |
| 9 | Ben Rothwell |
| 10 | Roy Nelson |
| 11 | Frank Mir |
| 12 | Matt Mitrione (+1) |
| 13 | Antonio Silva (-1) |
| 14 | Gabriel Gonzaga |
| 15 | Stefan Struve |
Removed: None
Though no heavyweights competed on Saturday, one change was made to the division's rankings.
Matt Mitrione has surpassed Antonio Silva to claim the No. 12 position. With three straight wins, Mitrione is trending upward, while Silva is quickly headed in the other direction, having lost three in a row since his draw with Mark Hunt was overturned to a no-contest.
While Mitrione has much more positive momentum than Silva, his overall resume is not as strong. Mitrione's biggest win came against No. 14 Gabriel Gonzaga, while Silva owns a knockout win over No. 8 Alistair Overeem and has only lost to opponents ranked No. 11 or higher since then.
Should Mitrione beat Ben Rothwell in June, I'll drop the disagreement. However, he should still sit slightly behind Silva for the time being.
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 |
| 13 | Fabio Maldonado |
| 14 | Patrick Cummins |
| 15 | Dan Henderson |
Removed: None
With no 205-pounders stepping into the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 62, the light heavyweight rankings went unchanged.
On April 11, Jimi Manuwa will return to competition against Jan Blachowicz. It's seems likely the 205-pound rankings will remain the same until then.
Should Manuwa take care of business at UFC Fight Night 64, he'd likely maintain a Top 10 position. On the other hand, Blachowicz has a chance to emerge as a light heavyweight contender with a win in this upcoming matchup.
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Middleweight
4 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Chris Weidman |
| 1 | Ronaldo Souza |
| 2 | Lyoto Machida |
| 3 | Vitor Belfort |
| 4 | Luke Rockhold |
| 5 | Anderson Silva |
| 6 | Yoel Romero |
| 7 | Gegard Mousasi |
| 8 | Tim Kennedy |
| 9 | Michael Bisping (+1) |
| 10 | Thales Leites (-1) |
| 11 | C.B. Dollaway |
| 12 | Costas Philippou |
| 13 | Tim Boetsch |
| 14 | Brad Tavares |
| 15 | Roan Carneiro |
Removed: None
No middleweights appeared this past weekend, but a minor change was made to the 185-pound rankings.
Despite winning eight in a row, Thales Leites fell behind Michael Bisping and is now clinging to a Top 10 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 doesn't seem right for him to pass up Leites, who defeated No. 13 Tim Boetsch via submission in his latest outing.
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 | Demian Maia (+1) |
| 7 | Hector Lombard (-1) |
| 8 | Tarec Saffiedine |
| 9 | Dong Hyun Kim |
| 10 | Kelvin Gastelum |
| 11 | Jake Ellenberger |
| 12 | Rick Story |
| 13 | Thiago Alves |
| 14 | Gunnar Nelson (+1) |
| 15 | Ryan LaFlare (-1) |
Removed: None
With his win over LaFlare at UFC Fight Night 62, Maia caused some small moves in the 170-pound rankings.
The Brazilian surpassed Hector Lombard, who has been suspended, according to Fox Sports' Damon Martin, due to a failed drug test at UFC 182. Given that Lombard recently defeated Jake Shields, who Maia lost to only four bouts ago, the Cuban has a stronger track record. However, I'm all for removing fighters who fail drug tests from the rankings, so it's hard to feel bad for Lombard in this situation.
As a result of his loss to Maia, LaFlare also fell to No. 15 on the welterweight ladder. LaFlare and Nelson are both coming off of their first MMA losses and neither has beaten a ranked welterweight, so the two are interchangeable in the No. 14 and No. 15 slots.
Lightweight
6 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Rafael dos Anjos |
| 1 | Anthony Pettis |
| 2 | Khabib Nurmagomedov |
| 3 | Donald Cerrone |
| 4 | Gilbert Melendez |
| 5 | Benson Henderson |
| 6 | Michael Johnson |
| 7 | Edson Barboza |
| 8 | Myles Jury |
| 9 | Josh Thomson |
| 10 | Eddie Alvarez |
| 11 | Bobby Green |
| 12 | Jim Miller |
| 13 | Tony Ferguson |
| 14 | Jorge Masvidal |
| 15 | Al Iaquinta |
Removed: None
Although 12 lightweights competed at UFC Fight Night 62, none were within striking distance of the Top 15 rankings.
Francisco Trinaldo, Leonardo Santos and Gilbert Burns were among the 155-pound winners on Saturday. However, those three notables still likely need multiple wins before they receive serious consideration for a spot among the elite in the deepest UFC division.
In April, ranked lightweights Jorge Masvidal and Al Iaquinta will meet at UFC Fight Night 63. The winner will further solidify their position as a 155-pound contender, but the loser could fall out of the rankings in a hurry.
Featherweight
7 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Jose Aldo |
| 1 | Chad Mendes |
| 2 | Frankie Edgar |
| 3 | Conor McGregor |
| 4 | Ricardo Lamas |
| 5 | Cub Swanson |
| 6 | Dennis Bermudez |
| 6 | Dustin Poirier (+1) |
| 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
Godofredo Pepey and Kevin Souza came away with wins at UFC Fight Night 62, but both are still a few more victories away from being considered 145-pound contenders.
That said, one change was made to the featherweight rankings. Although he's scheduled to appear at lightweight, Dustin Poirier moved up and into a tie at No. 6 with Dennis Bermudez.
Poirier was among the best in the featherweight division, but it doesn't make much sense for him to be ranked in a weight class he has left behind. Unless he announces a return to 145 pounds following his April lightweight debut against Carlos Diego Ferreira, Poirier should no longer be ranked in this division.
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 |
| 15 | Alex Caceres |
Removed: None
No male bantamweights stepped into the Octagon on Saturday, so it isn't surprising that no changes were made to the 135-pound rankings.
Unfortunately, champion T.J. Dillashaw recently suffered a rib injury, as reported by The StarPhoenix's Dave Deibert, causing his UFC 186 rematch with Renan Barao to be cancelled. So, it doesn't look like any changes to the top of the bantamweight rankings will be happening anytime soon.
On April 18, Takeya Mizugaki will meet Aljamain Sterling. Unbeaten in 10 MMA appearances, Sterling could emerge as a contender with a win in this matchup.
Flyweight
9 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Demetrious Johnson |
| 1 | John Dodson |
| 2 | Joseph Benavidez |
| 3 | Ian McCall |
| 4 | John Moraga (+1) |
| 5 | Jussier Formiga (-1) |
| 6 | Ali Bagautinov |
| 7 | John Lineker |
| 8 | Kyoji Horiguchi |
| 9 | Zach Makovsky |
| 10 | Henry Cejudo |
| 11 | Chris Cariaso |
| 12 | Tim Elliott (+1) |
| 13 | Dustin Ortiz (-1) |
| 14 | Wilson Reis |
| 15 | Chico Camus |
Removed: None
Fredy Serrano and Bentley Syler made their official UFC debuts in the lone 125-pound contest at UFC Fight Night 62. Both are a long way from being considered contenders, though, so their bout had no impact on the rankings.
Jussier Formiga moved down a spot, though, and that was a bad 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.
Tim Elliott surpassing Dustin Ortiz was also a questionable decision. Elliott has lost three in a row, while Ortiz fought to a split decision with Moraga and won two in a row prior to a loss against elite flyweight Joseph Benavidez in November.
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 | Amanda Nunes (+1) |
| 9 | Liz Carmouche (-1) |
| 10 | Holly Holm |
| 11 | Jessica Andrade |
| 12 | Marion Reneau |
| 13 | Julianna Pena |
| 14 | Germaine de Randamie |
| 15 | Raquel Pennington |
Removed: None
At UFC Fight Night 62, Amanda Nunes steamrolled Shayna Baszler. Following a leg kick that hurt Baszler, Nunes was able to end the bout with punches in less than two minutes.
Now 3-1 inside the Octagon, Nunes has surpassed former title challenger Liz Carmouche. While Nunes has a better UFC record than Carmouche, I think she could use one more win before moving above "Girl-rilla" in the rankings.
Carmouche's biggest UFC win came against No. 11 Jessica Andrade, while the most highly ranked opponent Nunes has beaten was No. 14 Germaine de Randamie.
Women's Strawweight
11 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Joanna Jedrzejczyk |
| 1 | Carla Esparza |
| 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 (+1) |
| 14 | Seo Hee Ham (-1) |
| 15 | Bec Rawlings |
Removed: None
No strawweights appeared at UFC Fight Night 62, but one small change was made to the division's rankings.
With an 0-1 record inside the Octagon, Seo Hee Ham fell behind Angela Hill. Ham might have a higher ceiling than Hill, but she hadn't proved she's better in competition.
On April 11, multiple 115-pounders, including Claudia Gadelha and Joanne Calderwood will return to the Octagon. So, there is a chance the division could see a lot of movement next month.
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