UFC Rankings: Good Calls and Bad Calls Following UFC on Fox 15
At UFC on Fox 15, Luke Rockhold made a statement with a submission win over Lyoto Machida.
In joining light heavyweight champion Jon Jones as the only other fighter to submit The Dragon, Rockhold now has a strong case that he should be next in line to meet the winner of an upcoming middleweight championship bout between Chris Weidman and Vitor Belfort.
Rockhold lost to Belfort in May 2013. However, he's developed some marketable bad blood with the Brazilian and still has not had a crack at Weidman. With four straight stoppage wins since his lone UFC defeat against The Phenom, Rockhold is as deserving as any of a title shot.
How much did the win propel Rockhold upward in the middleweight rankings, though? And was it enough to earn the former Strikeforce champion a spot in the pound-for-pound rankings?
With another UFC event in the books, here is a look at the good calls and bad calls made in the latest official UFC rankings.
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 | Rafael dos Anjos |
| 9 | Robbie Lawler |
| 10 | Anderson Silva |
| 11 | Anthony Pettis |
| 12 | Renan Barao |
| 13 | Johny Hendricks |
| 14 | Fabricio Werdum |
| 15 | Vitor Belfort |
Removed: None
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
| 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 | Frank Mir |
| 11 | Roy Nelson |
| 12 | Antonio Silva |
| 12 | Matt Mitrione (+1) |
| 14 | Stefan Struve |
| 15 | Mirko Cro Cop |
Removed: None
Good Calls
No good calls were made in the heavyweight rankings.
Bad Calls
Antonio Silva and Matt Mitrione Now Tied in No. 12 Position
While Silva has lost three official bouts in a row, he still has a stronger resume than Mitrione, who has picked up three straight victories.
All Silva's recent losses have come against Top 10 heavyweights. Prior to his losing skid, Silva scored a knockout win over current No. 8 contender Alistair Overeem.
Meanwhile, all the wins on Mitrione's current streak have come against currently unranked opposition. Additionally, Mitrione's winning streak was preceded by a loss to Brendan Schaub, who is not ranked among the Top 15 UFC heavyweights and is expected to make a move to 205 pounds soon.
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 | Ovince Saint Preux |
| 8 | Jimi Manuwa |
| 9 | Mauricio Rua |
| 10 | Rafael Cavalcante |
| 11 | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira |
| 12 | Fabio Maldonado (+1) |
| 13 | Patrick Cummins (-1) |
| 14 | Dan Henderson |
| 15 | Jan Blachowicz |
Removed: None
Good Calls
No good calls were made in the light heavyweight rankings.
Bad Calls
Patrick Cummins Falls Behind Fabio Maldonado and into the No. 13 Position
Despite his loss to Ovince Saint Preux at UFC on Fox 15, Cummins still deserves to be ranked above Maldonado, who will compete against UFC newcomer Steve Bosse at UFC 186.
A bout with Saint Preux gave Cummins a chance to become a Top 10 light heavyweight, but a loss to the No. 7 contender shouldn't have taken away the status he earned with three straight UFC wins. He hasn't beaten any ranked light heavyweights, but Cummins has been excellent against non-contenders and is only two bouts removed from a win over Kyle Kingsbury.
That same Kingsbury owns a decision win over Maldonado. Since that loss came so long ago for the Brazilian, it usually wouldn't mean much, but Maldonado still hasn't picked up a win over a ranked opponent since then.
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Middleweight
4 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Chris Weidman |
| 1 | Luke Rockhold (+3) |
| 2 | Ronaldo Souza (-1) |
| 3 | Vitor Belfort |
| 4 | Lyoto Machida (-2) |
| 5 | Anderson Silva |
| 6 | Yoel Romero |
| 7 | Gegard Mousasi |
| 8 | Tim Kennedy |
| 9 | Thales Leites |
| 10 | Michael Bisping |
| 11 | CB Dollaway |
| 12 | Costas Philippou |
| 13 | Tim Boetsch |
| 14 | Brad Tavares |
| 15 | Roan Carneiro |
Removed: None
Good Calls
Lyoto Machida Drops Below Vitor Belfort to No. 4 Position
Although Machida is only two bouts removed from a highly competitive bout with the middleweight champion, he took a big hit to his standing in the 185-pound division with a submission loss against Rockhold on Saturday.
Despite the defeat, Machida is still one of the best in the world at 185 pounds. He owns recent wins over other ranked middleweights Gegard Mousasi and CB Dollaway. However, there are a bunch of beasts in the 185-pound class, so as good as he is, Machida is no longer a Top Three contender.
Belfort hasn't competed since November 2013, but his middleweight resume is outstanding. Most notably in this situation, he has a knockout win over Rockhold on his record, which gives him a nod over Machida in the rankings.
Bad Calls
Luke Rockhold Surpasses Vitor Belfort and Becomes No. 1 Contender
Submitting Machida at UFC on Fox 15 was a huge step forward, but Rockhold still hasn't quite made up for his knockout loss to Belfort at UFC on FX 8.
Rockhold has certainly done his best, stopping his past four opponents, all being ranked middleweights. However, until Belfort loses to a non-champion or Rockhold avenges his loss to the Brazilian, Rockhold is going to have a tough time proving that he deserves to surpass The Phenom in the rankings.
Belfort hasn't been very active, but that's not something that has been uniformly penalized in the official rankings. Since he hasn't lost since stopping Rockhold, it's hard to say for certain that he should be ranked below the former Strikeforce champion.
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 |
| 7 | Tarec Saffiedine |
| 8 | Dong Hyun Kim |
| 9 | Kelvin Gastelum |
| 10 | Jake Ellenberger |
| 11 | Rick Story |
| 12 | Thiago Alves |
| 13 | Ryan LaFlare (+1) |
| 14 | Gunnar Nelson (-1) |
| 15 | Neil Magny |
Removed: None
Good Calls
Ryan LaFlare Steals No. 13 Spot from Gunnar Nelson
It's really close, but LaFlare does deserve to be ranked slightly above fellow up-and-coming welterweight Gunnar Nelson.
Undefeated in his first 11 pro bouts, LaFlare failed his first test against a legitimate UFC contender when he was bested by Demian Maia. It delayed his plans to become a 170-pound title threat, but losing to Maia didn't change the fact that LaFlare is one of the better fighters in the welterweight class.
Also undefeated until recently, Nelson suffered his first loss against Rick Story in a split decision. Given that he also suffered his first setback against a veteran contender, Nelson is nipping at LaFlare's heels.
That said, LaFlare's biggest win came against John Howard, who I believe to been closer to being ranked than any opponent Nelson has beaten.
Bad Calls
No bad calls were made in the welterweight rankings.
Lightweight
6 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Rafael dos Anjos |
| 1 | Anthony Pettis |
| 2 | Khabib Nurmagomedov |
| 3 | Donald Cerrone |
| 4 | Gilbert Melendez |
| 5 | Michael Johnson (+1) |
| 6 | Benson Henderson (-1) |
| 7 | Edson Barboza |
| 8 | Myles Jury |
| 9 | Eddie Alvarez |
| 10 | Josh Thomson |
| 11 | Bobby Green |
| 12 | Tony Ferguson (+1) |
| 13 | Al Iaquinta (+1) |
| 14 | Beneil Dariush (NR) |
| 15 | Jorge Masvidal |
Removed: Jim Miller
Good Call
Jim Miller Removed from Top 15 Rankings with Loss to Beneil Dariush
It's surprising to see a list of lightweight contenders without Miller because he's been near the top for so long, but a loss to Dariush punched his ticket to the land of the unranked.
Miller has now lost two in a row and is closing in on 12 months without a win. More importantly, he no longer owns a win over a ranked lightweight.
At 31 years old, Miller still has some left in the tank, but his best days could be behind him.
Bad Call
Michael Johnson Takes Top Five Spot from Benson Henderson
He's been on quite the roll, but Michael Johnson needs one more win before he can be considered a Top Five lightweight.
With four straight wins, including a victory over No. 7 Edson Barboza, Johnson is certainly worthy of a Top 10 position. However, considering Henderson is a former champion who has only lost to Top Three lightweights since losing his belt, it should take more than a win over Barboza for Johnson to surpass him in the 155-pound rankings.
Luckily, this dispute will be decided definitively when Johnson and Henderson meet in July.
Beneil Dariush Grabs the No. 14 Position with UFC on Fox 15 Victory
A win over Miller was the biggest in Dariush's career, but it shouldn't have quite been enough to earn him a spot in the Top 15.
Had Dariush picked up the win with a spotless UFC record, it might be a different story. However, the Iranian is only 12 months removed from a knockout loss to an unranked Ramsey Nijem.
Dariush is well on his way toward proving the loss to Nijem was a fluke, but with that smudge on his record, it's hard to consider the Kings MMA product a Top 15 fighter in the MMA's deepest division. When someone like Nate Diaz, who owns a submission win over Miller, isn't ranked, then Dariush shouldn't be ranked either.
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 | Max Holloway (+3) |
| 7 | Dennis Bermudez (-1) |
| 8 | Nik Lentz (-1) |
| 9 | Charles Oliveira (-1) |
| 10 | Clay Guida |
| 11 | Jeremy Stephens |
| 12 | Dennis Siver |
| 13 | Dustin Poirier |
| 14 | Darren Elkins |
| 15 | Hacran Dias |
Removed: None
Good Calls
No good calls were made in the featherweight rankings.
Bad Calls
Max Holloway Rises to No. 6, Still Sits Below Cub Swanson
This is the kind of thing that makes people shake their heads at the official UFC rankings.
Max Holloway was cruising to a win over Cub Swanson before locking up a submission in the third round. It wasn't like Holloway came out of nowhere and caught Swanson in a guillotine, so there is no reason the Hawaiian shouldn't be ranked in the Top Five now.
Hopefully, this will be corrected in a future release of the rankings.
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 | Eddie Wineland (+1) |
| 7 | Takeya Mizugaki (-1) |
| 8 | Johnny Eduardo |
| 9 | Bryan Caraway |
| 10 | Aljamain Sterling (NR) |
| 11 | Francisco Rivera |
| 12 | Iuri Alcantara (-2) |
| 13 | Frankie Saenz (-1) |
| 14 | Erik Perez |
| 15 | Mitch Gagnon (-2) |
Removed: Alex Caceres
Good Calls
Iuri Alcantara Drops Two Spots, Now Sits in the No. 12 Position
Coming off a loss to No. 13 Frankie Saenz, Alcantara was ranked too high in the bantamweight division prior to this week's updates.
Alcantara is still ranked above Saenz, so the rankings panel still has some work to do. However, Alcantara dropping below Francisco Rivera was a move in the right direction.
Neither Alcantara nor Saenz have a bout booked, so it could be a while until their positions are made right unless more voters drop the Brazilian in their individual rankings.
Bad Calls
Aljamain Sterling Moves into Top 10, Still Below Takeya Mizugaki
No matter where Sterling stands in the bantamweight rankings, it should be above Mizugaki.
At UFC on Fox 15, Sterling dominated Mizugaki. Well on his way to a win, Sterling added an exclamation point by submitting his opponent with an arm triangle during the third round.
Only 25 years old, Sterling has been skyrocketing up the 135-pound ladder and should be comfortably above Mizugaki soon enough.
Mitch Gagnon Falls Below Erik Perez and into No. 15 Spot
Given that both men have suffered submission losses to Bryan Caraway, it's very close, but Gagnon should still be ranked above Perez.
At 25 years old, Perez is very promising. However, none of the fighters he's beaten are even on the UFC roster still.
Gagnon, on the other hand, owns a win over Dustin Kimura, who could have a bright future inside the Octagon. The Canadian also lasted one round longer against Caraway than Perez did.
Flyweight
9 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Demetrious Johnson |
| 1 | John Dodson |
| 2 | Joseph Benavidez |
| 3 | Ian McCall |
| 4 | John Moraga |
| 4 | Jussier Formiga (+1) |
| 6 | John Lineker |
| 7 | Kyoji Horiguchi (+1) |
| 8 | Zach Makovsky (-1) |
| 9 | Henry Cejudo |
| 10 | Chris Cariaso |
| 11 | Dustin Ortiz |
| 12 | Tim Elliott |
| 13 | Wilson Reis |
| 14 | Chico Camus |
| 15 | Brad Pickett |
Removed: None
Good Call
John Moraga and Jussier Formiga Now Tied in No. 4 Position
With extremely comparable resumes, Moraga and Formiga both have strong arguments that they should be ranked above the other, so it makes sense to have them tied.
Both have won two in a row. Both have been stopped by John Dodson. Both own multiple wins over Top 15 opponents. And, in both individual's cases, those wins include a victory over Chris Cariaso.
Set to meet Joseph Benavidez in May, Moraga will have an opportunity to put some space between himself and Formiga. However, a Moraga loss would give Formiga a chance to pull ahead should he beat Wilson Reis next month.
Bad Call
Kyoji Horiguchi Takes No. 7 Spot from Zach Makovsky
He's next in line to challenge champion Demetrious Johnson, but Horiguchi still has some work to do to prove he deserves to be ranked as highly as he is.
The rising Japanese star hasn't beaten a fighter ranked among the Top 15 flyweights right now. So, there's good reason he's such a huge underdog heading into his first UFC championship bout.
Zach Makovsky might not be as close to a title shot as Horiguchi, but it's not based on past performances. Fun Size is coming off a win over Tim Elliott, who is currently ranked No. 12 at 125 pounds.
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 | Julianna Pena |
| 12 | Marion Reneau |
| 13 | Jessica Andrade |
| 14 | Germaine de Randamie |
| 15 | Raquel Pennington |
Removed: None
Good Call
No good calls were made in the women's bantamweight rankings.
Bad Call
Liz Carmouche Falls Behind Amanda Nunes and into No. 9 Position
She's been a bit disappointing inside the Octagon, but Carmouche still has a slightly better resume than Nunes.
Nunes is coming off a win over Shayna Baszler, which doesn't mean as much as it once did, and her biggest win came against No. 14 Germaine de Randamie. At 26 years old, Nunes might have a higher ceiling than Carmouche, but she isn't there yet.
Carmouche is a former title challenger and owns a win over Jessica Andrade. A win over Andrade isn't much better than Nunes' biggest victory, but it is nonetheless.
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 | Randa Markos |
| 7 | Paige VanZant (+5) |
| 8 | Joanne Calderwood (-1) |
| 9 | Maryna Moroz |
| 10 | Aisling Daly |
| 11 | Felice Herrig (-3) |
| 12 | Heather Clark (-1) |
| 13 | Juliana Lima |
| 14 | Angela Hill |
| 15 | Bec Rawlings (NR) |
Removed: Seo Hee Ham
Good Calls
Paige VanZant Moves Up Five Spots; Felice Herrig Falls Three Positions
She's still improving, but VanZant proved she's a legitimate contender by beating Herrig at UFC on Fox 15.
The rankings panel rewarded VanZant accordingly for her win, giving her a big boost in the rankings. The voting media didn't go overboard, though. VanZant still sits below Torres and Markos, more seasoned fighters who also have beaten Herrig.
With her loss to VanZant, Herrig also fell to a more accurate position. Herrig is one of the bigger names in the strawweight class, but she lacks a win over a Top 10 opponent. With a split-decision nod over Clark, it makes sense for Herrig to sit one spot above her former opponent.
Bad Calls
No bad calls were made in the strawweight rankings.
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