UFC Rankings: Good Calls and Bad Calls Following UFC 186
With his win at UFC 186, Demetrious Johnson became the fifth person in UFC history to record six consecutive title defenses.
Even in a bout where he was a massive favorite, Mighty Mouse found a way to impress. Late in the fifth round, he easily could have coasted to a decision win from the top position, but he instead took a risk and locked up an armbar submission with one second remaining.
As Johnson continues to cement his name in the MMA history books, he's been solidifying his place among the top pound-for-pound competitors in the sport. Was his win over Kyoji Horiguchi enough to elevate him in the official UFC rankings?
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 | Jose Aldo (+1) |
| 2 | Demetrious Johnson (+1) |
| 3 | Chris Weidman (+1) |
| 4 | Cain Velasquez (+1) |
| 5 | Ronda Rousey (+1) |
| 6 | TJ Dillashaw (+1) |
| 7 | Rafael dos Anjos (+1) |
| 8 | Robbie Lawler (+1) |
| 9 | Anderson Silva (+1) |
| 10 | Anthony Pettis (+1) |
| 11 | Renan Barao (+1) |
| 12 | Johny Hendricks (+1) |
| 13 | Fabricio Werdum (+1) |
| 14 | Vitor Belfort (+1) |
| 15 | Dominick Cruz (NR) |
Removed: Jon Jones
Good Calls
Jon Jones Removed from Pound-for-Pound Rankings
He has a lot of detractors, but I don't think anybody wanted to see Jon Jones removed from his spot atop the pound-for-pound rankings for the reason he has been.
As has been widely publicized at this point, the UFC decided to suspend Jones indefinitely and strip the light heavyweight championship from him due to felony charges he is facing related to a hit-and-run accident. While Jones will have his day in court, the suspension seems warranted given his repeated offenses to the UFC Athlete Code of Conduct Policy.
While this hasn't been applied in all situations, any fighter on suspension should not have a place in the UFC rankings. That's why it was a good call to remove one of the best fighters to ever step into the Octagon from the current pound-for-pound rankings.
Bad Calls
No bad calls were made in 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 | Matt Mitrione |
| 13 | Antonio Silva (-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 Falls Behind Matt Mitrione
While Antonio Silva has lost three official bouts in a row, he still has a stronger resume than Matt Mitrione, who has picked up three straight victories.
All of Silva's recent losses have come against Top 10 heavyweights. Prior to his losing skid, Bigfoot 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, his 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 | None |
| 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 | Rampage Jackson (NR) |
| 12 | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (-1) |
| 13 | Fabio Maldonado (-1) |
| 14 | Patrick Cummins (-1) |
| 15 | Jan Blachowicz |
Removed: Jon Jones, Dan Henderson
Good Calls
Jon Jones Removed from the Light Heavyweight Rankings
For the same reason that it was a good call for Jones to be removed from the pound-for-pound rankings, he deserved to be pulled from the 205-pound rankings as well.
Rampage Jackson Moves into Top 15 with Win over Fabio Maldonado
With a win over No. 13 205-pounder Fabio Maldonado, Rampage Jackson obviously earned a spot among the Top 15 UFC light heavyweights.
The rankings panel seems to have nailed Jackson's exact positioning as well. Not only is the former UFC champion ranked above Maldonado, but he sits one spot below Rafael Cavalcante and the No. 10 position.
Although Cavalcante hasn't won since 2013, he owns a knockout win over Muhammed Lawal. Jackson, meanwhile, was unable to stop King Mo in his final appearance with Bellator MMA.
Dan Henderson No Longer Ranked at 205 Pounds
He's only two bouts removed from a win over No. 9 light heavyweight Mauricio Rua, but there's no reason for Dan Henderson to still be ranked at 205 pounds.
In his most recent outing, he competed at 185 pounds. He's also scheduled to compete at that weight in his next appearance against Tim Boetsch on June 6.
Should Henderson return to the light heavyweight class, he has earned a spot in the Top 15 rankings. Until then, it seems that Henderson's present and future is in the middleweight division.
Bad Calls
No bad calls were made in the light heavyweight rankings.
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Middleweight
4 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Chris Weidman |
| 1 | Luke Rockhold |
| 2 | Ronaldo Souza |
| 3 | Vitor Belfort |
| 4 | Lyoto Machida |
| 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
Good Calls
No good calls were made in the middleweight rankings.
Bad Calls
Michael Bisping Surpasses Thales Leites
While Michael Bisping may have been more consistent over the long haul, Thales Leites is a better fighter right now and has picked up more impressive wins recently.
Before his win over C.B. Dollaway on Saturday, Bisping had no victories over currently ranked 185-pounders. The Count has also been unable to win back-to-back bouts since 2011 victories over Jorge Rivera and Jason Miller.
Meanwhile, Leites has won eight in a row. Most recently, the Brazilian submitted Tim Boetsch, who was only a couple of appearances removed from a win over Dollaway.
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 | Jake Ellenberger (+1) |
| 10 | Kelvin Gastelum (-1) |
| 11 | Rick Story |
| 12 | Thiago Alves |
| 13 | Gunnar Nelson (+1) |
| 14 | Ryan LaFlare (-1) |
| 15 | Neil Magny |
Removed: None
Good Calls
No good calls were made in the welterweight rankings.
Bad Calls
Ryan LaFlare Falls Behind Gunnar Nelson
It's really close, but Ryan 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 lost to 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 is closer to being ranked than any opponent Nelson has beaten.
Kelvin Gastelum Drops Below Jake Ellenberger
This is a tough one because Kelvin Gastelum should either be ranked above Jake Ellenberger or not ranked at all in the welterweight division. Either way, the rankings panel has it wrong.
In November, Gastelum scored a submission win over Ellenberger in the opening round. So, it doesn't make much sense for The Ultimate Fighter 17 winner to be ranked lower.
At the same time, Gastelum missed weight by nine pounds prior to his most recent outing. As a result, he's returned to the middleweight division and is scheduled to meet Nate Marquardt at UFC 188.
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 |
| 6 | Benson Henderson |
| 7 | Edson Barboza |
| 8 | Myles Jury |
| 9 | Josh Thomson (+1) |
| 10 | Eddie Alvarez (-1) |
| 11 | Bobby Green |
| 12 | Tony Ferguson |
| 13 | Al Iaquinta |
| 14 | Beneil Dariush |
| 15 | Jorge Masvidal |
Removed: None
Good Calls
Josh Thomson Moves Above Eddie Alvarez
It really could go either way, but Josh Thomson deserves a spot above Eddie Alvarez until the former Bellator MMA champion proves himself in the UFC lightweight division.
Alvarez has recorded some big wins in his career. However, none of them has come against a currently ranked UFC lightweight because he spent most of his career outside the Octagon.
While Thomson's only win over a Top 15 opponent came against Gilbert Melendez during his Strikeforce days, The Punk has battled to split decisions with No. 6 Benson Henderson and No. 11 Bobby Green in his past two outings.
Bad Calls
No bad calls were made in the lightweight rankings.
Featherweight
7 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Jose Aldo |
| 1 | Chad Mendes |
| 2 | Frankie Edgar |
| 3 | Conor McGregor |
| 4 | Ricardo Lamas |
| 5 | Max Holloway (+1) |
| 6 | Cub Swanson (-1) |
| 7 | Dennis Bermudez |
| 8 | Nik Lentz |
| 9 | Charles Oliveira |
| 10 | Clay Guida |
| 11 | Jeremy Stephens |
| 12 | Dennis Siver |
| 13 | Darren Elkins (+1) |
| 14 | Hacran Dias (+1) |
| 15 | Dustin Poirier (-2) |
Removed: None
Good Calls
Max Holloway Moves into Top Five and Above Cub Swanson
With a submission win over Cub Swanson at UFC on Fox 15, Max Holloway should have already had a Top Five position. It's a little late, but the voting media have now moved Holloway above Swanson as a result of his win over the Jackson's MMA product earlier in April.
Dustin Poirier Falls Two Spots
Having beaten Holloway and others, Dustin Poirier was among the best in the 145-pound division.
That said, he's now a lightweight and should no longer be ranked in the featherweight class. Earlier in April, Poirier beat Carlos Diego Ferreira at 155 pounds and is already scheduled to compete at lightweight again at UFC Fight Night 68.
Should Poirier ever return to 145 pounds, he'd immediately be considered a contender in the division. However, he has big plans at 155 pounds at the moment.
Bad Calls
No bad calls were made in the featherweight 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 | Eddie Wineland |
| 7 | Takeya Mizugaki |
| 8 | Johnny Eduardo |
| 9 | Aljamain Sterling (+1) |
| 10 | Bryan Caraway (-1) |
| 11 | Francisco Rivera |
| 12 | Iuri Alcantara |
| 13 | Frankie Saenz |
| 14 | Erik Perez |
| 15 | Thomas Almeida (NR) |
Removed: Mitch Gagnon
Good Calls
Aljamain Sterling Moves Up in the Bantamweight Rankings
At UFC on Fox 15, Aljamain Sterling submitted No. 7 bantamweight Takeya Mizugaki.
The win earned Sterling a spot among the Top 10 UFC bantamweights. However, the Serra-Longo Fight Team member still sat three spots behind Mizugaki.
Even with his move above Bryan Caraway, Sterling still sits below Mizugaki in the 135-pound rankings. However, it is a step in the right direction.
Thomas Almeida Replaces Mitch Gagnon in No. 15 Position
Several up-and-coming bantamweights could make a claim that they should be in the Top 15, but Thomas Almeida made a strong statement at UFC 186.
With his knockout win over Yves Jabouin, Almeida improved to 19-0 and defeated an opponent coming off a victory over former 135-pound contender Mike Easton. At 23 years old, Almeida is still developing, but he's quickly becoming a title threat.
Mitch Gagnon has posted a respectable 4-2 record, but he hasn't beaten anybody as close to being ranked as Jabouin was heading into his bout with Almeida.
Bad Calls
No bad calls were made in the bantamweight rankings.
Flyweight
9 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Demetrious Johnson |
| 1 | John Dodson |
| 2 | Joseph Benavidez |
| 3 | Ian McCall |
| 4 | John Moraga |
| 5 | Jussier Formiga (-1) |
| 6 | John Lineker |
| 7 | Kyoji Horiguchi |
| 8 | Zach Makovsky |
| 9 | Henry Cejudo |
| 10 | Chris Cariaso |
| 11 | Dustin Ortiz |
| 12 | Tim Elliott |
| 13 | Wilson Reis |
| 14 | Chico Camus |
| 15 | Brad Pickett |
Removed: None
Good Calls
No good calls were made in the flyweight rankings.
Bad Calls
John Moraga and Jussier Formiga No Longer Tied
With comparable resumes, Moraga and Formiga both have strong arguments that one should be ranked above the other, so it made sense to have them tied.
Both have won two in a row. Both lost via stoppage to John Dodson. Both own multiple wins over Top 15 opponents. And, in both 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 him and Formiga. However, a Moraga loss would give Formiga a chance to pull ahead should he beat Wilson Reis next month.
Women's Bantamweight
10 of 11
| No. | Fighter |
| C | Ronda Rousey |
| 1 | Cat Zingano |
| 2 | Miesha Tate |
| 3 | Alexis Davis |
| 4 | Sara McMann |
| 5 | Jessica Eye (+1) |
| 6 | Sarah Kaufman (-1) |
| 7 | Bethe Correia |
| 8 | Amanda Nunes |
| 9 | Liz Carmouche |
| 10 | Holly Holm |
| 11 | Julianna Pena |
| 12 | Marion Reneau |
| 13 | Jessica Andrade |
| 14 | Germaine de Randamie |
| 15 | Raquel Pennington |
Removed: None
Good Calls
Jessica Eye Moves Above Sarah Kaufman
Since their meeting at UFC 166, Jessica Eye and Sarah Kaufman have both only lost to Alexis Davis.
When they faced each other in October 2013, Eye edged Kaufman on the scorecards. However, the result was overturned to a no-contest when Eye failed her drug test.
Had that drug test failure been due to performance-enhancing drugs, it would make sense to scrap the result from rankings consideration. However, it was marijuana that was discovered in Eye's system, so she still deserves to be ranked above Kaufman.
Bad Calls
No bad calls were made in the women's bantamweight rankings.
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 |
| 8 | Maryna Moroz (+1) |
| 9 | Joanne Calderwood (-1) |
| 10 | Felice Herrig (+1) |
| 11 | Aisling Daly (-1) |
| 12 | Heather Clark |
| 13 | Juliana Lima |
| 14 | Angela Hill |
| 15 | Valerie Letourneau (NR) |
Removed: Bec Rawlings
Good Calls
Maryna Moroz Surpasses Joanne Calderwood
It took too long, but Maryna Moroz is now rightfully ranked above Joanne Calderwood.
On April 11, Moroz submitted Calderwood in 90 seconds. Undefeated in six MMA bouts, Moroz is looking like a serious contender even though she's only made one trip to the Octagon.
Certainly, she should have a spot above an opponent she stopped in the opening round, and she should possibly be ranked even higher than that.
Valerie Letourneau Bounces Bec Rawlings from the Top 15 Rankings
With her win over Jessica Rakoczy at UFC 186, Valerie Letourneau earned a spot in the women's strawweight rankings.
In 10 MMA appearances, she has only lost to bantamweight contenders Sarah Kaufman and Alexis Davis as well as elite 115-pounder Claudia Gadelha. Having taken Gadelha and Davis to split decisions, Letourneau could arguably be ranked even higher than she is.
Rawlings has the ability to be a Top 15 strawweight, but she's lost three of her past four bouts. If anybody was going to be removed from the 115-pound rankings, it makes sense that it would be Rawlings.
Bad Calls
Aisling Daly Falls Behind Felice Herrig
Neither has gotten out to a great start since joining the UFC roster, but Aisling Daly has been a bit better than Felice Herrig.
Both won once on TUF 20 before being eliminated in their second bouts.
On the show, Herrig suffered an opening-round submission loss to Randa Markos. Daly, meanwhile, was able to go the distance with Markos in her most recent outing.
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