Bleacher Report MMA Rankings for March 2016

Another month of MMA, another big shakeup in the Bleacher Report rankings.

The combat sports world stopped in its tracks for UFC 196, and rightly so. Newly minted champions Conor McGregor and Holly Holm both suffered tough losses to Nate Diaz and Miesha Tate, respectively. It wasn't just the tip-top of the rankings getting shaken up, either.

Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva returned to the middleweight Top 10 following a year-long layoff due to a drug-test failure. Stephen Thompson turned the welterweight division upside down with his knockout victory of Johny Hendricks, going from the Top 10 fringe all the way to the Top Three. Established names like Amanda Nunes, Gegard Mousasi and Donald Cerrone all benefited from wins.

So want to see where everyone stands following UFC 196? Read on and find out.

Rules and Notes

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If you are interested in each panelist's full rankings, you can find them on Twitter. 

Each month, Bleacher Report MMA will deliver top-10 rankings for each major men's MMA division, as well as the women's strawweight and bantamweight divisions. The rankings will typically come out during the first week of each month, but timing will be flexible, depending on where major events fall on the calendar. Bleacher Report's rankings panel consists of Chad Dundas, Nathan McCarter, Steven Rondina, Jonathan Snowden and Patrick Wyman.

Which fighters are ranked? How are they ranked? Rules are as follows:

• Fighters are ranked in their weight class by each member of the panel, receiving up to 10 points based on where they are placed (the No. 1 fighter receives 10 points, the No. 2 fighter receives nine and so on). Ties are left unbroken, and fighters sharing the same number of points are ordered alphabetically.
• Weight classes for men include 125 pounds, 135 pounds, 145 pounds, 155 pounds, 170 pounds, 185 pounds, 205 pounds and 206 to 265 pounds. Weight classes for women include 115 pounds and 135 pounds. 
• Fighters must have fought within the last 18 months and/or have a bout scheduled. If fighters are removed from the rankings due to inactivity, they will only be readmitted after participating in a sanctioned MMA bout. Retirements and indefinite leaves from the sport are considered on a case-by-case basis.
• Fighters suspended for failed drug tests are immediately removed from the rankings. They are eligible to rejoin the rankings after serving their suspension and competing in a sanctioned MMA bout.
• Fighters suspended for behavioral reasons are handled on a case-by-case basis.
• Fighters are only eligible to be ranked in one weight class, determined at the panel's discretion.

Here are the notes for this month:

• The rankings slideshows are formatted differently now, putting a greater focus on analysis. Like it? Don't like it? Let us know in the comments.
• Conor McGregor will remain ranked exclusively at featherweight for the time being. 
• Tim Kennedy is approaching the 18-month inactivity limit. Unless he has a fight booked by the end of March, he will be removed from consideration.

Strawweight

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No. 1—Joanna Jedrzejczyk (11-0, 50 Points)
No. 2—Claudia Gadelha (13-1, 45)
No. 3T—Jessica Aguilar (19-5, 28)
No. 3T—Carla Esparza (10-3, 28)
No. 3T—Tecia Torres (7-0, 28)
No. 6—Rose Namajunas (4-2, 23)
No. 7—Livia Renata Souza (9-0, 19)
No. 8T—Karolina Kowalkiewicz (8-0, 16)
No. 8T—Jessica Penne (12-3, 16)
No. 10—Valerie Letourneau (8-4, 11)

Steven: So...the UFC has officially checked out on the strawweight division at this point, right? We're seven cards deep into 2016 at this point, and we've had exactly one strawweight fight in that time; Justine Kish vs. Nina Ansaroff at UFC 195.

There are a few fights scheduled over the next couple months, sure, most notably Juliana Lima vs. Jessica Aguilar and Rose Namajunas vs. Tecia Torres. Still, the division is profoundly inactive. What's up with that?!

Nathan: I wouldn't say checked out. I think that's disingenuous considering the UFC put Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha on The Ultimate Fighter. I think it would have put them on TUF: Latin America or TUF: Brazil if they checked out.

Regardless, the lack of women's bouts has been an issue ever since the UFC brought the 135-pound division into the fold.

Both divisions lack the overall depth of, say, the lightweight or welterweight divisions, and that accounts for why they have fewer fights. But the UFC could be doing a better job of placing its fighters on cards. Remember Aleksandra Albu? A possible marketing coup that no one had any idea about as per her in-cage abilities, and then she looked fantastic in her debut? Yeah, where has she been?

Steven: The UFC has been on board with Joanna Jedrzejczyk since she joined the promotion and the TUF gig is the latest chapter in that but their handling of the strawweight division makes it seem like they didn't actually like Ronda Rousey all that much. For the sake of comparison, there have been seven fights in the heavyweight division and eight in the light heavyweight division during this same stretch.

In that same vein, I'm right with you on wondering where Albu has gone. The same goes for Michelle Waterson, Jessica Penne, Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Heather Jo Clark, Juliana Lima...I can keep going!

Nathan: In the case of Michelle Waterson, she was booked but got injured (Heather Clark is also coming off the injured list as well). So she can at least be accounted for, but the others are MIA thanks to the UFC's poor planning.

It's almost sad watching many of the strawweights beg for fights on social media.

I suppose with the division slightly on hold until the summer, it isn't too much of an issue at this specific point. But the UFC does need to address the inactivity moving forward. 115 is a solid division and has the depth to give these fighters at least three bouts a year.

Flyweight

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No. 1—Demetrious Johnson (23-2-1, 50 points)
No. 2—Joseph Benavidez (24-4, 43)
No. 3—John Dodson (17-7, 42)
No. 4—Henry Cejudo (10-0, 34)
No. 5—Kyoji Horiguchi (16-2, 28)
No. 6—Jussier da Silva (18-4, 23)
No. 7—Ian McCall (13-5-1, 18)
No. 8T—Ali Bagautinov (13-4, 12)
No. 8T—John Moraga (16-4, 12)
No. 10—Zach Makovsky (19-7, 9)

Steven: The flyweight scene can be boiled down to two fights in February. First, Joseph Benavidez beat Zach Makovsky with a good-but-not-great performance that had some wondering if the perennial contender was officially starting his decline. Second, Justin Scoggins out-wrestled fellow prospect Ray Borg so thoroughly, his back-to-back losses to Dustin Ortiz and John Moraga feel like they never happened.

So let's talk about Joey B. first. What did you think of his win over Makovsky, and do you think there's anything to this talk of him starting to decline? If so, why?

Chad: First, Joe B. has the bad luck of spending nearly his entire UFC career in the same division as Demetrious Johnson, and now, still a few months shy of turning 32 years old, people are going to start saying he's in decline? That's a pretty rough draw for ol' Joe B-Wan Kenobi.

If their bout wasn't exactly fight-of-the-year material, I prefer to think of it as a credit to the durability of Makovsky. Feels like the former Bellator and RFA champ isn't going to be one of the elites in the UFC 125-pound ranks, but he hasn't been finished since April 2012, and his wrestling heavy attack has meant 62 percent of his 26 fights have gone the distance during a 10-year career.

I don't know, is there something I'm missing? Are you buying Benavidez being on the downhill side of things?

Steven: I feel like there is something there, honestly, just based off his decreased stopping power of late. Four of Benavidez's first five wins as a flyweight came inside the distance, and since then, he has four decisions in a row. It's not (entirely) a matter of stiffer competition, either, since he managed to finish the sixth-ranked Jussier da Silva and the oft-forgotten-but-still-good Yasuhiro Urushitani during that stretch.

I'm reluctant to chalk it up to age, though. While fighters in the lighter weight classes definitely get older faster than those at 185 pounds and up, my immediate thought was that Benavidez's not-as-dominant-as-some-would-have-liked performance was an extension of the struggles inside Team Alpha Male more so than the beginning of his physical decline. I guess we'll have to see how he does training in Colorado.

Let's close with some Scoggins talk, though. Are you buying into the 23-year-old?

Chad: Hard not to like what The Scogg Dogg has done in his last couple [of] fights, stacking wins against Josh Sampo and Borg. At his young age, he's likely still got a lot of growing as a martial artist to do, too, so it's possible he winds up as one of the elites in this division.

Before I get too bullish, though, I'll need to see him against one of [the] flyweight's top dogs. He'll make a quick turnaround and fight Ben Nguyen on March 20. If he's successful there, I'd love to see him tested against somebody like Jussier Formiga or Kyoji Horiguchi.

Men's Bantamweight

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No. 1—Dominick Cruz (21-1, 50 Points)
No. 2—TJ Dillashaw (12-3, 45)
No. 3—Renan Barao (33-3 [1], 38)
No. 4—Raphael Assuncao (23-4, 33)
No. 5—Aljamain Sterling (12-0, 25)
No. 6—Urijah Faber (33-8, 24)
No. 7—Marlon Moraes (16-4-1, 17)
No. 8—Bibiano Fernandes (19-3, 14)
No. 9—Thomas Almeida (20-0, 11)
No. 10—Eduardo Dantas (17-4, 5)

Patrick: The bantamweight division is more exciting than it has been in years after Dominick Cruz's return to form against TJ Dillashaw in January. A wealth of young contenders has begun to emerge, including the recently re-signed Aljamain Sterling, Thomas Almeida and Cody Garbrandt, who destroyed BJJ champion Augusto Mendes in a late-notice matchup in February.

Marlon Moraes, World Series of Fighting's champion, finished his overmatched challenger Joseph Barajas with a low kick early in the first round. That marked 11 wins in a row for Moraes—the highest-ranked fighter outside the UFC.

There has never been more talent, and more importantly young talent, at 135 pounds than there is right now.

Steven: The bantamweight division is definitely in transition, and that's a very, very good thing. If you look at the bantamweight Top 10 from 2015 and the bantamweight Top 10 from 2011, you'll see more than a few names in common. That's never a good thing when it comes to both depth and matchmaking.

The thing that both excites me and frustrates me is how much talent there is outside the UFC. You mentioned WSOF champ Marlon Moraes, but we also saw Bellator prospect Darrion Caldwell demolish former champ Joe Warren. A week before that was supposed to be a title fight between Marcos Galvao and Eduardo Dantas, who are both pretty darn good in their own right. And of course, there's Bibiano Fernandes over in One FC.

Do you think any of them could give Cruz (or Dillashaw) a run for his money?

Patrick: Fernandes is 35 and hasn't fought a consensus elite bantamweight in going on seven years, when he defeated Joe Warren, so color me less than convinced that he still belongs at the top of an evolving division.

Caldwell, though...dang. He ran through Warren last week, showing off next-level wrestling skills and an improving submission game to go with it. The question with the former Division I champion was never the talent, but whether he could stay healthy enough to use it. Moraes too has [proved] he belongs in that conversation as well. With Dantas and Galvao, they haven't fought much in the last few years; though, particularly with Dantas the talent level is off the charts.

Moraes and Caldwell, who has yet to be ranked but probably will be soon, are my two strong bets to challenge the UFC's best. Moraes can hang on the feet with anyone at 135, and Caldwell's wrestling is a puzzle I'm not convinced anyone at the weight can solve.

What about in the UFC? Can any of the ranked, or unranked, fighters challenge Cruz and Dillashaw's iron grip on the top two slots?

Steven: The big difference between Cruz and Dillashaw is that we've actually seen Dillashaw lose. Three times now. He's always been something of a slow starter, and that has come back to bite him in each of his losses, whether it's dropping rounds to Dominick Cruz or getting his face punched off by John Dodson. Anybody who can starch him early or hang with him late has at least a chance of beating him, and if I was going to get specific, I'd say Aljo Sterling and Thomas Almeida both have a shot.

Cruz, for me at least, is much more difficult to pick against. Dillashaw was the perfect man to beat him, and Cruz still figured out a way to match him punch for punch while scoring points with takedowns. The fight was close enough that I can see Dillashaw beating him in a rematch, but I can't imagine him losing to anybody else—inside or outside the UFC.

Patrick: I agree that Cruz is a bewildering puzzle to try and solve and one of the sport's all-time greats, but he's not unbeatable. Dillashaw arguably won despite making a series of mistakes, Almeida could melt him, and Sterling could give him serious problems in the wrestling and grappling departments. Given another year or two and another major injury, the aging process might do more to cut him down than any particular opponent.

Urijah Faber, though? That's another story. Barring an upset of epic proportions, Cruz should roll over him handily in the UFC 199 co-main event. Cruz is better than he was in 2011, and Faber isn't the same guy. How do you see that one going down, Steven?

Steven: I have five men ranked between Cruz and Faber, and I wouldn't pick any of them over Cruz. I'm thinking Cruz out-grapples Faber in dominant fashion, and either finishes him late or wins four rounds.

Women's Bantamweight

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No. 1—Holly Holm (10-1, 46 Points)
No. 2—Miesha Tate (18-5, 45)
No. 3—Ronda Rousey (12-1, 44)
No. 4—Cat Zingano (9-1, 33)
No. 5—Amanda Nunes (12-4, 26)
No. 6—Alexis Davis (17-6, 24)
No. 7—Tonya Evinger (17-5, 23)
No. 8—Julianna Pena (7-2, 15)
No. 9—Sara McMann (8-3, 10)
No. 10—Jessica Eye (11-4 [1], 3)

Steven: I'm not going to waste words here. Holly Holm vs. Miesha Tate happened. Miesha Tate won. There is so much to talk about, from the in-cage action to the out-of-the cage ramifications, so I'll just give you a blank canvas here. What are you thinking, feeling or expecting in this wacky world where Miesha Tate is now holding the UFC title?

Chad: After the dust settles, I think it'll turn out to be good for the women's bantamweight division. Instead of having just one 135-pound female star (Ronda Rousey), the UFC now has three—Holm, Tate and Rousey. There's really no option other than to have that trio kick off a round-robin tournament of sorts against each other.

Rousey will fight Tate, and no matter what happens, the expectation will be for her to take on Holm next. Unless Rousey suddenly retires after the Tate fight, I'm hopeful it'll usher in a new era of competition in the weight class.

I know I'd take that over the old way of doing things, which was the UFC just setting Rousey up with a revolving door of overmatched contenders for her to tap out in 17 seconds.

Steven: From a competitive standpoint, Tate winning is an absolute godsend. As you spelled out, over the last six months, we've seen the women's bantamweight division transform from the Ronda Rousey Show to a compelling division with a hierarchy of interesting contenders. Not only does Tate enter the newly minted Top Three, but this also puts Cat Zingano, who TKO'd her back in 2013, back into the title mix, and Amanda Nunes, who beat Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 196, is suddenly looking pretty darn good.

Do you think the UFC will get its wish for a Tate vs. Rousey 3? If so, do you think it ends in anything other than an armbar tapout?

Chad: If we can take Dana White's original word on things halfway seriously, that's what the fight company wants to do. It seems like an awkward and opportunistic look to me, both for the UFC and for Rousey, but when have they ever worried about that before?

And look, it almost doesn't matter what happens in that fight. If Rousey wins, she'll have to fight Holm. If Tate wins, she'll probably have to fight Holm. Shake up the dice and let them tumble, and almost any way things shake out, it's going to be great.

Color me excited for the future at women's bantamweight. Not sure that's something I've ever said before.

Featherweight

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No. 1—Conor McGregor (19-3, 50)
No. 2—Jose Aldo (25-2, 45)
No. 3—Frankie Edgar (20-4-1, 40)
No. 4—Chad Mendes (17-4, 32)
No. 5—Max Holloway (15-3, 30)
No. 6—Ricardo Lamas (16-4, 23)
No. 7—Daniel Straus (24-6 [1], 16)
No. 8—Charles Oliveira (21-5 [1], 15)
No. 9—Cub Swanson (21-7, 10)
No. 10—Patricio Freire (24-3, 6)

Chad: The featherweight title picture has been a stagnant, muddled mess since December. If there's any silver lining in Conor McGregor's loss to Nate Diaz at UFC 196, it might be convincing the mad Irishman to abandon his personal vision quest through multiple weight classes and return to 145 pounds.

The question is, who will he face in his first defense of the featherweight title? With McGregor holding down the top spot in these rankings and most of the Top 10 standing pat behind him, who should McGregor fight next, Steven?

Steven: I think I'll start that discussion by complaining about how sad it is to be playing the "who's the top contender" game when it comes to McGregor. Love him or hate him, the man captured the MMA world's imagination in a way few have. I almost feel sad that we have to put the discussions of "is Conor going to destroy the UFC's pay structure" and "could Conor hold three titles at once" on the shelf in favor of something so...normal.

To answer the actual question, it's theoretically a three-horse race between Jose Aldo, Frankie Edgar and Max Holloway. It's realistically a two-horse race between Aldo and Edgar. In my mind, though? It's Aldo. Alday. Aldo way.

Chad: I see what you did there. Aldo is probably the most lucrative choice for a UFC 200 showdown, and I do really want to see how that fight would shake out if the Brazilian didn't sprint headlong into a McGregor left hand during the first 13 seconds.

On a personal note? I'm a Frankie Edgar guy, myself. He's won five in a row since that rough stretch that saw him abandon the lightweight division in 2012-13. I would jump at the chance to see if his elusive style and lightning-quick takedowns could undo McGregor's dynamic striking game.

While we're getting personal, I noticed you don't have Cub Swanson in your Top 10. What gives, Rondina? What did The Killer Cub ever do to you? 

Steven: This is probably going to sound like a cop-out or a way to say, "oh, it's not as bad as it looks," but Swanson is basically my No. 11. No, really! I'm not just lying to get out of that critique! I can prove it!

I will say I don't foresee him getting back into my top 10, though. He's on the wrong side of 30 with a style that heavily relies on quickness. His loss to Frankie Edgar showed he still has minimal defensive grappling skills a decade into his career, and he was beaten handily by Max Holloway in an almost all-striking matchup. That's not a good thing.

There are a lot of guys I'd pick to beat Cub Swanson, and there are a lot of young guys on the rise whom I think will step over him in the next year or two (Doo Ho Choi and Brian Ortega, specifically). Maybe I'll change my tune if he scores another wild TKO victory over Hacran Dias...but I doubt it.

Lightweight

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No. 1—Rafael Dos Anjos (25-7, 50)
No. 2—Eddie Alvarez (27-4, 40)
No. 3T—Tony Ferguson (20-3, 36)
No. 3T—Will Brooks (17-1, 32)
No. 5—Donald Cerrone (29-7 [1], 32)
No. 6—Anthony Pettis (18-4, 30)
No. 7—Nate Diaz (19-10, 23)
No. 8—Beneil Dariush (12-1, 13)
No. 9T—Edson Barboza (16-4, 5)
No. 9T—Justin Gaethje (16-0, 5)

Chad: Patrick, the most interesting lightweight fight of the last month fell through when champion Rafael Dos Anjos busted a wheel and had to pull out of his scheduled matchup with featherweight hitman Conor McGregor. The resulting mess is now a matter of public record.

But business never stays cold at 155 pounds for long. Khabib Nurmagomedov returns next month with a bout against Tony Ferguson, and Nate Diaz suddenly seems viable again after choking out McGregor. As both a man of letters and a man of action, who do you want to see RDA fight next?

Patrick: Be still, my beating heart, because the always-stacked lightweight division seems more open for business than ever. For my money, this is the best division in MMA. The talent, both in terms of skill and pure athletic gifts, is off the charts. It's a smorgasbord of great stylistic matchups and awash in worthy contenders.

The next challenger has to be the winner of Ferguson-Nurmagomedov next month, for two reasons. If Nurmagomedov emerges victorious, he will be a cool 23-0. More importantly, he'd be 7-0 in the UFC, and one of those wins is over the guy who's currently running roughshod over the crumpled bodies of his foes— Rafael Dos Anjos.

If Ferguson wins, he'll be riding an eight-fight winning streak. That's simply unbelievable given how difficult the competition is at 155 pounds. Either way, Nurmagomedov or Ferguson will be an undeniably worthy challenger.

The second reason, however, has everything to do with Nate Diaz. Would I be unhappy to see him in a fight with Dos Anjos? No, absolutely not. He wasn't himself in that injury-riddled loss to the soon-to-be champion in December 2014 and has never looked better in his last two outings.

My reasoning has everything to do with the other possibilities for Diaz. He's now the uncrowned king of the moneyweights, and fights with big-name opponents between 145 and 170 pounds all seem like a possibility. Georges St-Pierre is interested. Donald Cerrone would probably love another crack. Robbie Lawler would be down to throw bungalows. Those are all money fights for Stockton's finest.

What's your preference, Chad? And whom else should we be watching at lightweight?

Chad: You know I want nothing more than to see my guy Nurmy healthy and back in the mix. But no matter who wins that upcoming bout with El Cucuy, he'll make for an exciting and dangerous opponent for Dos Anjos.

I suppose in the interest of even-handedness, we also need to keep tabs on Eddie Alvarez. Back-to-back wins over Gilbert Melendez and Anthony Pettis have distanced him from his loss to Donald Cerrone in his promotional debut. If he can stack up one more win over another top contender, it'll be hard to deny him.

I'll give you the final word here, Patrick. Look into your crystal ball and tell me who's lightweight champ at the end of the year. And remember, McGregor is still in play.

Patrick: I think the titleholder at the end of the year has to be Khabib. He already holds a win over Dos Anjos, and unless the repeated injuries have ruined him, he's a stylistic nightmare for the champion. The question is whether ring rust drags him down against Ferguson and whether those injuries will flare up again before he gets a chance to prove his dominance in the cage.

I can't get on board with Alvarez. His win over Melendez wasn't exactly inspiring, and I thought the judges flat-out robbed Pettis of a win. Until he can beat one of the UFC's elite lightweights in convincing fashion, consider me out.

Even without Alvarez really in the mix, there's no shortage of potential contenders. What a division.

Welterweight

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No. 1—Robbie Lawler (26-10 [1], 50 Points)
No. 2—Rory MacDonald (18-3, 43)
No. 3—Stephen Thompson (12-1, 35)
No. 4—Tyron Woodley (15-3, 30)
No. 5T—Carlos Condit (30-9, 27)
No. 5T—Johny Hendricks (17-4, 27)
No. 7—Demian Maia (22-6, 24)
No. 8—Ben Askren (14-0, 21)
No. 9T—Matt Brown (20-13, 6)
No. 9T—Dong Hyun Kim (21-3-1 [1], 6)

Nathan: We were all waiting to see how Conor McGregor would do against Nate Diaz at UFC 196. He was lined up for a title shot with a win, but the loss keeps us in the state of flux we sat in previously to the Irishman's possible title bid.

Does Condit deserve an immediate rematch? Is a GSP return on the horizon? Or what about Nate Diaz himself? Lawler has options, quality options at that, but there is no surefire indication of who's next.

What say you?

Patrick: Welterweight, like middleweight, is due for a turnover at the top. The elite is packed with aging fighters, from Lawler himself to Matt Brown to Dong Hyun Kim to Demian Maia, all of whom are well on the wrong side of 30.

Unlike middleweight, however, there's a copious amount of young talent to take their place. Neil Magny, Albert Tumenov and the forgotten Kelvin Gastelum are all ready to be counted among the division's best.

Until they do, however, there's a great deal of fun left to be had with the old guard. Lawler is in the strange position of being both the champion and, by virtue of his style, someone in line for moneyweight fights. Nate Diaz would be a perfectly fine matchup. Condit could get his rematch, if that's how the cards fall, though I'm less interested in that fight than most seem to be.

The one fight I don't want to see at 170 pounds is Georges St-Pierre fighting Robbie Lawler. If the longtime welterweight champion does return, I'd like to see him in fun fights with guys who don't have the power to knock his head clean off.

What does the future look like to you at welterweight? Who should we be watching?

Nathan: [I'm] right there with you with Tumenov, but I'll add in Warlley Alves. He was highly impressive on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil and has put together four straight inside the Octagon. At only 25 years old, he should be on everyone's watch list.

The UFC's bell cow is 170, and that looks to be the case moving forward with its wealth of talent.

It is what makes it one of the most fun divisions to watch, and it's one of the hardest to rank. It is like splitting hairs at the back end of the rankings. It should be incredibly interesting to see which of the prospects make the leap, similar to Stephen Thompson, over the next 12-18 months.

Patrick: What a breath of fresh air Thompson has been. He's a unique stylistic challenge for anyone in the division, and while not exactly a spring chicken, the best years of his career are still ahead of him. That matchup with Rory MacDonald in June will be hot-fire.

This division is one of the best in the sport. I can't wait to see how it shakes out.

Middleweight

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No. 1—Luke Rockhold (15-2, 50 Points)
No. 2—Chris Weidman (13-1, 45)
No. 3—Ronaldo Souza (22-4 [1], 38)
No. 4T—Vitor Belfort (25-11, 28)
No. 4T—Michael Bisping (28-7, 28)
No. 6—Lyoto Machida (22-7, 27)
No. 7—Gegard Mousasi (38-6-2, 14)
No. 8—Anderson Silva (33-7 [1], 13)
No. 9—Robert Whittaker (15-4, 11)
No. 10—Tim Kennedy (18-5, 10)

Patrick: The middleweight division is in a strange place. Luke Rockhold finished Chris Weidman to win the title back in December, Yoel Romero was popped for [performance-enhancing drugs] following a tight win over Jacare Souza, and Anderson Silva's return came up flat against Michael Bisping.

Now we know Rockhold and Weidman will rematch at UFC 199 in June. With a dearth of other options, there isn't much else to be done in the division, but it's hardly exciting to watch another run at a fight that ended in [a] brutally one-sided fashion.

Is there any hope to be found at 185 pounds?

Nathan: I had the privilege of talking about the state of this division last month, and the big takeaway is it is clearly an aging division. But, I do believe there is some hope in the likes of Robert Whittaker and Derek Brunson.

The way the top end of the field is playing out, those two should be contenders in 2017 and beyond should they continue to improve, while the old lions fade away.

The real concern should be with the lack of prospects as a whole. MMA seemingly finds a way to replenish when it's most needed, but we may be nearing that time for the UFC to focus on expanding the 185-pound talent pool.

Patrick: There are a number of good middleweight prospects out there, as Scott Harris and I covered in our annual top-25 list, but they're just that: prospects. Aside from Brunson and Whittaker, the UFC's middleweight division is short on young talent of any kind. Tamdan McCrory, Josh Samman, Elias Theodorou and Thiago Santos are all promising, but they have yet to break through in any meaningful way.

And Bellator? Color me less than impressed with the Rafael Carvalho and Brandon Halsey twosome.

This is a division in trouble. Can you muster any excitement for the Rockhold vs. Weidman rematch?

Nathan: It's a great matchup just as it was last December, but the result doesn't get me jazzed for the rematch. After the beating Weidman took, I'd have much rather Rockhold been paired with Belfort or Jacare. I wanted to see how Weidman addressed the loss in a comeback fight.

Even still, by fight time I have to imagine I'll be excited. It's Rockhold vs. Weidman after all, and it's rare we get to see the two true best in a division square off against one another.

Patrick: I can't argue with any of that. I have no doubt Rockhold and Weidman are the best middleweight has to offer, but watching someone who got viciously finished get an immediate shot is a little underwhelming.

The fact that Jacare coming off a loss or the dad-bod version of Belfort are the other viable options tells you everything you need to know about the state of the division.

For now it should be fine, but it's a division packed with aging fighters, and I worry that it won't be viable in a year or two.

Light Heavyweight

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No. 1—Jon Jones (21-1, 50 Points)
No. 2—Daniel Cormier (17-1, 45)
No. 3—Anthony Johnson (21-5, 40)
No. 4—Alexander Gustafsson (16-4, 31)
No. 5—Ryan Bader (20-5, 28)
No. 6—Phil Davis (15-3 [1], 27)
No. 7—Glover Teixeira (24-4, 21)
No. 8—Liam McGeary (11-0, 14)
No. 9—Rashad Evans (19-4-1, 6)
No. 10T—Ovince Saint Preux (19-7, 5)
No. 10T—Mo Lawal (19-4 [1], 5)

Steven: The light heavyweight Top 10 was pretty quiet this month. The only ranked fighter to mix things up was Ovince Saint Preux, who, more or less, made the most out of a tune-up fight against Rafael Cavalcante.

There were a few (relatively) young guys who posted wins, though. First, Misha Cirkunov scored his sixth stoppage win in a row by making Alex Nicholson tap to a neck crank at Fight Night 82. Then at UFC 196, Corey Anderson and Ilir Latifi scored decision wins over Tom Lawlor and Gian Villante, respectively. I'm pretty sure I know how you're going to answer, but were you impressed by anybody?

Jonathan: I was impressed by Anderson. When a young fighter steps into the cage with a proven veteran like Tom Lawlor, faces adversity and emerges with his hand raised, it's a pretty significant milestone in his career. While it's still not clear where he will land when it's all said and done, I wouldn't be surprised to see him find his way onto our rankings at the expense of one of the old lions at the back end of the Top 10 who are still limping around the cage.

More importantly, the two best fighters in the division's history, Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier, will meet at UFC 197 to settle a long running beef. Is Cormier a real champion? Or was he just keeping the title belt warm at night until Jones decided he wanted it back? While we may have our suspicions, by next month we'll know for sure.

This is Navratilova vs. Evert, Lakers vs. Celtics and Holyfield vs. Tyson all rolled up into one. It's history unfolding right before our eyes. MMA doesn't get any better than this.

Steven: I'm definitely more excited about Cormier vs. Jones 2 than I was expecting myself to be. The first fight was a masterful (and generally dominant) performance by Jones, and I still can't shake the feeling the rematch won't be much different.

The role reversal, with Cormier being the widely reviled champion and Jones being the fan favorite contender, has certainly added some new life there. It certainly doesn't hurt that Jones has finally embraced his inner heel. Most importantly, as you stated, even if you strip away all the extracurricular storylines, this is still a fight between two amazing mixed martial artists.

Are you expecting an "and new (but still)" or "and still (but new)" at UFC 197?

Jonathan: Jon Jones has never really lost an MMA fight. Until someone proves otherwise, I'm going to move forward with the assumption that he never will. Long live the new king, same as the old.

Heavyweight

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No. 1—Fabricio Werdum (20-5-1, 50)
No. 2—Cain Velasquez (13-2, 45)
No. 3—Stipe Miocic (14-2, 36)
No. 4—Ben Rothwell (36-9, 33)
No. 5—Alistair Overeem (40-14 [1], 31)
No. 6—Junior Dos Santos (17-4, 24)
No. 7—Travis Browne (18-3-1, 21)
No. 8—Andrei Arlovski (25-11 [1], 20)
No. 9—Josh Barnett (34-8, 6)
No. 10—Mark Hunt (11-10-1, 4)

Steven: The long-term outlook for the heavyweight division is a bleak one. There are numerous top-ranked fighters over age 35, and there are few under 30. The youngest person to receive points in the heavyweight rankings is 31-year-old Bellator champ Vitaly Minakov. The oldest is 41-year-old Mark Hunt.

It's hard to not expect an absolute collapse in the division over the next few years.

The short-term outlook, however, is actually strangely fun. There's a pileup of contenders in the UFC consisting of Ben Rothwell, Alistair Overeem, Cain Velasquez and Stipe Miocic and a number of fun fights on the horizon.

So how are you feeling about the current heavyweight division? Which fights are you looking forward to this month and beyond?

Nathan: The current title landscape is actually quite intriguing, and I have no earthly idea why Rothwell accepted a fight with Junior Dos Santos. That is all risk and no reward. Rothwell, by his resume, should be ahead of Overeem and others.

That was a miscalculation on his part. Even if he wins, he is in the same spot he is currently occupying. I truly believe he cost himself a potential title shot.

I'm always looking forward to seeing Mark Hunt fight, but I'm also interested in watching Francis Ngannou in April. He didn't look the part of an instant contender, but he was a lot of fun to watch nonetheless.

Steven: While Rothwell has become something of a fan favorite, the UFC clearly doesn't like his upside on a promotional level. On paper, he's the clear-cut top contender (he beat Overeem; Overeem beat Dos Santos; Dos Santos beat Miocic). Unfortunately, he has been treated like an afterthought every step of the way.

How are you expecting his fight with JDS to pan out? Will he be able to out-scrap the former champ, or will he get out-pointed by his more technical opponent?

Nathan: With how JDS has performed as of late, I wouldn't put it past Rothwell to get the win, but I'd still side with Dos Santos right now. It's also not a fight I am the least bit excited to watch. I would have been excited to see Rothwell against Velasquez in a title eliminator.

It's a shame Rothwell is on the outside looking in, but even with that being the case, I like the landscape for heavyweight title tilts in 2016.

Steven: It's a good problem [for the UFC to have], and it's even better when one considers Velasquez was defending his title from Antonio Silva and then rubber-matching Dos Santos just two years ago. I agree a Rothwell vs. Velasquez 2 bout would have been more exciting, but when one considers how delicately the UFC is handling Velasquez, I can't blame it for steering him away from Rothwell.