Bleacher Report MMA Rankings for June 2016
Well, a lot has gone down since the last installment of the Bleacher Report MMA Rankings.
The UFC has two new champions in Stipe Miocic and Michael Bisping. Super prospects Thomas Almeida and Aljamain Sterling had massive reality checks at UFC Fight Night 88. Top 10 names such as Demian Maia, Sara McMann and Max Holloway cemented their spot in the rankings. And that's just in the UFC!
Naturally, the MMA team of Patrick Wyman, Steven Rondina, Nathan McCarter and Chad Dundas is here to give you some fresh new MMA rankings. You can find them below.
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You can check out the full rules here.
Notes for This Month
- You can find each panel member's individual rankings here.
- Jessica Andrade is moved from bantamweight to strawweight.
- Renan Barao remains at bantamweight.
- Joanne Calderwood and Valerie Letourneau remain at strawweight.
- Chad Mendes will remain in the rankings for the time being. This will change if he receives a suspension for a possible USADA infraction, reported by Mike Sloan of Sherdog.
- New format! Like it? Don't like it? Let us know in the comments section.
Strawweight
No. 1. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (40)
No. 2. Claudia Gadelha (36)
No. 3. Rose Namajunas (29)
No. 4. Tecia Torres (25)
No. 5. Jessica Aguilar (22)
No. 6. Carla Esparza (19)
No. 7. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (13)
No. 8. Valerie Letourneau (10)
No. 9. Jessica Andrade (9)
No. 10. Angela Hill (5)
Angela Hill is the new Invicta FC strawweight champion, The Street Fighter fan took the title off Livia Renata Souza in a hard-fought split decision at Invicta FC 17, showing she isn't just a hot prospect but that she's a legitimate player. She hasn't yet touched her ceiling, and it wouldn't be all that shocking if she panned out to be No. 1 material.
In UFC land, Jessica Andrade dropped from bantamweight to strawweight and absolutely destroyed former Invicta champ Jessica Penne. There's a real chance she ends up fighting for a title in the near future.
Flyweight
No. 1. Demetrious Johnson (40)
No. 2. Joseph Benavidez (36)
No. 3. Kyoji Horiguchi (29)
No. 4. Henry Cejudo (28)
No. 5. Jussier da Silva (23)
No. 6. Ian McCall (17)
No. 7. John Moraga (15)
No. 8. Ali Bagautinov (10)
No. 9. Zach Makovsky (8)
No. 10. Wilson Reis (5)
Not much happened at 125 pounds. In the lone noteworthy fight of the month, Kyoji Horiguchi scored a decisive win over Neil Seery. The 25-year-old didn't look radically different following his joining American Top Team and continues to be one of the best young fighters in MMA.
Men's Bantamweight
No. 1. Dominick Cruz (40)
No. 2. TJ Dillashaw (36)
No. 3. Raphael Assuncao (29)
No. 4. Renan Barao (26)
No. 5T. Bryan Caraway (18)
No. 5T. Marlon Moraes (18)
No. 7. Urijah Faber (12)
No. 8. Aljamain Sterling (11)
No. 9. Cody Garbrandt (9)
No. 10. John Dodson (8)
Dominick Cruz defended his bantamweight title from Urijah Faber at UFC 199, but that didn't shake up the rankings much. The bigger shake-ups came at Fight Night 88.
At that event, Bryan Caraway derailed the Sterling hype train, launching the veteran into the rankings for the first time. In the main event, Cody Garbrandt made the most of his prime-time opportunity and scored a big win over Almeida.
Women's Bantamweight
No. 1. Miesha Tate(38)
No. 2. Holly Holm (36)
No. 3. Ronda Rousey (34)
No. 4. Cat Zingano (26)
No. 5. Amanda Nunes (23)
No. 6T. Alexis Davis (17)
No. 6T. Tonya Evinger (17)
No. 8. Julianna Pena (11)
No. 9. Sara McMann (10)
No. 10. Valentina Shevchenko (4)
Invicta FC bantamweight champion Tonya Evinger is a beast and scored her ninth win in a row by steamrolling Colleen Schneider at Invicta FC 17. Come on, Sean Shelby—get her in the UFC!
Featherweight
No. 1. Conor McGregor (40)
No. 2. Jose Aldo (36)
No. 3. Frankie Edgar (32)
No. 4. Max Holloway (28)
No. 5. Chad Mendes (24)
No. 6. Ricardo Lamas (12)
No. 7T. Charles Oliveira (11)
No. 7T. Daniel Straus (11)
No. 7T. Cub Swanson (11)
No. 10- Jeremy Stephens (5)
Jeremy Stephens roughed up Renan Barao at UFC Fight Night 88 to cement his place in the top 10, and Holloway dominated Ricardo Lamas at UFC 199 to cement his place as the No. 4. Unfortunately, neither man has much more room to climb the rankings unless he starts getting bigger opportunities—which isn't close to being a certainty.
Lightweight
No. 1. Rafael dos Anjos (40)
No. 2. Khabib Nurmagomedov (36)
No. 3. Eddie Alvarez (28)
No. 4. Tony Ferguson (27)
No. 5. Will Brooks (23)
No. 6T. Donald Cerrone (19)
No. 6T. Nate Diaz (19)
No. 8. Edson Barboza (15)
No. 9. Anthony Pettis (4)
No. 10. Dustin Poirier (3)
Dustin Poirier overwhelmed Bobby Green at UFC 199, and that was good enough for him to scratch his way into the top 10. He's been a monster at 155 pounds to this point, and while his footing isn't secure in the rankings, he seems ready to climb deep as time goes on.
Welterweight
No. 1. Robbie Lawler (40)
No. 2. Rory MacDonald (34)
No. 3. Stephen Thompson (26)
No. 4. Tyron Woodley (24)
No. 5. Demian Maia (23)
No. 6T. Ben Askren (18)
No. 6T. Carlos Condit (18)
No. 6T. Johny Hendricks (18)
No. 9.Neil Magny (9)
No. 10. Andrey Koreshkov (7)
Maia did Maia things to Matt Brown at UFC 198, repeatedly suckering his American foe to the ground and coiling around him. He's so darn good.
Also during the month, fringe names Gunnar Nelson and Rick Story both notched wins, over Albert Tumenov and Tarec Saffiedine respectively. Great wins, though they're going to need longer streaks to get into these rankings.
Middleweight
No. 1. Michael Bisping (38)
No. 2. Luke Rockhold (37)
No. 3. Chris Weidman (32)
No. 4. Ronaldo Souza (29)
No. 5T. Lyoto Machida (17)
No. 5T. Robert Whittaker (17)
No. 7. Gegard Mousasi (16)
No. 8. Vitor Belfort (15)
No. 9. Anderson Silva (8)
No. 10. Derek Brunson (6)
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza exploded Vitor Belfort at UFC 198 to start off the month, but it's hard to remember that these days. That, of course, is because of Bisping's unlikely rise to the middleweight title. Obviously, that completely turned the top half of our middleweight rankings upside down.
Light Heavyweight
No. 1. Jon Jones (40)
No. 2. Daniel Cormier (36)
No. 3. Anthony Johnson (32)
No. 4. Alexander Gustafsson (26)
No. 5. Phil Davis (20)
No. 6. Ryan Bader (18)
No. 7. Glover Teixeira (17)
No. 8. Liam McGeary (13)
No. 9. Muhammed Lawal (9)
No. 10. Ovince Saint Preux (7)
The biggest fight at 205 pounds in May happened in Bellator, when Phil Davis faced off with Muhammed Lawal with a shot at Liam McGeary's title on the line. In a back-and-forth fight, Davis took home the unanimous decision win (something many disagreed with). Despite the loss, Lawal made headway in the rankings.
Heavyweight
No. 1. Stipe Miocic (40)
No. 2. Fabricio Werdum (36)
No. 3. Cain Velasquez (31)
No. 4. Alistair Overeem (28)
No. 5. Junior dos Santos (23)
No. 6. Ben Rothwell (20)
No. 7. Travis Browne (15)
No. 8. Andrei Arlovski (13)
No. 9. Mark Hunt (8)
No. 10. Josh Barnett (4)
Miocic is the new heavyweight champion of the world, knocking Fabricio Werdum out cold at UFC 198. People aren't yet sure what to make of Miocic, who was a clear underdog entering the event, but he unanimously takes the top spot here. His first title defense is set to come against Alistair Overeem, who conveniently took a big win of his own over Andrei Arlovski.
They'll face off at UFC 203 in Miocic's hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.
Top Fights to Watch in June
- Marcos Galvao vs. Eduardo Dantas (Bellator 156, June 17)
- Ali Bagautinov vs. Geane Herrera (UFC Fight Night 89, June 18)
- Valerie Letourneau vs. Joanne Calderwood (UFC Fight Night 89, June 18)
- Donald Cerrone vs. Patrick Cote (UFC Fight Night 89, June 18)
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