SI.com’s P4P rankings: Demetrious Johnson stays at No. 1
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Demetrious Johnson had a good month. Fresh off defending his UFC flyweight championship for the eighth straight time, with a virtuosic performance that elevated him into the No. 1 spot in the SI.com pound-for-pound fighter rankings, “Mighty Mouse” jetted off to Cabo San Lucas for some beach time with “Mighty Wife.” Upon his return stateside, the champ showed up at the most recent UFC event not to compete but to chill with his fans in a prefight Q&A. This is life at the top of the sport.
Brock Lesnar will fight Mark Hunt at UFC 200
Jon Jones has been there. He was the longtime No. 1 before outside-the-octagon troubles and a lackluster return to the cage knocked him down a peg. In less than a month, however, the man who now sits at No. 2 will have an opportunity to resume his run as top dog when he sets out to recapture the light heavyweight championship from Daniel Cormier. Everything “Bones” lost is within his reach.
The rest of the Top 10? Turbulent times.
Last month’s No. 3? Fabricio Werdum lost his heavyweight title four weeks ago when he was knocked out in the first round.
No. 4 Luke Rockhold? He dropped his middleweight belt last week, as he also flattened in the first.
The Top 3 now is rounded out by bantamweight king Dominick Cruz, whose dominant decision win over Urijah Faber a week ago was especially satisfying in that it represented his first time in nearly five years fighting back-to-back without having his career interrupted by injury.
Overlooked Bisping makes most of his chance at UFC 199
Lightweight champ Rafael Dos Anjos and reigning welterweight Robbie Lawler each move up a spot, and Cormier also rises a few. And the Top 10 welcomes heavyweight Stipe Miocic and 185-pounder Michael Bisping, new owners of shiny brass-and-leather straps, as well as strawweight queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Rounding out the list is Conor McGregor, who slips a few spots despite not even setting foot in the octagon. The reason? He just signed for an August rematch with Nate Diaz, once again at welterweight. This puts “The Notorious” in a gray area, rankings-wise. At 170 pounds, the Irishman is 0-1. But he remains in the Top 10 because he still owns the featherweight belt that got him there.]
1. DEMETRIOUS JOHNSON
UFC flyweight champion Record: 24–2–1 Last fight: W (R1 TKO) Henry Cejudo, April 23, 2016
2. JON JONES
Light heavyweight Record: 22–1–0 Last fight: W (R5 UD) Ovince Saint Preux, April 23, 2016
3. Dominick cruz
UFC bantamweight champion Record: 22–1 Last fight: W (R5 UD) Urijah Faber, June 4, 2016
4. rafael dos anjos
UFC middleweight champion Record: 24–7 Last fight: W (R1 TKO) Donald Cerrone, Dec. 19, 2015
5. Robbie lawler
UFC lightweight champion Record: 26–10 Last fight: W (R5 SD) Carlos Condit, Jan. 2, 2016
6. daniel cormier
UFC light heavyweight champion Record: 17–1 Last fight: W (R5 SD) Alexander Gustafsson, Oct. 23, 2015
7.
UFC heavyweight champion Record: 15–2 Last fight: W (R1 KO) Fabricio Werdum, May 14, 2016
8. michael bisping
UFC middleweight champion Record: 29–7 Last fight: W (R1 KO) Luke Rockhold, June 4, 2016
9. joanna jedrzejczyk
UFC stawweight Record: 11–o Last fight: W (R5 UD) Valerie Letourneau , Nov. 15, 2015
10. conor mcgregor
UFC featherweight championRecord: 19–3–0Last fight: L (R2 Sub) Nate Diaz, March 5, 2016
On to the rest of the rankings...
Heavyweight
1. Stipe Miocic (15-2)
2. Fabricio Werdum (20-6-1)
3. Cain Velasquez (13-2)
4. Alistair Overeem (41-14, 1 NC)
5. Junior dos Santos (18-4)
6. Ben Rothwell (36-10)
7. Andrei Arlovski (25-12, 1 NC)
8. Mark Hunt (12-10-1)
9. Travis Browne (18-3-1)
10. Vitaly Minakov (17-0)
Sure, everyone’s excited about that guy bringing the belt home to Cleveland, but check out the new heavy who’s squeezing his way in. They say he’s from that traveling rasslin’ show. The Brock or something.
Light heavyweight
1. Jon Jones (22-1)
2. Daniel Cormier (17-1)
3. Anthony Johnson (21-5)
4. Alexander Gustafsson (16-4)
5. Ryan Bader (20-5)
6. Phil Davis (13-3, 1 NC)
7. Glover Teixeira (25-4)
8. Liam McGeary (11-0)
9. Ovince Saint Preux (19-8)
10. Mauricio Rua (24-10)
That’s right, “Shogun” Rua has reemerged from the dumpster where his aged and atrophied career had been discarded. After five losses in seven fights, he’s fresh off his second win in a row.
Middleweight
1. Michael Bisping (28-7)
2. Luke Rockhold (15-3)
3. Chris Weidman (13-1)
4. Ronaldo Souza (23-4, 1 NC)
5. Lyoto Machida (22-7)
6. Tim Kennedy (18-5)
7. Anderson Silva (33-6)
8. Vitor Belfort (25-12)
9. Gegard Mousasi (38-6-2)
10. Robert Whittaker (15-4)
Remember when Belfort began his stupendous 2013 with that ominously foreshadowing head-kick KO of Bisping? Look who’s rising and look who’s falling now.
Welterweight
1. Robbie Lawler (27-10, 1 NC)
2. Rory MacDonald (18-3)
3. Stephen Thompson (12-1)
4. Tyron Woodley (15-3)
5. Johny Hendricks (17-4)
6. Demian Maia (23-6)
7. Ben Askren (15-0, 1 N)
8. Carlos Condit (30-9)
9. Matt Brown (20-14)
10. Dong Hyun Kim (21-3-1, 1 NC)
What noble deed did the good citizens of Ottawa perform in order to deserve having their town’s first UFC event headlined by MacDonald vs. Thompson? Good karma.
Lightweight
1. Rafael dos Anjos (25-7)
2. Khabib Nurmagomedov (23-0)
3. Tony Ferguson (20-3)
4. Donald Cerrone (29-7, 1 NC)
5. Eddie Alvarez (27-4)
6. Nate Diaz (19-10)
7. Edson Barboza (17-4)
8. Anthony Pettis (18-5)
9. Will Brooks (16-1)
10. Michael Chiesa (14-2)
To make a play on the belt, No. 5 is leapfrogging a trio who deserved better. No. 6 is stepping up to welterweight (again) to fight the featherweight champ (again).
Featherweight
1. Conor McGregor (19-3)
2. Frankie Edgar (20-4-1)
3. José Aldo (25-2)
4. Max Holloway (16-3)
5. Chad Mendes (17-4)
6. Charles Oliveira (21-5, 1 NC)
7. Ricardo Lamas (16-5)
8. Daniel Straus (24-6)
9. Patricio Freire (25-3)
10. Cub Swanson (22-7)
With the champ booked for some more heavy duty up at welterweight, the “interim” that Edgar and Aldo are fighting for might be short. The winner might soon be the real thing.
Men’s bantamweight
1. Dominick Cruz (22-1)
2. T.J. Dillashaw (12-3)
3. John Dodson (17-7)
4. John Lineker (27-7)
5. Urijah Faber (33-9)
6. Cody Garbrandt (9-0)
7. Bryan Caraway (21-7)
8. Aljamain Sterling (12-1)
9. Thomas Almeida (21-1)
10. Marlon Moraes (16-4-1)
Between Sterling and Almeida, that was two 0’s gone in 1 night a couple of weeks ago.
Flyweight
1. Demetrious Johnson (24-2-1)
2. Joseph Benavidez (24-4)
3. Henry Cejudo (10-1)
4. Ali Bagautinov (13-4)
5. Jussier da Silva (18-4)
6. Zach Makovsky (19-7)
7. John Moraga (16-4)
8. Kyoji Horiguchi (17-2)
9. Wilson Reis (20-6)
10. Justin Scoggins (11-2)
Mighty Mouse: “Next?” Reis raises hand. Mighty Mouse, looking around: “Anyone?” Reis, waving hand round: “Down here!”
Women’s bantamweight
1. Miesha Tate (18-5)
2. Holly Holm (10-1)
3. Ronda Rousey (12-1)
4. Cat Zingano (9-1)
5. Amanda Nunes (12-4)
6. Julianna Peña (7-2)
7. Tonya Evinger (17-6)
8. Sara McMann (9-3)
9. Valentina Shevchenko (12-2)
10. Raquel Pennington (7-5)
Do you get the feeling this whole division is in suspended animation, waiting for a “Rowdy” return?
Strawweight
1. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (11-0)
2. Claudia Gadelha (13-1)
3. Jessica Aguilar (19-5)
4. Carla Esparza (11-3)
5. Rose Namajunas (5-2)
6. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (9-0)
7. Valerie Letourneau (8-4)
8. Joanne Calderwood (10-1)
9. Tecia Torres (7-1)
10. Maryna Moroz (7-1)
Jedrzejczyk vs. Gadelha II, which is less than a month away, could turn out to be the fight of the summer.
Follow Jeff Wagenheim on Twitter at @jeffwagenheim and on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/jeffwagenheimwriter.
