No fighter from this past weekend’s UFC on FX 8 event put on a more electrifying performance than headliner Vitor Belfort, who blasted former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold with a violent first-round spinning heel kick. The victory moved Belfort into the No. 2 spot in this week’s USA TODAY Sports and MMAjunkie.com MMA middleweight rankings. It also earned him an honorable-mention slot in our pound-for-pound rankings.
But he wasn’t the only winner whose ranking improved. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Rafael dos Anjos, Nik Lentz and John Lineker also saw some movement.
And don’t forget: Next week’s rankings will get a major shakeup with Saturday’s UFC 160 event, where four of the world’s top heavyweights clash.
The rankings take into account a fighter's wins/losses, quality of competition, finishing rate/dominance and frequency of fights.
Fighters are no longer eligible to be ranked after they've been inactive for 24 months, either due to injuries, drug/conduct suspensions, contract disputes or self-imposed hiatuses.
Fighters serving drug/conduct suspensions are eligible to be ranked, so long as they're not inactive for more than 24 months.
To the best of our ability, fighters will be ranked in their primary weight class. Catchweight fights and bouts outside the fighter's primary weight class can have a positive or negative impact on the ranking. However, fighters can be ranked in only one weight class at a given time, and in most cases, they won't be ranked in a new weight class until they've had their first fight at that weight.