MMA in April was defined by action out of the cage. Titles were stripped, gavels were banged, and free agents found new homes.
However, action in the cage defined MMA in May. The UFC and Bellator both put forward some of their top talent, which shook up the rankings accordingly.
Check out our rules and requirements for rankings here. Here are our special notes for this month:
- Bellator stripped former middleweight champion Brandon Halsey of the title for missing weight ahead of his bout with Kendall Grove, but he will remain on the 185-pound rankings. This will change should he opt to move to the light heavyweight division.
- Benson Henderson, despite discussing his interest in making a full-time move to the welterweight division, will remain in consideration for the lightweight rankings. This will change, however, should he be scheduled for another fight at 170 pounds.
- We removed UFC bantamweight Michael McDonald from consideration due to inactivity. He will be eligible once again following his return to active competition.
Flyweight
@BR_MMA flyweight rankings for June 2015 from @HunterAHomistek, @BigRilesMMA, @McCarterN and @srondina. pic.twitter.com/ivvybUZp2L
— Steven Rondina (@srondina) June 2, 2015
Three bouts involving two top-10 flyweights went down in May with few surprises. John Dodson and Joseph Benavidez took decisions at UFC 187 over Zach Makovsky and John Moraga, respectively. Jussier da Silva, meanwhile, pulled off a big win over Wilson Reis at Fight Night 67.
None of the wins were particularly impressive, but all were good enough to keep any doubt regarding their place in the rankings from seeping in.
Bantamweight
@BR_MMA bantamweight rankings for June 2015 from @HunterAHomistek, @BigRilesMMA, @McCarterN and @srondina. pic.twitter.com/qJLqJaOaiW
— Steven Rondina (@srondina) June 2, 2015
The bantamweight division was deceptively quiet in May, with the only especially relevant fight being a Bellator showdown between Mike Richman and Eduardo Dantas.
Dantas put on a solid performance against a spry (read: overweight) Richman and did his part to keep the promotion's top trio of bantamweights hard to figure out. Dantas, former champion Joe Warren and current champion Marcos Galvao have all demonstrated great skill but have glaring holes in their games. Couple that with their rock-paper-scissors matchups against one another, and it's easy to wonder whether one, two, all or none deserve top-10 status.
In the UFC, Urijah Faber took a (seemingly) one-off featherweight fight bout opposite Frankie Edgar, which he lost decisively. The poor outing saw him bumped out of a fourth-place tie with Raphael Assuncao.
Featherweight
@BR_MMA featherweight rankings for June 2015 from @HunterAHomistek, @BigRilesMMA, @McCarterN and @srondina. pic.twitter.com/xSA5ab3ilv
— Steven Rondina (@srondina) June 2, 2015
As stated, Frankie Edgar defeated Urijah Faber. That was not particularly surprising and only served to reinforce what we already know: Edgar is one of the best fighters in MMA today.
The biggest shake-up came following UFC Fight Night 67, which saw Charles Oliveira pull off a huge win over Nik Lentz. After two rounds of back-and-forth action, Oliveira locked up a downright scary guillotine choke that folded Lentz in half. It was a huge win for the rising Brazilian, who gets to keep himself in the thick of a fast-moving, talent-rich featherweight division.
Lightweight
@BR_MMA lightweight rankings for June 2015 from @HunterAHomistek, @BigRilesMMA, @McCarterN and @srondina. pic.twitter.com/nxF5JiQuKQ
— Steven Rondina (@srondina) June 2, 2015
It was mostly quiet on the lightweight front in May unfortunately. The UFC scrapped the highly anticipated top contender bout between Donald Cerrone and Khabib Nurmagomedov when Nurmagomedov withdrew due to a knee injury. Cerrone instead dominated an overmatched John Makdessi and earned himself a crack at the title.
While it did little for him in terms of his position in the rankings, it certainly helped him get to the next level in his career. The title fight is likely to go down in the fall, so anticipate a big rankings shake-up before the holidays.
Welterweight
@BR_MMA welterweight rankings for June 2015 from @HunterAHomistek, @BigRilesMMA, @McCarterN and @srondina. pic.twitter.com/8SHr4wFSE5
— Steven Rondina (@srondina) June 2, 2015
Carlos Condit is back, folks. At UFC Fight Night 67, NBK demolished a resurgent Thiago Alves and reasserted himself as one of the top dogs at 170 pounds. While Alves isn't an elite talent these days, Condit's win was convincing and removed any doubt about his health following 14 months out of the cage due to a knee injury.
Middleweight
@BR_MMA middleweight rankings for June 2015 from @HunterAHomistek, @BigRilesMMA, @McCarterN and @srondina. pic.twitter.com/j3RS5jnmKF
— Steven Rondina (@srondina) June 2, 2015
Gegard Mousasi continued to rebuild his contender status by lighting up Costas Philippou at UFC Fight Night 66. Mousasi was heavily favored entering the fight and lived up to the expectations, maintaining his standing in the rankings.
At UFC 187, Chris Weidman made his return to the Octagon and absolutely mauled a frail, deflated Vitor Belfort. It was a strong win for Weidman, but a loss that made it easy to question whether a post-TRT Belfort could be considered a legitimate threat in the cage.
Light Heavyweight
@BR_MMA light heavyweight rankings for June 2015 from @HunterAHomistek, @BigRilesMMA, @McCarterN and @srondina. pic.twitter.com/1l89i0rd9I
— Steven Rondina (@srondina) June 2, 2015
Like it or not, Daniel Cormier is now the UFC light heavyweight champion and the top-ranked light heavyweight in MMA after thrashing Anthony "Rumble" Johnson. Johnson slides back into the second-place spot, and Alexander Gustafsson moves to third. Expect things to stay that way until Jon Jones' return.
Heavyweight
@BR_MMA heavyweight rankings for June 2015 from @HunterAHomistek, @BigRilesMMA, @McCarterN and @srondina. pic.twitter.com/RQOw0bMS7O
— Steven Rondina (@srondina) June 2, 2015
The heavyweight division was shuffled up in a big way in May. Stipe Miocic trounced Mark Hunt at UFC Fight Night 65, returning to his wrestling base and showing improved cardio in a performance that made it easy to wonder if he might be the first man to truly challenge Cain Velasquez for the heavyweight title. Two weeks later, Andrei Arlovski continued his improbable run back to the top of the UFC, as he defeated Travis Browne with a surprising knockout.
Needless to say, the rankings look a fair bit different today than they did a month ago.
Top-5 Fighters Fighting in June:
- Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum (UFC 188)
- Lyoto Machida vs. Yoel Romero (The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 4 Finale)
