L.A. Times October MMA Rankings
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Heavyweight
1. Cain Velasquez
2. Junior Dos Santos
3. Alistair Overeem
4. Brock Lesnar
5. Fabricio Werdum
6. Daniel Cormier
7. Josh Barnett
8. Frank Mir
9. Antonio Silva
10. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
It was a busy month for MMA in every decision except heavyweight. With Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos, Alistair Overeem vs. Brock Lesnar and Daniel Cormier vs. Josh Barnett on the horizon, the biggest heavyweight bouts of the past month featured Travis Browne scoring an underwhelming win over Rob Broughton and Stefan Struve submitting Pat Barry.
Light Heavyweight
1. Jon Jones
2. Rashad Evans
3. Lyoto Machida
4. Quinton Jackson
5. Dan Henderson
6. Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua
7. Gegard Mousasi
8. Thiago Silva
9. Forrest Griffin
10. Rich Franklin
Jon Jones scored the most impressive win of his career in his first UFC Light Heavyweight Title defense at UFC 135. Quinton Jackson showed up in great shape and kept pushing Jones, but he was no match for Jones’ much more varied and dynamic offense. That would have seemed to set up Rashad Evans finally getting his shot at Jones, but due to a hand injury he was passed in line again. Lyoto Machida will receive the next title shot at Jones December in Toronto. Evans took the news in stride and will fight the winner.
Middleweight
1. Anderson Silva
2. Chael Sonnen
3. Yushin Okami
4. Mark Munoz
5. Vitor Belfort
6. Michael Bisping
7. Nate Marquardt
8. Demian Maia
9. Hector Lombard
10. Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza
Chael Sonnen returned to UFC competition with a dominant win over Brian Stann at UFC 136. Stann was no match for Sonnen’s wrestling and Sonnen is now in position to get his rematch with Anderson Silva. Sonnen dominated the first bout before being caught late in a triangle for the submission. In the main event of UFC 138 November 5 Mark Munoz will look to put himself in position for a title shot when he fights fellow contender Chris Leben.
Welterweight
1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Nick Diaz
4. Carlos Condit
5. Josh Koscheck
6. B.J. Penn
7. Jake Ellenberger
8. Jake Shields
9. Martin Kampmann
10. Rory MacDonald
Jake Ellenberger established himself as a welterweight contender with an upset TKO win over Jake Shields in New Orleans. Ellenberger looked physically much stronger than Shields and will be a difficult challenge for anyone in the division. In other top action, Josh Koscheck scored a late first round knockout of Matt Hughes at UFC 135. Hughes did well in the striking for much of the round, but Koscheck’s power proved to be too much. This month, Georges St. Pierre will battle Carlos Condit for the welterweight crown while B.J. Penn and Nick Diaz compete to try to earn the next title shot.
Lightweight
1. Frank Edgar
2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Gray Maynard
4. Eddie Alvarez
5. Ben Henderson
6. Clay Guida
7. Jim Miller
8. Anthony Pettis
9. Melvin Guillard
10. Shinya Aoki
Frank Edgar retained the UFC Lightweight Title by defeating Gray Maynard in their third bout. Maynard again proved a worthy challenger by nearly stopping Edgar in the first round, but Edgar engineered another remarkable comeback. Maynard doesn’t move down the rankings given how dangerous he once again looked. The same can’t be said for Melvin Guillard, whose stock tumbles following a quick submission loss to Joe Lauzon. Guillard was caught by a punch and Lauzon capitalized in a hurry. Also in action this month, Anthony Pettis scored a hard fought win over Jeremy Stephens.
Featherweight
1. Jose Aldo
2. Chad Mendes
3. Hatsu Hioki
4. Mark Hominick
5. Kenny Florian
6. Dustin Poirier
7. Diego Nunes
8. Erik Koch
9. Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Freire
10. Joe Warren
Kenny Florian failed in his third effort to capture a UFC title, losing via decision to Jose Aldo. Next in line is Chad Mendes, whose wrestling presents different problems for Aldo. Erik Koch also scored one of the more high profile wins of his career via decision over Ultimate Fighter winner Jonathan Brookins. Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren suffered a brutal knockout loss at bantamweight to Alexis Vila.
Bantamweight
1. Dominick Cruz
2. Joseph Benavidez
3. Brian Bowles
4. Demetrious Johnson
5. Urijah Faber
6. Miguel Torres
7. Scott Jorgensen
8. Wagnney Fabiano
9. Masakatsu Ueda
10. Renan Barao
Dominick Cruz retained his bantamweight title via unanimous decision against Demetrious Johnson. Cruz typically wins with speed and striking, but he beat Johnson with size and wrestling. It was an interesting turnaround. Brian Bowles and Urijah Faber fight November 19 in San Jose with the winner likely getting the next title shot.
--Todd Martin
