Cain Velasquez, Ronda Rousey still atop Times’ MMA rankings

A crazy month in the heavyweight division leads to a bit of a shakeup in September’s MMA rankins.

Heavyweight

1. Cain Velasquez

2. Fabricio Werdum

3. Junior Dos Santos

4. Travis Browne

5. Josh Barnett

6. Mark Hunt

7. Stipe Miocic

8. Antonio Silva

9. Ben Rothwell

10. Roy Nelson

It was a month of heavyweight upheaval. Longtime top heavyweight Alistair Overeem falls from the rankings after losing via knockout for the third time in four fights against Beth Rothwell. Overeem’s chin appears gone. Antonio Silva was knocked out for the second time in three fights against one time champion Andrei Arlovski. It was a win that likely said far more about Silva than Arlovski, but time will tell. Mark Hunt then scored a rare TKO win over Roy Nelson. It’s a division with a lot of uncertainty beyond the top few fighters.

Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones

2. Alexander Gustafsson

3. Daniel Cormier

4. Anthony Johnson

5. Rashad Evans

6. Phil Davis

7. Glover Teixeira

8. Ryan Bader

9. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

10. Dan Henderson

Unfortunately, the biggest news of the month in the 205 pound division came outside the Octagon, with contender Anthony Johnson suspended indefinitely by the UFC following allegations of domestic violence. That leaves Alexander Gustafsson in strong position to get the next title shot after Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier collide in one of MMA’s most eagerly anticipated fights.

Middleweight

1. Chris Weidman

2. Anderson Silva

3. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

4. Lyoto Machida

5. Vitor Belfort

6. Luke Rockhold

7. Gegard Mousasi

8. Yushin Okami

9. Tim Kennedy

10. Michael Bisping

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza looked like a world beater in his destruction of the durable and dangerous Gegard Mousasi. Showcasing both great standup and a great ground game, Jacare will be a handful for any opponent and deserves a shot at champion Chris Weidman. In other action, Michael Bisping delivered a much needed impressive performance in a victory over Cung Le. Bisping has a chance to move back into the title picture if he can defeat rival Luke Rockhold.

Welterweight

1. Johny Hendricks

2. Robbie Lawler

3. Rory MacDonald

4. Tyron Woodley

5. Ben Askren

6. Carlos Condit

7. Matt Brown

8. Jake Ellenberger

9. Hector Lombard

10. Demian Maia

Tyron Woodley rebounded from a flat performance against Rory MacDonald by destroying Dong Hyun Kim in little over a minute, ensuring he will remain in the mix with the division’s best fighters. Ben Askren was also extremely impressive in quickly dispatching 11-1 Nobutatsu Suzuki with punches. Sadly, Askren is competing in Asia’s One FC organization rather than fighting the division’s best in the UFC because the UFC wrongly decided not to offer Askren a contract when he made overtures to join the company.

Lightweight

1. Anthony Pettis

2. Gilbert Melendez

3. Khabib Nurmagomedov

4. Eddie Alvarez

5. Rafael Dos Anjos

6. Ben Henderson

7. Donald Cerrone

8. Michael Chandler

9. Nate Diaz

10. T.J. Grant

Rafael Dos Anjos stunned the MMA world with a first round knockout of elite lightweight Ben Henderson. Dos Anjos is now in the deep mix for the shot at the winner of Anthony Pettis vs. Gilbert Melendez with the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Eddie Alvarez and Donald Cerrone.

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo

2. Chad Mendes

3. Cub Swanson

4. Frank Edgar

5. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire

6. Dustin Poirier

7. Dennis Bermudez

8. Pat Curran

9. Ricardo Lamas

10. Daniel Straus

Patricio “Pitbull” Freire scored the biggest win of his career, capturing the Bellator featherweight title from Pat Curran via decision. Freire is one of the most underrated fighters in the sport and one of the world’s best featherweights.

Bantamweight

1. T.J. Dillashaw

2. Renan Barao

3. Dominick Cruz

4. Urijah Faber

5. Raphael Assuncao

6. Michael McDonald

7. Takeya Mizugaki

8. Bibiano Fernandes

9. Eduardo Dantas

10. Iuri Alcantara

UFC 177 turned into one of the biggest debacles in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s history, culminating with Renan Barao pulling out of the main event after struggling to cut weight. That led to T.J. Dillashaw defending his bantamweight title against promotional newcomer Joe Soto. Dillashaw won via fifth round knockout. The division will receive a much needed dose of excitement Saturday night when Dominick Cruz finally returns to action. A win over Takeya Mizugaki and Cruz could be coming for Dillashaw.

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Ronda Rousey

2. Cat Zingano

3. Sarah Kaufman

4. Miesha Tate

5. Sara McMann

6. Alexis Davis

7. Jessica Eye

8. Jessica Andrade

9. Bethe Correia

10. Amanda Nunes

The most impressive performance of the month in the women’s bantamweight division was Jessica Andrade’s first round stoppage of previously unbeaten Larissa Pacheco. Fellow Brazilian Bethe Correia has gotten more press but Andrade has performed at a higher level thus far in the Octagon. Miesha Tate ended the unbeaten record of another fighter when she took a clear decision over Rin Nakai in Japan.

Flyweight

1. Demetrious Johnson

2. Joseph Benavidez

3. John Dodson

4. Ian McCall

5. John Moraga