Conor McGregor to the top of his class in Times’ MMA rankings

A big month for UFC led to some movement in The Times’ MMA rankings for December:

Heavyweight

1. Fabricio Werdum
2. Cain Velasquez
3. Junior Dos Santos
4. Stipe Miocic
5. Andrei Arlovski
6. Travis Browne
7. Josh Barnett
8. Ben Rothwell
9. Alistair Overeem
10. Mark Hunt

It was a very busy month in the world of MMA, but not so much in the heavyweight division. This Saturday the action will pick back up when Alistair Overeem and Junior Dos Santos finally do battle. The two big time strikers have been linked as potential opponents for years, although unfortunately at this point both appear to be on the career decline.

Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones
2. Daniel Cormier
3. Anthony Johnson
4. Ryan Bader
5. Alexander Gustafsson
6. Phil Davis
7. Glover Teixeira
8. Rashad Evans
9. Liam McGeary
10. Ovince St. Preux

As the light heavyweight division awaits the return of Jon Jones, Anthony Johnson and Ryan Bader will square off in January looking to put themselves in position to earn a 2016 title shot against Jones or current champion Daniel Cormier.

Middleweight

1. Luke Rockhold
2. Chris Weidman
3. Yoel Romero
4. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
5. Anderson Silva
6. Lyoto Machida
7. Vitor Belfort
8. Tim Kennedy
9. Michael Bisping
10. Gegard Mousasi

After years of hard work, Luke Rockhold finally made his way to the top of the middleweight division at UFC 194. Rockhold’s destruction of proud and talented UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman emphatically marked Rockhold as the best 185 pound fighter in the world. Up next for Rockhold should be Cuban wrecking machine Yoel Romero, who picked up a close decision over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza on the same card.

Welterweight

1. Robbie Lawler
2. Johny Hendricks
3. Rory MacDonald
4. Tyron Woodley
5. Demian Maia
6. Ben Askren
7. Carlos Condit
8. Hector Lombard
9. Dong Hyun Kim
10. Benson Henderson

The welterweight division is currently as stacked as it has ever been and there is more parity than there is in other divisions. Demian Maia scored the most impressive win of the month, dominating ground ace Gunnar Nelson at Nelson’s own game. Dong Hyun Kim looked great in his own right, knocking out Dominic Waters in the first round. Benson Henderson slips into the top 10 with a win over Jorge Masvidal and is now a free agent. Knocking on the door is Neil Magny, who picked up his ninth win in his last ten UFC fights against Kelvin Gastelum.

Lightweight

1. Rafael Dos Anjos
2. Khabib Nurmagomedov
3. Anthony Pettis
4. Donald Cerrone
5. Tony Ferguson
6. Eddie Alvarez
7. Gilbert Melendez
8. Will Brooks
9. Beneil Dariush
10. Michael Johnson

The UFC lightweight title will be on the line Saturday night on Fox when Rafael Dos Anjos defends his title against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. If Cerrone wins, he could defend next against Conor McGregor, moving up in weight. Tony Ferguson picked up one of the biggest wins of his career, submitting dangerous Edson Barboza. Ferguson will be due for an elite opponent next time out.

Featherweight

1. Conor McGregor
2. Jose Aldo
3. Frankie Edgar
4. Max Holloway
5. Chad Mendes
6. Ricardo Lamas
7. Cub Swanson
8. Daniel Straus
9. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire
10. Charles Oliveira

Conor McGregor did it. After years of big promises, he delivered as big as he possibly could, ending Jose Aldo’s ten year unbeaten streak with a 13 second knockout. McGregor is going to be printing money for at least the next few years. His next opponent could be Frankie Edgar, who was again excellent in a first round knockout of tough opponent Chad Mendes. Max Holloway wasn’t impressive in a lackluster decision win over Jeremy Stephens, but he called out McGregor for a fight in his home state of Hawaii anyway. Good luck with that, Max. Ricardo Lamas also picked up a win over Diego Sanchez, who unfortunately at this stage doesn’t offer a lot beyond his ability to take punishment.

Bantamweight

1. T.J. Dillashaw
2. Dominick Cruz
3. Renan Barao
4. Urijah Faber
5. Raphael Assuncao
6. Bibiano Fernandes
7. Thomas Almeida
8. Aljamain Sterling
9. Marlon Moraes
10. Takeya Mizugaki

Frankie Saenz was game, but Urijah Faber was good enough to get by on a decision against Saenz and now is looking at a fight with former friend and training partner T.J. Dillashaw. Aljamain Sterling submitted Johnny Eduardo and will now test free agency as one of the most intriguing prospects in the lighter weight classes.

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Holly Holm
2. Ronda Rousey
3. Miesha Tate
4. Cat Zingano
5. Alexis Davis
6. Amanda Nunes
7. Sara McMann
8. Sarah Kaufman
9. Julianna Pena
10. Jessica Eye

Holly Holm wants to defend her title against Miesha Tate before squaring off in a rematch with Ronda Rousey, but UFC has been insistent she will have to wait for Rousey. It’s the sensible business move as Tate defeating Holm would cost UFC a ton of money.

Flyweight

1. Demetrious Johnson
2. Joseph Benavidez
3. John Dodson
4. Henry Cejudo
5. Jussier Formiga

Women’s Strawweight

1. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2. Claudia Gadelha
3. Jessica Aguilar
4. Carla Esparza
5. Jessica Penne