With multiple events taking place in the last few weeks, the MMA Oddsbreaker rankings were bound to see some shake-ups, and that’s exactly the case in this update, as multiple weight classes saw some major movement. MMA Oddsbreaker’s Brian Hemminger (member of official UFC rankings panel) and Jason Nawara (MiddleEasy editor) have taken over the reigns of the rankings, which should be updated after every UFC event. This time around, every single weight class has seen some movement: Pound for Pound 1. Jon Jones 2. Georges St. Pierre 3. Jose Aldo (3) 4. Anderson Silva (4) 5. Cain Velasquez (NR) 6. Renan Barao (4) 7. Demetrious Johnson (6) 8. Vitor Belfort (NR) 9. Chris Weidman 10. Anthony Pettis Perhaps the most notable shift in the pound for pound rankings in the inclusion of Vitor Belfort. It’s not difficult to argue for Belfort as a “Fighter of the Year” candidate, TRT or no TRT. “The Phenom” has gone 3-0 in 2013 with spectacular knockout finishes of Michael Bisping, Luke Rockhold and Dan Henderson. All three opponents were ranked in the top 10 at both middleweight and light heavyweight respectively. Heavyweight 1. Cain Velasquez 2. Junior Dos Santos 3. Daniel Cormier 4. Fabricio Werdum 5. Josh Barnett (6) 6. Travis Browne (7) 7. Stipe Miocic (NR) 8. Antonio Silva (5) 9. Mark Hunt (NR) 10. Frank Mir (9) Light Heavyweight 1. Jon Jones 2. Alexander Gustafsson 3. Glover Teixeira (5) 4. Rashad Evans (6) 5. Phil Davis (3) 6. Vitor Belfort (NR) 7. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (4) 8. Chael Sonnen (NR) 9. Gegard Mousasi 10. Emanuel Newton Vitor Belfort also gets some love in the light heavyweight rankings after bumping up a division to knock out Dan Henderson earlier this month. Chael Sonnen drops a few places after losing to Rashad Evans via first round TKO and both Sonnen and Mousasi are likely not long for the UFC light heavyweight rankings as both are expected to return to middleweight soon. Middleweight 1. Chris Weidman 2. Anderson Silva 3. Vitor Belfort 4. Jacare Souza 5. Lyoto Machida (7) 6. Michael Bisping 7. Yushin Okami (5) 8. Francis Carmont 9. Costa Philippou 10. Luke Rockhold Welterweight 1. Georges St. Pierre 2. Johny Hendricks 3. Carlos Condit 4. Robbie Lawler (10) 5. Matt Brown (NR) 6. Rory MacDonald (5) 7. Jake Ellenberger (6) 8. Dong Hyun Kim (7) 9. Ben Askren (NR) 10. Jake Shields (8) Robbie Lawler’s tremendous rise is a no-brainer. “Ruthless” has gone 3-0 since returning to the welterweight division and he’s also had a tremendous 2013, scoring knockouts of Josh Koscheck and Bobby Voelker to go with his huge upset of top-ranked Rory MacDonald this past weekend. Lightweight 1. Anthony Pettis 2. Gilbert Melendez (2) 3. Benson Henderson (3) 4. T.J. Grant 5. Josh Thomson (6) 6. Rafael Dos Anjos (7) 7. Eddie Alvarez (9) 8. Michael Chandler (10) 9. Gray Maynard (5) 10. Khabib Nurmagomedov (NR) Featherweight 1. Jose Aldo 2. Chad Mendes (3) 3. Ricardo Lamas (5) 4. Frankie Edgar 5. Cub Swanson (6) 6. Chan Sung Jung (9) 7. Patricio Pitbull (NR) 8. Daniel Straus (NR) 9. Dustin Poirier (7) 10. Pat Curran (2) Daniel Straus and Patricio “Pitbull” Freire debut in the top 10 after terrific performances. Straus upset top-ranked Pat Curran to capture the Bellator featherweight title while Pitbull has won four straight in just four months to claim the Bellator season nine featherweight tournament. Pitbull’s victories were hard-earned, defeating UFC veteran Diego Nunes, top prospect Fabricio Guerreiro and then knocking out Strikeforce veteran Justin Wilcox back-to-back-to-back. Bantamweight 1. Renan Barao (2) 2. Urijah Faber (3) 3. Dominick Cruz (1) 4. Michael McDonald (5) 5. Rafael Assuncao (10) 6. Eddie Wineland (4) 7. Brad Pickett (6) 8. Marlon Moraes 9. Eduardo Dantas 10. Takeya Mizugaki (NR) Flyweight 1. Demetrious Johnson 2. Joseph Benavidez 3. John Dodson 4. Ian McCall 5. John Lineker (6) 6. Jussier Formiga (5) 7. John Moraga (8) 8. Ali Bagautinov (NR) 9. Chris Cariaso (NR) 10. Tim Elliott (7) Ali Bagautinov makes a nice little jump in the rankings after scoring an impressive upset of scrappy American Tim Elliott at UFC 167 this past weekend. The wily Russian was able to avoid most grappling exchanges and land the heavier significant strikes on the feet over the course of three rounds to earn a unanimous decision.
