With a pair of 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 every weight class sees some sort of change. Also of note, we’re switching to a top 10-based format for all weight divisions rather than top 15. This time around, it’s the middleweight, welterweight, lightweight and bantamweight divisions that see some major shifts. Without further ado: Middleweight 1. Chris Weidman 2. Anderson Silva 3. Vitor Belfort 4. Jacare Souza 5. Yushin Okami 6. Michael Bisping 7. Francis Carmont (NR) 8. Costa Philippou (7) 9. Mark Munoz (8) 10. Luke Rockhold (9) Riding a six-fight winning streak, Francis Carmont debuts in the top 10 after a dominant, albeit lackluster victory over fellow top 10 opponent Costa Philippou at UFC 165 late last month. It was by far Carmont’s biggest victory of his career and it will be interesting to see if the Tristar product will be able to get away with a similar gameplan as he continues to move further up the divisional ladder. Welterweight 1.Georges St-Pierre 2. Johny Hendricks 3. Carlos Condit 4. Martin Kampmann (5) 5. Rory MacDonald (6) 6. Jake Ellenberger (7) 7. Demian Maia (4) 8. Dong Hyun Kim (NR) 9. Robbie Lawler 10. Josh Koscheck Two big movers and shakers at welterweight as Demian Maia drops three places after dropping a split decision to Jake Shields in the main event of UFC Fight Night 29 on Wednesday night in a bout where he was able to hold his own on the feet and score a couple takedowns but was unable to stay on top or get back up when finding himself on bottom. Dong Hyun Kim also makes his debut after knocking top prospect Erick Silva out in the second round, moving his overall record to 18-2-1 (1 NC) with his third straight win. Lightweight 1. Anthony Pettis 2. Ben Henderson 3. Gilbert Melendez 4. TJ Grant 5. Gray Maynard 6. Josh Thomson 7. Rafael Dos Anjos 8. Nate Diaz 9. Michael Chandler 10. Khabib Nurmagomedov (NR) Still unbeaten at 21-0 overall, Khabib Nurmagomedov debuts in the rankings after knocking off Pat Healy at UFC 165 with an impressive display of takedowns, top control, constant pressure and conditioning en route to a unanimous decision. The wily Russian has made great strides since beginning training at American Kickboxing Academy alongside fellow top 10-ranked lightweight Josh Thomson. Bantamweight 1. Renan Barao 2. Dominick Cruz 3. Urijah Faber 4. Eddie Wineland 5. Michael McDonald 6. Brad Pickett 7. Scott Jorgenson 8. Marlon Moraes 9. Eduardo Dantas 10. Raphael Assuncao (NR) Raphael Assuncao debuts in the rankings after winning a close split decision against top prospect TJ Dillashaw on Wednesday night at UFC Fight Night 29, moving to 4-0 overall since dropping down to the bantamweight division. Assuncao will likely be in title contention with one more victory.
