With UFC 197 and Bellator 153 taking place last weekend, the MMAOddsBreaker rankings were bound to get shaken up. MMAOddsbreaker’s Brian Hemminger (@BrianHemminger) has taken over the reigns of the rankings, which are updated after nearly every UFC event. As always, we only show changes in the rankings with this update. To access the full MMAOddsBreaker rankings, click here. Disagree? Feel free to give us your take on our rankings either in the comment section here or on Twitter! Pound-for-Pound 1. Demetrious Johnson (+1) 2. Jon Jones (-1) 3. Dominick Cruz 4. Fabricio Werdum 5. Frankie Edgar 6. Rafael dos Anjos 7. Luke Rockhold 8. TJ Dillashaw 9. Robbie Lawler 10. Daniel Cormier 11. Khabib Nurmagomedov 12. Conor McGregor 13. Chris Weidman 14. Jose Aldo 15. Joanna Jedrzedczyk Plain and simple, Demetrious Johnson and Jon Jones are the two best fighters in the world at this point in time. Neither has ever truly lost at their defined weight class and both fought this past weekend. Johnson absolutely obliterated an undefeated Olympic champion in half of one round while Jones earned a one-sided decision over Ovince Saint Preux. Jones was dominant but he looked a bit rusty and to be honest, he should have been able to finish Saint Preux at some point. Even Jones admitted he was disappointed in his overall performance during his post-fight interview. With all that out of the way, I’ve decided to flip-flop both fighters in the pound for pound rankings. Middleweight 1. Luke Rockhold 2. Chris Weidman 3. Yoel Romero 4. Jacare Souza 5. Vitor Belfort 6. Gegard Mousasi 7. Lyoto Machida 8. Michael Bisping 9. Anderson Silva 10. Derek Brunson (+1) 11. Robert Whittaker (+1) 12. Tim Kennedy (-2) 13. Thales Leites 14. Thiago Santos 15. Rafael Natal Robert Whittaker defeated Rafael Natal with a strong overall performance, earning a decision against the Brazilian and nearly finishing his opponent on multiple occasions. He moves up in the rankings and I’ve decided to drop the inactive Tim Kennedy down a peg or two. If Kennedy continues to bluster on twitter without actually booking fights, he might be removed from the rankings completely. Welterweight 1. Robbie Lawler 2. Rory MacDonald 3. Stephen Thompson 4. Tyron Woodley 5. Johny Hendricks 6. Carlos Condit 7. Ben Askren 8. Demian Maia 9. Neil Magny 10. Hector Lombard 11. Rousimar Palhares 12. Matt Brown 13. Andrey Koreshkov (NR) 14. Albert Tumenov 15. Dong Hyun Kim Nothing crazy here. I simply swapped out Benson Henderson from my welterweight rankings and replaced him with Bellator champion Andrey Koreshkov, who absolutely obliterated the “Smooth” UFC veteran with the best performance of the young Russian’s career. Koreshkov could continue to surge in the rankings because I don’t see anyone challenging him legitimately any time soon. Henderson meanwhile will likely look to return to the lightweight division. Lightweight 1. Khabib Nurmagomedov 2. Rafael dos Anjos 3. Eddie Alvarez 4. Tony Ferguson (+1) 5. Nate Diaz (+1) 6. Donald Cerrone (+1) 7. Will Brooks (+1) 8. Edson Barboza (+6) 9. Anthony Pettis (-5) 10. Gilbert Melendez (-1) 11. Adriano Martins (-1) 12. Rashid Magomedov (-1) 13. Dustin Poirier (-1) 14. Justin Gaethje (-1) 15. Mairbek Taisumov Anthony Pettis’ loss was Edson Barboza’s gain. Somehow, “Showtime” has now dropped three straight fights despite at one point looking like an unbeatable UFC champion. I’m not sure what will fix him whether it’s a change of scenery, dropping down to the featherweight division or perhaps a tune-up fight against less dangerous opposition. Regardless, Barboza was able to win relatively easily and Pettis has now officially dropped from the elite 155-pounders in the world. Featherweight 1. Conor McGregor 2. Jose Aldo 3. Frankie Edgar 4. Max Holloway 5. Chad Mendes 6. Ricardo Lamas 7. Cub Swanson 8. Charles Oliveira 9. Mirsad Bektik 10. Daniel Straus 11. Jeremy Stephens 12. Dennis Bermudez 13. Patricio Pitbull (+2) 14. Hacran Dias (-1) 15. Yair Rodriguez (NR) Yair Rodriguez made a statement at UFC 197. He crushed Andre Fili, picking up a one-sided highlight reel stoppage victory to cement himself as a contender in the division. I felt he earned a spot in the top 15 with his performance so he makes his debut. Former Bellator champion Patricio “Pitbull” Frierre also was in action this past weekend, earning a second round submission victory against an overmatched opponent. Pitbull’s gain was more due to the fact that I felt Hacran Dias should be ranked a tad lower. Women’s Strawweight 1. Joanna Jedrzejczyk 2. Claudia Gadelha 3. Rose Namajunas (+1) 4. Carla Esparza (-1) 5. Tecia Torres 6. Jessica Aguilar 7. Valerie Letourneau 8. Karolina Kowalkiewicz 9. Liva Souza 10. Marina Moroz 11. Jessica Penne 12. Randa Markos 13. Joanne Calderwood 14. Alexa Grasso 15. Paige VanZant This is a rare winner dropping a peg. Carla Esparza holds a win over Rose Namajunas and Esparza defeated Julianna Lima this past weekend, but I feel if Esparza faces Namajunas again, she’d lose. Esparza is extremely one-dimensional and is very exposed in the stand-up portion of the fight. With Namajunas recently besting Tecia Torres in a close rematch, I think she would do the same against Esparza so I had to move her up after seeing no real improvement in Esparza’s game this past weekend.
