With so many events in rapid succession, the MMA Oddsbreaker rankings were bound to see some shake ups, and that’s exactly the case in this update, as every weight class other than Welterweight and Bantamweight see some sort of change. Pound-for-Pound The two biggest changes in the pound-for-pound rankings both feature fighters dropping out of the rankings rather than those joining them. After being defeated for the second time by Anthony Pettis — who makes his own debut at #10 — former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson drops from #5 out of the rankings entirely. Also, due to his prolonged inactivity, UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz also drops out of the rankings. Renan Barao jumps in to take Cruz’s spot, and actually moves one notch higher, as he debuts at #5. 1. Jon Jones 2. Georges St-Pierre 3. Anderson Silva 4. Jose Aldo 5. Renan Barao (UR) 6. Johny Hendricks (7) 7. Gilbert Melendez (8) 8. Demetrious Johnson (9) 9. Chris Weidman (10) 10. Anthony Pettis (UR) Heavyweight One big change at heavyweight, and it comes in the form of Josh Barnett making a long awaited return to the UFC. He did so emphatically, knocking out Frank Mir inside the first round at UFC 164, and vaulted himself from #10 to #6 in the rankings, forcing everyone else down a notch. 1. Cain Velasquez 2. Junior dos Santos 3. Daniel Cormier 4. Fabricio Werdum 5. Antonio Silva 6. Josh Barnett (10) 7. Travis Browne (6) 8. Alistair Overeem (7) 9. Frank Mir (8) 10. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (9) 11. Mark Hunt 12. Stipe Miocic 13. Roy Nelson 14. Stefan Struve 15. Gabriel Gonzaga Light-Heavyweight Just like heavyweight, only one big change at 205. With his comeback KO over Ryan Bader, Glover Teixeira leapfrogs former champions Rashad Evans and Dan Henderson into the #6 spot. Although there are some fighters ahead of him in our rankings, Teixeira is on deck for the next crack at the title Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson will be contesting at UFC 165 on September 21st. 1. Jon Jones 2. Alexander Gustafsson 3. Phil Davis 4. Lyoto Machida 5. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira 6. Glover Teixeira (8) 7. Rashad Evans (6) 8. Dan Henderson (7) 9. Ryan Bader 10. Gegard Mousasi 11. James Te Huna 12. Emanuel Newton 13. Attila Vegh 14. Thiago Silva 15. Rafael Cavalcante Middleweight It was Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza’s right hand, not his grappling, that carried him from the #9 spot all the way up to #4 as he dispatched Yushin Okami with ease. Souza now enters a league with Vitor Belfort, as both are simply waiting for the saga between Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva to reach its conclusion. 1. Chris Weidman 2. Anderson Silva 3. Vitor Belfort 4. Jacare Souza (9) 5. Yushin Okami (4) 6. Michael Bisping (5) 7. Costa Philippou (6) 8. Mark Munoz (7) 9. Luke Rockhold (8) 10. Tim Boetsch 11. Alan Belcher 12. Brian Stann 13. Cung Le 14. Alexander Shlemenko 15. Francis Carmont Lightweight A couple of moves at 155, and the first is no shock. Anthony Pettis moves to the #1 spot with his stunning submission of Benson Henderson at UFC 164. The other big change comes in the form of Rafael dos Anjos garnering his most impressive victory with a decision over Donald Cerrone. Finally, Gleison Tibau slides into the 15th spot of the rankings following his victory over Jamie Varner. 1. Anthony Pettis (4) 2. Ben Henderson (1) 3. Gilbert Melendez (2) 4. TJ Grant (3) 5. Gray Maynard 6. Josh Thomson 7. Rafael Dos Anjos (11) 8. Nate Diaz (7) 9. Michael Chandler 10. Donald Cerrone (8) 11. Eddie Alvarez (10) 12. Pat Healy 13. Jim Miller 14. Khabib Nurmagomedov 15. Gleison Tibau (UR) Featherweight With his entertaining win over Erik Koch at UFC 164, Dustin Poirier makes the biggest move in the featherweight division by jumping from #12 to #7. Not to be outdone, Darren Elkins debuts all the way up at #10 by virtue of his win over Hatsu Hioki. 1. Jose Aldo 2. Pat Curran 3. Chad Mendes 4. Frankie Edgar 5. Ricardo Lamas 6. Cub Swanson (8) 7. Dustin Poirier (12) 8. Clay Guida (6) 9. Chan Sung Jung (7) 10. Darren Elkins (UR) 11. Daniel Straus (9) 12. Nik Lentz (10) 13. Dennis Siver 14. Hacran Dias 15. Magomedrasul Khasbulaev Flyweight One big change at 125 pounds comes in the form of the oft-underrated Tim Elliott moving from being unranked to the #6 spot after dominating Louis Gaudinot. Heavy-hitting, weight-missing Brazilian John Lineker also moves up the rankings from #7 to #5. If it weren’t for the domination of Joseph Benavidez, either man would be deserving of the next crack at champion Demetrious Johnson, but the fight fans want to see at this point is a rematch of the inaugural flyweight title fight from September 2012. 1. Demetrious Johnson 2. Joseph Benavidez 3. John Dodson 4. Ian McCall 5. John Lineker (7) 6. Tim Elliot (UR) 7. Jussier da Silva (5) 8. John Moraga 9. Louis Gaudinot (6) 10. Darrell Montague (9)
