MMA Fighter Rankings for June 2012
The last thirty days saw minimal major Mixed Martial Arts action, which conversely reflect the minimal changes to the MMA Fighter Rankings for the month of June. The division that saw the most movement was the heavyweight division as UFC 146 featured an all heavyweight main cad and Strikeforce FINALLY concluded their heavyweight grand prix.
With Junior Dos Santos retaining his heavyweight title with a second round TKO win over Frank Mir he also retaining his #1 spot in the MMA Fighter Rankings. Mir on the other hand drops down a notch, allowing Fabricio Werdum, who will be facing Mike Russow later in the month at UFC 147 to move into the third spot. Sticking at the #2 spot is Cain Velasquez who turned Antonio Silva into a bloody mess in the co-main event of UFC 147. Alistair Overeem is still holding on at the #5 position but Strikeforce Grand Prix winner Daniel Cormier is nipping at his tail.
Heading down the division we arrive at the welterweight division that saw Jake Ellenberger reach the #3 spot last month only to get knocked out at the TUF Live Finale and vanish from the ranks. The man who beat him, Martin Kampmann, didn’t replace him in the top five, that went to Johny Hendricks.
Along with Hendricks, two other fighters made their return/debut to the MMA Fighter Rankings this month. Nate Diaz returned to the top 5 following his big win over Jim Miller and Michael McDonald makes his first appearance to the bantamweight ranks after former Bellator champion Zach Makovsky lost to Eduadro Dantas at Bellator 65.
As always the goal here is to give you the best MMA Fighter Rankings that we can provide you with and of course a spot below for you to disagree and complain. So without further ado here is the latest MMAValor.com fighter Rankings:
Key – [↑] = Moved up, [↓] = Moved Down, [•] = New to the list
Heavyweight (205lbs. – 265lbs.)
1. Junior Dos Santos
2. Cain Velasquez
3. Fabricio Werdum [↑]
4. Frank Mir [↓]
5. Alistair Overeem
Knocking on the door: Daniel Cormier, Josh Barnett, Shane Carwin, Travis Browne, Stipe Miocic
Light Heavyweight (205lbs.)
1. Jon Jones
2. Dan Henderson
3. Rashad Evans
4. Mauricio Rua
5. Lyoto Machida
Knocking on the door: Phil Davis, Ryan Jimmo, Alexander Gustafsson
Middleweight (185lbs.)
1. Anderson Silva
2. Chael Sonnen
3. Hector Lombard
4. Mark Munoz
5. Michael Bisping
Knocking on the door: Brian Stann, Vitor Belfort, Luke Rockhold, Ronaldo Souza, Demian Maia, Tim Boetsch, Alan Belcher
Welterweight (170lbs.)
1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Carlos Condit
3. Nick Diaz [↑]
4. Ben Askren [↑]
5. Johny Hendricks [↑]
Knocking on the door: Rory MacDonald, Martin Kampmann, Josh Koscheck, John Hathaway, Jake Ellenberger
Lightweight (155lbs.)
1. Ben Henderson [↑]
2. Gilbert Melendez [↓]
3. Frankie Edgar
4. Gray Maynard
5. Nate Diaz [•]
Knocking on the door: Michael Chandler, Jim Miller, Donald Cerrone, Eddie Alvarez, Anthony Pettis
Featherweight (145lbs.)
1. Jose Aldo
2. Hatsu Hioki
3. Pat Curran
4. Chad Mendes
5. Patricio Freire
Knocking on the door: Joe Warren, Chan Sung Jung, Dustin Poirier, Erik Koch
Bantamweight (135lbs.)
1. Dominik Cruz
2. Urijah Faber
3. Renan Barao [↑]
4. Michael McDonald [•]
5. Scott Jorgenson
Knocking on the door: Ivan Menjivar, Brian Bowles, Brad Pickett, Eduardo Dantas, Zach Makovsky
Flyweight (125lbs.)
1. Joseph Benavides
2. Ian McCall
3. Demetrious Johnson
4. Jussier Da Silva
5. Yasuhiro Urushitani
Knocking on the door: John Dodson, Louis Gaudinot
MMA Fighter Rankings as of 6/4/2012
Category: Bellator, Exclusive, Featured, MMA, Opinion, Rankings, Strikeforce, UFC