Ladies and gentlemen, the Bleacher Report MMA rankings are back. After a couple of months off, we’ve returned with a few major changes.
Most obvious would be the different format. After a long while of cramming tweets into one long single-page article, we are now returning to the original slideshow format, dedicating a slide to each division. You will find the top 10 listed off there, with all the major statistics for each fighter.
Second, two new divisions have been added; women’s 135 pounds and women’s 115 pounds. Other women’s divisions were considered, but with the current MMA landscape, which sees talent from 105, 125 and 145 pounds flooding into the UFC’s two divisions, it doesn’t really make sense when any given ranked atomweight, flyweight or featherweight could leave her division at a moment’s notice.
Finally, while the monthly rankings retain the same scoring system and panel-based approach, the lineup of voters has changed. The rankings now feature a five-man band of Chad Dundas, Nathan McCarter, Steven Rondina, Jonathan Snowden and Patrick Wyman. The scoring format remains the same, but obviously having five cards to work with is quite a bit different than having four.
So read on, MMA fans, and feel free to politely comment down below. You can find each panelist’s rankings on the following Twitter links.