The last time Cain Velasquez was ranked No. 7 in the heavyweight division?
A decade later and the former UFC heavyweight champion is once again out of the top five, but unlike the first occasion, he’s on his way down instead of his way up. Whether or not we blame those brittle knees — or Francis Ngannou’s fists — is a matter of debate.
“The Predator” jumps to No. 2 on the 265-pound ladder, ahead of Derrick Lewis, despite falling to the “Black Beast” last July. I guess beating Velasquez holds more weight than winning a staring contest at UFC 226.
Elsewhere on the UFC on ESPN 1 fight card, held last weekend in Phoenix, Arizona, Aljamain Sterling improved his position at 135 pounds by outclassing Jimmie Rivera. In addition, James Vick tumbled four spots after getting knocked around by the lung-less Paul Felder, who (finally) arrives at No. 10.
Here’s how the rankings work, courtesy of UFC.com:
Rankings were generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings.
Take a look at what the latest rankings field looks like courtesy of UFC.com. Note: (+/- = movement in rankings, *NR = Not previously ranked).
POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Daniel Cormier
2 Jon Jones
3 Khabib Nurmagomedov
4 Max Holloway
5 Henry Cejudo
6 Tyron Woodley
7 Amanda Nunes
8 Georges St-Pierre
9 TJ Dillashaw
10 Conor McGregor
11 Stipe Miocic
12 Robert Whittaker
13 Tony Ferguson
14 Rose Namajunas
15 Cris Cyborg
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Henry Cejudo
1 Jussier Formiga
2 Joseph Benavidez
3 Ray Borg
4 Deiveson Figueiredo
5 Wilson Reis
6 Alexandre Pantoja
7 Alex Perez
8 Tim Elliott
9 Rogerio Bontorin
10 Magomed Bibulatov
11 Eric Shelton
12 Ryan Benoit
13 TJ Dillashaw
14 Kai Kara-France
15 Matt Schnell
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Marlon Moraes
2 Cody Garbrandt
3 Raphael Assuncao +1
4 Dominick Cruz -1
5 Aljamain Sterling +2
6 Jimmie Rivera -1
7 John Lineker -1
8 Pedro Munhoz
9 John Dodson
10 Rob Font
11 Cody Stamann
12 Alejandro Perez
13 Thomas Almeida
14 Petr Yan +1
15 Ricky Simon -1
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Jose Aldo
2 Brian Ortega
3 Frankie Edgar
4 Alexander Volkanovski
5 Renato Moicano
6 Jeremy Stephens
7 Cub Swanson
8 Mirsad Bektic
9 Josh Emmett
10 Ricardo Lamas
11 Yair Rodriguez
12 Chan Sung Jung
13 Zabit Magomedsharipov
14 Darren Elkins
15 Calvin Kattar
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov
1 Tony Ferguson
2 Conor McGregor
3 Dustin Poirier
4 Al Iaquinta
5 Kevin Lee
6 Edson Barboza
7 Justin Gaethje
8 Anthony Pettis
9 Donald Cerrone
10 Paul Felder *NR
11 Gregor Gillespie
12 Alexander Hernandez +1
13 Nate Diaz -1
14 James Vick -4
15 Charles Oliveira -1
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Colby Covington
2 Kamaru Usman
3 Darren Till
4 Stephen Thompson
5 Rafael Dos Anjos
6 Robbie Lawler
7 Santiago Ponzinibbio
8 Demian Maia
9 Leon Edwards
10 Jorge Masvidal
11 Neil Magny
12 Gunnar Nelson
13 Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
14 Vicente Luque *NR
15 Geoff Neal -1
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Jacare Souza
4 Kelvin Gastelum
5 Israel Adesanya
6 Chris Weidman
7 Paulo Costa
8 Derek Brunson
9 Jared Cannonier
10 Brad Tavares
11 David Branch
12 Antonio Carlos Junior
13 Uriah Hall
14 Elias Theodorou
15 Anderson Silva
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jon Jones
1 Daniel Cormier
2 Alexander Gustafsson
3 Anthony Smith
4 Jan Blachowicz
5 Volkan Oezdemir
6 Corey Anderson
6 Thiago Santos
8 Dominick Reyes
9 Ilir Latifi
10 Jimi Manuwa
11 Glover Teixeira
12 Ovince Saint Preux
13 Mauricio Rua
14 Misha Cirkunov
15 Johnny Walker
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Stipe Miocic
2 Francis Ngannou +1
3 Derrick Lewis -1
4 Curtis Blaydes
5 Alexander Volkov
6 Alistair Overeem
7 Cain Velasquez *NR
8 Junior Dos Santos -1
9 Aleksei Oleinik -1
10 Marcin Tybura -1
11 Justin Willis -1
12 Tai Tuivasa -1
13 Shamil Abdurakhimov -1
14 Walt Harris -1
15 Andrei Arlovski -1
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Jessica Andrade
2 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
3 Tatiana Suarez
3 Nina Ansaroff
5 Claudia Gadelha
6 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
7 Tecia Torres
8 Michelle Waterson
9 Carla Esparza
10 Cynthia Calvillo +2
11 Felice Herrig -1
12 Alexa Grasso +1
13 Cortney Casey -2
14 Randa Markos
15 Mackenzie Dern
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1 Jessica Eye
2 Sijara Eubanks
3 Katlyn Chookagian
4 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
5 Alexis Davis
6 Liz Carmouche
7 Joanne Calderwood
8 Roxanne Modafferi
9 Lauren Murphy
10 Andrea Lee +4
10 Jessica-Rose Clark
12 Montana De La Rosa -1
13 Mara Romero Borella
14 Paige VanZant +1
15 Antonina Shevchenko *NR
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Germaine de Randamie
2 Holly Holm
3 Ketlen Vieira
4 Raquel Pennington
5 Cat Zingano
6 Marion Reneau
7 Aspen Ladd
8 Sara McMann
9 Yana Kunitskaya
10 Irene Aldana
11 Tonya Evinger
12 Bethe Correia
13 Lina Lansberg
14 Lucie Pudilova
15 Talita Bernardo
There you have it.
You can expect these standings to change around this time next week, particularly in the light heavyweight division, as the promotion is set to uncork the UFC Fight Night 145: “Blachowicz vs. Santos” event via ESPN+ on Sat., Feb. 23, 2019 inside O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic (more on that fight card here).
For even more upcoming UFC events click here.