As promised, Bellator has debuted their rankings not long before the promotion returns to running events.
A couple of months ago, Bellator said that were gonna put out their first official rankings system ahead of their April 10th return. They stuck to their word, dropping the inaugural set of rankings on the world yesterday.
The panel includes 17 media members, and nothing they came up with was super surprising.
Current lightweight and featherweight champion Patricio ‘Pitbull’ Friere tops the men’s pound-for-pound list, and rightfully so considering he’s been on fire the last four years. It may be a tad surprising that Gegard Mousasi is above current heavyweight and former light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader, but there might be a case there. I’d personally have Douglas Lima ahead of Juan Archuleta too, but hey – I’m not on the panel.
On the women’s side, it’s pretty straightforward. Cris Cyborg obviously sits up top, with newish flyweight champ Juliana Velasquez right behind her.
Here’s a look at the P4Ps and the rest of the divisions. The numbers next to names of particular fighter is how many votes they got to be the number one contender.
MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Patricio Pitbull (31-4)
2. Vadim Nemkov (12-2)
3. Gegard Mousasi (47-7-2)
4. Ryan Bader (27-6)
5. Juan Archuleta (25-2)
6. Douglas Lima (32-8)
7. AJ McKee (17-0)
8. Phil Davis (22-5)
9. Emmanuel Sanchez (20-4)
10. Corey Anderson (14-5)
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Cris Cyborg (23-2)
2. Juliana Velasquez (11-0)
3. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (11-1)
4. Julia Budd (14-3)
5. Arlene Blencowe (13-8)
6. Denise Kielholtz (6-2)
7. Liz Carmouche (14-7)
8. Cat Zingano (11-4)
9. Alejandra Lara (9-3)
10. Leslie Smith (12-8-1)
MEN’S HEAVYWEIGHT
C. Ryan Bader (27-6)
1. Timothy Johnson (15-6) – 13*
2. Cheick Kongo (30-11-2)
3. Valentin Moldavsky (10-1) – 3*
4. Fedor Emelianenko (39-6)
5. Linton Vassell (20-8)
6. Tyrell Fortune (9-1) – 1*
7. Steven Mowry (8-0)
8. Matt Mitrione (13-8)
9. Sergei Kharitonov (32-8)
10. Javy Ayala (11-8)
MEN’S LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
C. Vadim Nemkov (12-2)
1. Ryan Bader (27-6) – 11*
2. Phil Davis (22-5) – 2*
3. Corey Anderson (14-5) – 4*
4. Lyoto Machida (26-10)
5. Julius Anglickas (9-1)
6. Grant Neal (5-0)
7. Christian Edwards (4-0)
8. Tyree Fortune (5-0)
9. Melvin Manhoef (32-15-1)
10. Alex Polizzi (7-1)
MEN’S MIDDLEWEIGHT
C. Gegard Mousasi (47-7-2)
1. John Salter (18-4) – 10*
2. Anatoly Tokov (29-2) – 5*
3. Austin Vanderford (10-0) – 1*
4. Fabian Edwards (9-1)
5. Costello van Steenis (13-2)
6. Johnny Eblen (7-0)
7. Charlie Ward (9-4)
8. Mike Shipman (14-3)
9. Romero Cotton (5-0)
10. Ed Ruth (8-3)
MEN’S WELTERWEIGHT
C. Douglas Lima (32-8)
1. Michael Page (18-1) – 8*
2. Yaroslav Amosov (25-0) – 6*
3. Neiman Gracie (10-1) – 3*
4. Logan Storley (11-1)
5. Derek Anderson (17-3)
6. Jason Jackson (13-4)
7. Joey Davis (8-0)
8. Sabah Homasi (15-8)
9. Oliver Enkamp (10-2)
10. Jaleel Willis (14-2)
MEN’S LIGHTWEIGHT
C. Patricio Pitbull (31-4)
1. Brent Primus (10-1) – 12*
2. Patricky Pitbull (23-9) – 3*
3. Goiti Yamauchi (25-4) – 1*
4. Benson Henderson (28-10) – 1*
5. Sidney Outlaw (15-4)
6. Myles Jury (19-5)
7. Adam Piccolotti (12-4)
8. Alfie Davis (14-3)
9. Aviv Gozali (5-0)
10. Georgi Karakhanyan (30-11-1)
MEN’S FEATHERWEIGHT
C. Patricio Pitbull (31-4)
1. AJ McKee (17-0) – 13*
2. Emmanuel Sanchez (20-4) – 4*
3. Adam Borics (16-1)
4. Pedro Carvalho (11-4)
5. Daniel Weichel (40-12)
6. Aaron Pico (7-3)
7. Jay Jay Wilson (7-0)
8. Jeremy Kennedy (16-2)
9. Tywan Claxton (6-2)
10. Mads Burnell (14-3)
MEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
C. Juan Archuleta (25-2)
1. Sergio Pettis (20-5) – 10*
2. Patchy Mix (13-1) – 4*
3. Raufeon Stots (15-1) – 1*
4. James Gallagher (11-1)
5. Magomed Magomedov (17-1) – 2*
6. Leandro Higo (20-5)
7. Josh Hill (20-3)
8. Cass Bell (5-1)
9. Frans Mlambo (9-5)
10. Jornel Lugo (5-0)
WOMEN’S FEATHERWEIGHT
C. Cris Cyborg (23-2)
1. Julia Budd (14-3) – 16*
2. Arlene Blencowe (13-8)
3. Cat Zingano (11-4)
4. Leslie Smith (12-8-1) – 1*
5. Sinead Kavanagh (7-4)
6. Janay Harding (6-4)
7. Leah McCourt (4-1)
8. Amanda Bell (7-7)
9. Olga Rubin (6-2)
10. Jessy Miele (9-5)
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
C. Juliana Velasquez (11-0)
1. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (11-1) – 16*
2. Liz Carmouche (14-7)
3. Denise Kielholtz (6-2) – 1*
4. Alejandra Lara (9-3)
5. Kana Watanabe (9-0-1)
6. Kate Jackson (11-5-1)
7. Veta Arteaga (5-4)
8. Mandy Bohm (7-0)
9. Valerie Loureda (3-0)
10. Bruna Ellen (5-3)