Bleacher Report Men’s MMA Rankings for July 2015

UFC titles continue being the hottest of potatoes, as Cain Velasquez joined Anthony Pettis, Carla Esparza and Jon Jones in the “former champion” club at UFC 188. As with Esparza and Pettis, that transition came in shockingly lopsided fashion, as the no…

UFC titles continue being the hottest of potatoes, as Cain Velasquez joined Anthony Pettis, Carla Esparza and Jon Jones in the “former champion” club at UFC 188. As with Esparza and Pettis, that transition came in shockingly lopsided fashion, as the now-undisputed heavyweight kingpin Fabricio Werdum scored an impressive Round 3 submission after some intense, back-and-forth exchanges.

On top of that, veteran stalwarts dropped fights to new names across multiple divisions. It’s a compelling time in MMA, with a swell of talent across all divisions. Here are the notes for this month:

  • The August edition of the rankings will come after WSOF 22 and UFC 190, which are scheduled for August 1. Look for them to arrive the following Tuesday.
  • UFC heavyweight Josh Barnett remains a par of the Bleacher Report rankings. While Barnett has been out of the cage for longer than 18 months, his scheduled fight with Roy Nelson keeps him eligible for rankings consideration. Should he withdraw without the fight being rescheduled, however, he will be taken out of the pool.

Flyweight

Henry Cejudo still has a blindingly bright future ahead of him, but he got something of a reality check from Chico Camus at UFC 188. The former Olympic gold medalist was largely unable to work his wrestling skills and was forced to tie up Camus in the clinch to get points from the judges. While it was a clear win for Cejudo, it put the brakes on the “he’s ready for a title shot” hype train.

Bantamweight

Alex Caceres‘ days as a fringe top-10 bantamweight are done, courtesy of a brutal, 21-second knockout delivered by Francisco Rivera. Rivera takes his place, and while he doesn’t quite pop into the top-10, one more win will likely do the trick.

Featherweight

It looked like Patricio “Pitbull” Freire‘s days as the Bellator featherweight champion were done. The largely unknown Dan Weichel nearly knocked him out in the first round but didn’t have the opportunity to seal the deal before the bell sounded. Freire was still clearly wounded entering the second but somehow mustered up a picture-perfect left hand that put Weichel out cold.

The Brazilian is quickly becoming one of the most exciting fighters in Bellator and has found a knack for Eddie Alvarez-like, come-from-behind wins. It will be interesting to see how long he can hold onto that belt, given how much trouble he keeps finding himself in.

Lightweight

Speaking of Eddie Alvarez-like, come-from-behind-wins, Eddie Alvarez posted a come-from-behind win at UFC 188 over Gilbert Melendez. After having his eye swell shut in the first round of their fight, the former Bellator champ battled back and eked out a razor-thin victory that shook up the bottom half of the lightweight top-10.

Welterweight

No welterweight bouts in June had a major effect on the top-10 rankings. However, July is absolutely packed with big fights. Expect this top-10 to look radically different come August.

Middleweight

The Machida Era is over. The Age of Romero has begun.

At UFC Fight Night 70, Lyoto Machida and Yoel Romero played cat-and-mouse for 10 minutes before Romero snapped Machida in half at the waist and called it a takedown. From there, the Olympic silver medalist smashed Machida unconscious with six short elbows, taking the win and Machida‘s spot in the rankings.

Light Heavyweight

As with 170 pounds, 205 was quiet in June. July, however, won’t be much different. Business is set to pick up in August, when Ovince Saint Preux takes on Glover Teixeira.

Heavyweight

Ben Rothwell is making it harder and harder to ignore him. The former IFL bruiser scored yet another impressive stoppage victory in June, this time a first-round submission of Matt Mitrione. 

While he is anything but elegant and while his technique is anything but crisp, Rothwell‘s iron chin and heavy hands are enough to beat almost any heavyweight in the game. While his resurgence couldn’t have come at a worse time (Andrei Arlovski, Stipe Miocic, Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem are also on career upswings), he is still a fighter worth watching and, at long last, a clear-cut top-10 heavyweight.

Oh, and a certain heavyweight champion got dethroned. That’s a big deal too, I guess…

Top-5 Fighters Fighting in July

  • Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor (UFC 189)
  • Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald (UFC 189)
  • TJ Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao (UFC on Fox 16)

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