Fightmania June Rankings

June was quite a busy month both in and out of the cage/ring, as there were plenty of events put on by both the UFC and Strikeforce, Bellator and others to watch. We also have the possible return of Chael Sonnen, the departure of Nate Marquardt and the arrival of Hatsu Hioki to the UFC, and more to think about. Here are my updated rankings through the month of June.

BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION (135 LBS.)

1. Dominick Cruz
2. Urijah Faber
3. Joseph Benavidez
4. Brian Bowles
5. Scott Jorgensen
6. Miguel Torres
7. Demetrious Johnson
8. Takeya Mizugaki
9. Masakatsu Ueda
10. Brad Pickett

Not much happened here, though that’s about to change. Scott Jorgensen defeated Ken Stone at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale, but it’s not enough to move him up. Next month, we have Cruz-Faber and Bowles-Mizugaki to look forward to on July 2nd at UFC 132. In Shooto, Ueda will be taking on Rumina Sato, too.

FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION (145 LBS.)

1. Jose Aldo
2. Hatsu Hioki (4)
3. Kenny Florian (7)
4. Diego Nunes (3)
5. Marlon Sandro
6. Chad Mendes
7. Manny Gamburyan (2)
8. Michihiro Omigawa
9. Dustin Poirier (10)
10. Tyson Griffin (NR)

Dropped out: Josh Grispi (9)

First things first: Omigawa stays because I’m protesting the shitty decision in his fight with Darren Elkins. Florian beat Nunes by decision, so he moves up and Nunes drops a spot. Josh Grispi drops out, as he was knocked out by a body shot from George Roop at “The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale”. Marlon Sandro won a split decision over Genair da Silva in Bellator, too. Mendes will take on Rani Yahya at UFC 133. Hioki has signed with the UFC now. Finally, Poirier defeated Jason Young by decision at UFC 131.

LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION (155 LBS.)

1. Frankie Edgar
2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Gray Maynard
4. Eddie Alvarez
5. Shinya Aoki
6. George Sotiropoulos
7. Jim Miller (8)
8. Anthony Pettis (7)
9. Melvin Guillard
10. Dennis Siver

Guida defeated Pettis in a great fight by decision at “The Ultimate Fighter” 13 Finale. Meanwhile, Miller takes on Ben Henderson in August, and Melendez may face Jorge Masvidal next. At UFC 132, several of these men will be in action as Guillard faces Shane Roller, Sotiropoulos takes on Rafael dos Anjos, and Dennis Siver will be up against Matt Wiman.

WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION (170 LBS.)

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Jon Fitch
3. Josh Koscheck
4. Nick Diaz
5. Jake Shields
6. Thiago Alves
7. BJ Penn
8. Carlos Condit
9. Martin Kampmann
10. Rick Story

The big “story” here (sadly, pun intended) was Story’s loss to Charlie Brenneman at UFC Live 4. I think he still belongs in the top ten, though. Coming up this weekend, Condit will take on Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 132, while Diaz will challenge Georges St. Pierre for his UFC Welterweight Championship in October.

MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION (185 LBS.)

1. Anderson Silva
2. Chael Sonnen
3. Yushin Okami
4. Nate Marquardt
5. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (6)
6. Vitor Belfort (7)
7. Demian Maia (5)
8. Hector Lombard
9. Brian Stann
10. Mark Munoz (NR)

Dropped out: Michael Bisping (10)

Mark Munoz beat Maia by decision at UFC 131. Other than that, not much went on, though Belfort and Akiyama will face off at UFC 133. Also, Jacare will take on Luke Rockhold in September, Bisping will face Jason Miller at the conclusion of the next season of “The Ultimate Fighter”, and Silva will fight Okami in August. Marquardt couldn’t fight, and I’ll leave him here until we’re sure he’s going to be at welterweight.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (205 LBS.)

1. Jon Jones
2. Rashad Evans
3. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
4. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson
5. Lyoto Machida
6. Dan Henderson
7. Forrest Griffin
8. Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal
9. Gegard Mousasi
10. Ryan Bader

Nothing going on here, but that’s about to change. Bader will fight Tito Ortiz at UFC 132, while Hendo and Fedor will go at it in July. Shogun will rematch FOrrest at UFC 132, and Evans will face Phil Davis at UFC 133. Meanwhile, Jon Jones will defend his belt against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in September.

HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (up to 265 LBS.)

1. Cain Velasquez
2. Brock Lesnar
3. Fabricio Werdum
4. Fedor Emelianenko
5. Junior dos Santos (7)
6. Alistair Overeem
7. Antonio Silva (8)
8. Shane Carwin (5)
9. Frank Mir
10. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

It wasn’t what we hoped for, but Overeem got the job done this time, beating Fabricio Werdum by decision. Meanwhile, Junior dos Santos memorably put away Carwin in a three round decision at UFC 131. Cain will take dos Santos on in November, whle Fedor will be in action against Hendo soon.

POUND FOR POUND (No Limit)

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Anderson Silva
3. Jose Aldo
4. Frankie Edgar
5. BJ Penn
6. Dominick Cruz
7. Jon Jones
8. Lyoto Machida
9. Rashad Evans
10. Jon Fitch

Nothing happening here for the time being, but that will change soon with Silva, Cruz, Jones, Evans and more fighting in the next few months.

Tags: Bellator, Sengoku, Strikeforce, UFC