June Fightmania Rankings

June gave us a great start to the summer in MMA, topped by surprise wins by Brent Primus over Michael Chandler, Mark Hunt over Derrick Lewis, and much more. Let’s take a look at this month’s rankings.

As always, these rankings are subjective. To read a rather extensive explanation of my methodology, check out the rankings manifesto.

FLYWEIGHT DIVISION (125 LBS.)

1. Demetrious Johnson
2. Joseph Benavidez
3. Henry Cejudo
4. Kyoji Horiguchi
5. Wilson Reis
6. Ray Borg
7. Brandon Moreno
8. Jussier da Silva
9. Magomed Bibulatov
10. Sergio Pettis

Nothing here this month, surprisingly. DJ is due for a title defense later in the summer, however.

BANTAMWEIGHT DIVISION (135 LBS.)

1. Cody Garbrandt
2. Dominick Cruz
3. TJ Dillashaw
4. Thomas Almeida
5. Marlon Moraes
6. Jimmie Rivera
7. Raphael Assuncao
8. Bryan Caraway
9. John Lineker
10. Aljamain Sterling

Assuncao technically beat Moraes by split decision this month, but I think that victory was wholly undeserved and Moraes was the better fighter that night.

FEATHERWEIGHT DIVISION (145 LBS.)

1. Max Holloway
2. Jose Aldo
3. Frankie Edgar
4. Cub Swanson
5. Ricardo Lamas
6. Brian Ortega
7. Patricio Freire
8. Darren Elkins
9. Doo Ho Choi
10. Chan Sung Jung

Holloway shocked many by defeating Aldo by TKO this month in the first title fight in the post-McGregor era. What’s next? I would guess a title defense against Edgar, but it’s anyone’s guess.

LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION (155 LBS.)

1. Conor McGregor
2. Tony Ferguson
3. Eddie Alvarez
4. Khabib Nurmagomedov
5. Edson Barboza
6. Kevin Lee
7. Nate Diaz
8. Beneil Dariush
9. Michael Chiesa
10. Michael Johnson

Lots to talk about this month, as Michael Chandler suffered a devastating TKO loss to Brent Primus in Bellator. Meanwhile, Kevin Lee won a submission victory over Chiesa that Chiesa disputed, but it looked legitimate to me.

WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION (170 LBS.)

1. Tyron Woodley
2. Stephen Thompson
3. Robbie Lawler
4. Demian Maia
5. Rory MacDonald
6. Donald Cerrone
7. Douglas Lima
8. Jorge Masvidal
9. Neil Magny
10. Lorenz Larkin

Lima won a unanimous decision over Larkin this month and moves up as a result. Next month, we have Woodley-Thompson and Lawler-Cerrone to look forward to.

MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION (185 LBS.)

1. Michael Bisping
2. Robert Whittaker
3. Luke Rockhold
4. Yoel Romero
5. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza
6. Gegard Mousasi
7. Chris Weidman
8. David Branch
9. Anderson Silva
10. Kevin Gastelum

Nothing happened here this month, but next month Whittaker and Romero will face off in a huge fight. Bisping appears to be waiting for GSP to come back.

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (205 LBS.)

1. Daniel Cormier
2. Alexander Gustafsson
3. Jimi Manuwa
4. Phil Davis
5. Glover Teixeira
6. Ryan Bader
7. Misha Cirkunov
8. Phil Davis
9. Nikita Krylov
10. Linton Vassell

Next month, Jon Jones will make his comeback and attempt to take back his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. This month saw Bader defeating Phil Davis in a finish most didn’t expect.

HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION (265 LBS.)

1. Stipe Miocic
2. Alistair Overeem
3. Cain Velasquez
4. Fabricio Werdum
5. Junior dos Santos
6. Ben Rothwell
7. Francis Ngannou
8. Josh Barnett
9. Vitaly Minakov
10. Mark Hunt

Hunt is back in our top ten on the strength of a TKO win over Derrick Lewis. Too many fighters in this division are MIA right now, although Ngannou-dos Santos should provide a lot of fireworks later this summer.

POUND-FOR-POUND (No Limit)

1. Demetrious Johnson
2. Conor McGregor
3. Cody Garbrandt
4. Stipe Miocic
5. Max Holloway
6. Frankie Edgar
7. Tyron Woodley
8. Daniel Cormier
9. Jose Aldo
10. Dominick Cruz

Tags: Bellator, Douglas Lima, Mark Hunt, Max Holloway, Rankings, UFC