Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Light Heavyweight

1. Daniel Cormier (18-1)

The fight Cormier covets is a rematch with Jon Jones, but owing to Jones’ suspension, that has been put on the back burner again. In fact, even Cormier’s rematch with Anthony Johnson is getting temporarily shelved. The American Kickboxing Academy team captain has a partially torn adductor muscle that will require minor surgery, canceling his UFC 206 main event with “Rumble” and pushing the rematch into 2017.

2. Anthony Johnson (22-5)

In his last 13 bouts, only one man has topped Johnson: Daniel Cormier. Johnson was due for another crack at “DC” and light heavyweight gold at UFC 206 on Dec. 10, but Cormier’s groin injury canceled the contest. Not wanting to blow his chance at redemption, Johnson opted to pull off the card and wait for Cormier to heal up in 2017.

3. Alexander Gustafsson (17-4)

On Sept. 3 in Hamburg, Germany, Gustafsson pounded out a 15-minute verdict over Poland’s Jan Blachowicz, which set him up for a Nov. 19 date against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Unfortunately, Gustafsson’s dreams of another UFC light heavyweight title shot took another hit when the Swede suffered a back injury.

4. Ryan Bader (22-5)

When Alexander Gustafsson went down due to injury, Bader saw an opportunity and took it. “The Ultimate Fighter 8” winner on Nov. 19 went to Sao Paulo, Brazil, and earned a second win -- this one was brutal in nature -- over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira by bashing the Brazilian for nearly 15 minutes until he earned the TKO win.

5. Phil Davis (17-3, 1 NC)

Davis got a crack at the Bellator MMA light heavyweight crown on Nov. 4, and “Mr. Wonderful” dominated from bell to bell against the previously unbeaten Liam McGeary, earning a lopsided five-round unanimous decision. It figures that in the near future Bellator will attempt to line up a Davis-Muhammed Lawal rematch after their close, controversial bout in May.

6. Glover Teixeira (25-5)

When UFC 208 was set for Jan. 21 in Anaheim, California, Teixiera agreed to take on British puncher Jimi Manuwa, hoping to erase the memory of his devastating 13-second knockout loss to Anthony Johnson in August. Instead, UFC 208 wound up being moved to Feb. 11 in Brooklyn, New York, where Teixeira is now expected to meet Jared Cannonier instead.

7. Jimi Manuwa (16-2)

Looking to follow up on his knockout of Ovince St. Preux at UFC 204 in October, Manuwa signed on to face perennial contender Glover Teixeira at UFC 208. However, when UFC 208 shifted date and place to Brooklyn, New York, in Feburary, Teixeira was booked against Jared Cannonier; Manuwa now expects to fight against a different opponent in March.

8. Ovince St. Preux (19-9)

Back-to-back defeats to Jon Jones and Jimi Manuwa for St. Preux mean the former University of Tennessee Volunteer linebacker has lost three of his last four bouts. In order for St. Preux to keep pace with the divisional elites, he will need to rebound against Poland’s Jan Blachowicz at the UFC Fight Night card in Houston on Feb. 4.

9. Misha Cirkunov (13-2)

At 16, Cirkunov received his judo black belt; at 21, he received his Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt; and at 29, he finally broke through in his pro MMA career and established himself as a contender at 205 pounds, dominating Nikita Krylov en route to a first-round submission victory. Better still for Cirkunov, he got to do it in front of his adopted hometown of Toronto at UFC 206.

10. Nikita Krylov (21-5)

Krylov had won five in a row, all impressive stoppages, heading into his UFC 206 bout with Misha Cirkunov in Toronto. However, Krylov had no answer for Cirkunov’s heavy left hand and fight-ending guillotine, which snapped the Ukrainian’s winning streak and sent him packing in less than five minutes.

Other Contenders: David Branch, Ilir Latifi, Liam McGeary, Tomasz Narkun, Mauricio Rua

Continue Reading » Middleweight