Things have been slow the last few months with regards to change amongst the MMA rankings. Injuries to champions and top fighters along with dominate champions have limited the movement but things are beginning to pick up. In November the UFC saw one of its champions return to action after a long layoff due to injury and the final month of the year will see many highly ranked fighters step into the cage.
The biggest fight in November was the return of UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre as he took on the interim champion Carlos Condit at UFC 154. St. Pierre looked rusty in his unanimous decision win but once again proved he’s one of the best fighters in the world. Another welterweight that also fought at UFC 154 was Johny Hendricks who moved into the #4 spot this month after his knockout of Martin Kampmann. Hendricks now finds himself nipping at the heels of the champ and a possible title fight looms in 2013.
Two fighters dropped off the MMA rankings this month as former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar is dropping down in weight to face featherweight champion Jose Aldo in February. Replacing him and making his debut at the #5 spot in the lightweight division is the Bellator 155 lbs. champion Michael Chandler. In the flyweight division Yasuhiro Urushitani lost to John Lineker and was replaced in the #5 spot by Louis Gaudinot, who appears on the ranks for the first time.
December will have four (yes I said 4) UFC events with title fights in the lightweight and heavyweight division. A total of six top five ranked fighters as well as 10 fighters “knocking on the door” are in action in December which could make the yearend rankings look much different.
As always the goal here is to give you the best Rankings that we can provide you with and of course a spot below for you to disagree and complain. So without further ado here is the latest MMAValor.com MMA fighter Rankings:
Key – [↑] = Moved up, [↓] = Moved Down, [•] = New to the list
Heavyweight (205lbs. – 265lbs.)
1. Junior Dos Santos
2. Cain Velasquez
3. Fabricio Werdum
4. Frank Mir
5. Alistair Overeem
Knocking on the door: Daniel Cormier, Josh Barnett, Shane Carwin, Stefan Struve
Light Heavyweight (205lbs.)
1. Jon Jones
2. Dan Henderson
3. Rashad Evans
4. Mauricio Rua
5. Lyoto Machida
Knocking on the door: Phil Davis, Ryan Jimmo, Alexander Gustafsson, Glover Teixeira, Jimi Manuwa
Middleweight (185lbs.)
1. Anderson Silva
2. Michael Bisping
3. Chael Sonnen
4. Luke Rockhold
5. Chris Weidman
Knocking on the door: Ronaldo Souza, Tim Boetsch, Alan Belcher, Jake Shields, Yushin Okami, Hector Lombard, Mark Munoz
GSP returned to action at UFC 154
Welterweight (170lbs.)
1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Carlos Condit
3. Nick Diaz
4. Johny Hendricks [↑]
5. Ben Askren [↓]
Knocking on the door: Rory MacDonald, Josh Koscheck, John Hathaway, Jake Ellenberger, Jon Fitch, Demian Maia
Lightweight (155lbs.)
1. Ben Henderson
2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Gray Maynard
4. Nate Diaz
5. Michael Chandler [•]
Knocking on the door: Jim Miller, Donald Cerrone, Eddie Alvarez, Anthony Pettis, Pat Healy, Joe Lauzon
Featherweight (145lbs.)
1. Jose Aldo
2. Pat Curran
3. Chad Mendes
4. Hatsu Hioki
5. Patricio Freire
Knocking on the door: Frankie Edgar, Joe Warren, Chan Sung Jung, Dustin Poirier, Erik Koch, Cub Swanson, Diego Nunes
Bantamweight (135lbs.)
1. Dominik Cruz
2. Renan Barao
3. Urijah Faber
4. Michael McDonald
5. Brian Bowles
Knocking on the door: Mike Easton, Brad Pickett, Eduardo Dantas, Zach Makovsky, Scott Jorgenson
Flyweight (125lbs.)
1. Demetrious Johnson
2. Joseph Benavides
3. John Dodson
4. Ian McCall
5. Louis Gaudinot [•]
Knocking on the door: Darren Uyenoyama
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