Fabricio Werdum moves up in heavyweight MMA rankings

In this month’s MMA rankings, Fabricio Werdum moves up in the heavyweight top 10 after he looked spectacular at times on Satruday, showcasing dangerous striking with his already excellent groundwork to defeat Travis Browne by lopsided decision. Now Werdum will look to unseat champion Cain Velasquez.

Heavyweight

1. Cain Velasquez

2. Fabricio Werdum

3. Junior Dos Santos

4. Travis Browne

5. Antonio Silva

6. Josh Barnett

7. Alistair Overeem

8. Stipe Miocic

9. Mark Hunt

10. Roy Nelson

Werdum-Velasquez is an intriguing matchup, with Werdum presenting some unique difficulties for the cardio and wrestling machine. In other action Saturday, Roy Nelson devastated the legendary Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira via knockout.

Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones

2. Alexander Gustafsson

3. Daniel Cormier

4. Rashad Evans

5. Phil Davis

6. Glover Teixeira

7. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

8. Ryan Bader

9. Dan Henderson

10. Chael Sonnen

At 43 years old, Dan Henderson no longer has the speed or chin that he did at the prime of his Hall of Fame career. But for one night, he turned back the clock. Weathering severe early adversity, he came back to score a brutal knockout over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in a rematch of their 2011 classic. This weekend’s UFC pay-per-view card in Baltimore is headlined by a pair of important light heavyweight contests. Jon Jones defends his light heavyweight title against a man with 20 straight wins, Glover Teixeira. And Anthony Johnson returns to the Octagon against wrestler extraordinaire Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis.

Middleweight

1. Chris Weidman

2. Anderson Silva

3. Vitor Belfort

4. Lyoto Machida

5. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

6. Luke Rockhold

7. Gegard Mousasi

8. Yushin Okami

9. Tim Kennedy

10. Mark Munoz

Michael Bisping was greeted rudely in his return to fighting after a one year absence. Tim Kennedy landed some shots on the feet and smothered Bisping on the ground to take a unanimous decision win. Yushin Okami, released by the UFC due to his fighting style and marketability rather than any lack of talent, made his World Series of Fighting debut with an arm triangle choke win over lightly regarded Bulgarian Svetlozar Savov. Okami has won four of his last five.

Welterweight

1. Johny Hendricks

2. Rory MacDonald

3. Jake Ellenberger

4. Tyron Woodley

5. Carlos Condit

6. Robbie Lawler

7. Ben Askren

8. Hector Lombard

9. Jake Shields

10. Dong Hyun Kim

After a hectic previous month of welterweight competition, there were few 170-pound bouts of consequence in the last 30 days. Thiago Alves made his UFC return after a two-year absence due to injuries with a solid victory over Seth Baczynski.

Lightweight

1. Anthony Pettis

2. Gilbert Melendez

3. Ben Henderson

4. Khabib Nurmagomedov

5. T.J. Grant

6. Eddie Alvarez

7. Michael Chandler

8. Josh Thomson

9. Nate Diaz

10. Donald Cerrone

Khabib Nurmagomedov continued his ascent up the lightweight ranks with a clear decision win over Rafael Dos Anjos. Nurmagomedov’s takedowns were too much for Dos Anjos, a common refrain throughout the Russian’s undefeated career. Donald Cerrone returns to the top 10 with a win over Edson Barboza. Barboza landed a lot of big shots throughout the fight, but Cerrone dropped him with a jab and scored a submission victory.

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo

2. Chad Mendes

3. Cub Swanson

4. Frank Edgar

5. Pat Curran

6. Dustin Poirier

7. Ricardo Lamas

8. Daniel Straus

9. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire

10. Dennis Bermudez

Dustin Poirier scored a third straight impressive victory, this time via TKO over Akira Corassani. Poirier is one of the most exciting and talented competitors in the division. Perhaps Bellator’s most interesting summer bout takes place in early June when Pat Curran defends his featherweight title against Patricio “Pitbull” Freire.

Bantamweight

1. Renan Barao

2. Dominick Cruz

3. Urijah Faber

4. Raphael Assuncao

5. Michael McDonald

6. Eddie Wineland

7. Bibiano Fernandes

8. Eduardo Dantas

9. Takeya Mizugaki

10. T.J. Dillashaw

T.J. Dillashaw will receive the next shot at Renan Barao’s UFC bantamweight title in the main event of May’s UFC 173 card. Dillashaw has great natural talent but few wins of consequence and the card is likely one to be one of the least purchased UFC events in years.

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Ronda Rousey

2. Cat Zingano

3. Alexis Davis

4. Sarah Kaufman

5. Miesha Tate

6. Sara McMann

7. Jessica Eye

8. Lauren Murphy

9. Jessica Andrade

10. Holly Holm

The women’s bantamweight division continues to improve, with increased money bringing in competitors from other disciplines and weight divisions. Sarah Kaufman scored a second win over Leslie Smith, this time in much more emphatic fashion. Miesha Tate earned a close decision win over Liz Carmouche to avoid her third straight loss.

Flyweight

1. Demetrious Johnson

2. Joseph Benavidez

3. John Dodson

4. Ali Bagautinov

5. Ian McCall