The Rankings are just that – The MMA Manifesto’s rankings of the best fighters in mixed martial arts today. Check back every Monday and Friday for our rankings of a different weight class. Next up: The Heavyweight Rankings.
Voting Panel: Jeff Fox, Daniel Vreeland, Ryan MacDonald, and Ricky Leone.
*stipulations: 1) any fighter currently suspended or 2) inactive for at least 12 months (without an upcoming fight scheduled) are excluded from the rankings
CLICK ON FIGHTER’S NAME FOR DETAILED SCOUTING REPORT
The Heavyweight Rankings
1) (Last ranking – 1) Stipe Miocic – UFC Heavyweight Champion – 40 points (out of 40)
Record: 16-2
Last Five Fights: 4-1
Record vs Top 10: 4-1 (W-Overeem, W-Werdum, W-Hunt, W-Arlovski, L-dos Santos)
Next Fight: TBA
One title defense under his belt. How many more to go?
2) (2) Fabricio Werdum – UFC – 35 points
Record: 21-6-1
Last Five Fights: 4-1
Record vs Top 10: 5-4 (W-Browne, L-Miocic, W-Velasquez, W-Hunt, W-Browne, L-Overeem, L-dos Santos, W-Overeem, L-Arlovski)
Next Fight: TBA
Back on the winning track.
3) (3) Cain Velasquez – UFC – 33 points
Record: 14-2
Last Five Fights: 4-1
Record vs Top 10: 4-2 (W-Browne, L-Velasquez, W-dos Santos, W-dos Santos, L-dos Santos, W-Rothwell)
Next Fight: TBA
Cain is looking like a killer again (if he could just still healthy).
4) (4) Alistair Overeem – UFC – 28 points
Record: 41-15 (1 NC)
Last Five Fights: 4-1
Record vs Top 10: 5-4 (L-Miocic, W-Arlovski, W-dos Santos, L-Rothwell, L-Browne, W-Lesnar, W-Werdum, W-Hunt, L-Werdum)
Next Fight: vs #9 Mark Hunt – UFC 209 – Mar 4th (rumored)
No UFC gold for you (at least not yet).
5) (5) Junior dos Santos – UFC – 24 points
Record: 18-4
Last Five Fights: 3-2
Record vs Top 10: 5-3 (W-Rothwell, L-Overeem, W-Miocic, W-Hunt, L-Velasquez, L-Velasquez, W-Velasquez, W-Werdum)
Next Fight: vs Stefan Struve – UFC Fight Night: dos Santos vs Struve – Feb 19th
Shoulder surgery had JDS on the shelf for a bit, but he’s ready to get back at it.
6) (6) Ben Rothwell – UFC – 15 points
Record: 36-10
Last Five Fights: 4-1
Record vs Top 10: 2-4 (L-dos Santos, W-Barnett, W-Overeem, L-Hunt, L-Velasquez, L-Arlovski)
Next Fight: TBA
Rothwell had no answer for JDS. And now he’s on the DL after knee surgery.
7) (6) Josh Barnett – UFC – 14 points
Record: 35-8
Last Five Fights: 3-2
Record vs Top 10: 2-2 (W-Arlovski, L-Rothwell, L-Browne, W-Hunt)
Next Fight: TBA
An impressive performance against Andrei Arlovski has launched Barnett back into the top 10.
8) (9) Travis Browne – UFC – 8 points
Record: 18-5-1
Last Five Fights: 2-3
Record vs Top 10: 2-4 (L-Werdum, L-Velasquez, L-Arlvoski, W-Barnett, L-Werdum, W-Overeem)
Next Fight: vs Derrick Lewis – UFC 208 – Feb 11th
Travis Browne’s career has hit the skids.
9) (10) Mark Hunt – UFC – 7 points
Record: 12-10-1, 1 NC
Last Five Fights: 2-2, 1 NC
Record vs Top 10: 1-5 (L-Miocic, L-Werdum, L-dos Santos, W-Rothwell, L-Overeem, L-Barnett)
Next Fight: vs #4 Alistair Overeem – UFC 209 – Mar 4th (rumored)
Will we ever see the disgruntled Super Samoan in the octagon again? The rumor is it’ll happen in March.
10) (10) Andrei Arlovski – UFC – 6 points
Record: 25-13 (1 NC)
Last Five Fights: 2-3
Record vs Top 10: 3-3 (L-Barnett, L-Overeem, L-Miocic, W-Browne, W-Rothwell, W-Werdum)
Next Fight: vs Francis Ngannou – UFC on Fox: Shevchenko vs Pena – Jan 28th
The Pitbull’s career resurgence appears to be over.
Dropped off: (8) Brock Lesnar (suspended), (10) Vitaly Minakov
Bubbling under: Vitaly Minakov, Derrick Lewis, Francis Ngannou
Check back this Friday for our Light Heavyweight rankings
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