The Rankings: The Middleweights: Oct 10, 2016

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 Middleweight Rankings.  

Voting Panel: Jeff Fox, Ryan MacDonald, Ricky Leone, and Daniel Vreeland.

*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)

1) (Previous ranking: 1) Michael Bisping – UFC Middleweight Champion – 40 points (out of 40)

            Record: 30-7
            Last Five Fights: 5-0
            Record vs Top 10: 2-3 (W-Bisping, W-Silva, L-Rockhold, L-Kennedy, L-Belfort)
            Next Fight: TBA

Who’s next to challenge The Count for his crown?

2) (2) Luke Rockhold – UFC  – 36 points
            Record: 15-3
            Last Five Fights: 4-1
            Record vs Top 10: 4-2 (L-Bisping, W-Weidman, W-Machida, W-Bisping, L-Belfort, W-Souza)
            Next Fight: vs #5 Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza – UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs Jacare 2 – Nov 27th

Well that was a quick reign at the top.

3) (3) Chris Weidman – UFC  – 32 points
            Record: 13-1
            Last Five Fights: 4-1
            Record vs Top 10: 4-1 (L-Rockhold, W-Belfort, W-Machida, W-Silva, W-Silva)
            Next Fight: vs #4 Yoel Romero – UFC 205 – Nov 12th

A big win in front of the hometown crowd at UFC 205 could propel Weidman into a title shot.

4) (4) Yoel Romero – UFC – 26 points
           Record: 11-1
           Last Five Fights: 5-0
           Record vs Top 10: 3-0 (W-Souza, W-Machida, W-Brunson)
           Next Fight: vs #3 Chris Weidman – UFC 205 – Nov 12th

One win away from challenging for UFC gold?

5) (5) Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza – UFC – 24 points
            Record: 23-4, 1 NC 
            Last Five Fights: 4-1
            Record vs Top 10: 3-3 (W-Belfort, L-Romero, W-Mousasi, L-Rockhold, W-Brunson, L-Mousasi)
            Next Fight: vs #2 Luke Rockhold – UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs Jacare 2 – Nov 27th

Jacare will next get a crack at avenging his Strikeforce loss to Rockhold.

6) (6) Gegard Mousasi – UFC – 19 points

Record: 40-6-2
Last Five Fights: 4-1
Record vs Top 10: 2-2 (W-Belfort, L-Souza, L-Machida, W-Souza)
Next Fight: TBA

Three-straight wins for Gegard.

7) (8) Anderson Silva – UFC – 12 points
            Record: 33-8, 1 NC
            Last Five Fights: 0-4, 1 NC
            Record vs Top 10: 1-3 (L-Bisping, L-Weidman, L-Weidman, W-Belfort, )
            Next Fight: TBA

The Spider stepped in to “save” UFC 200, but picked up another L in the process.

8) (10) Robert Whittaker – UFC – 11 points
               Record: 16-4
               Last Five Fights: 5-0
               Record vs Top 10: 0-0
               Next Fight: vs #10 Derek Brunson – UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs Jacare 2 – Nov 27th

The young New Zealander keeps on rolling.

9) (7) Vitor Belfort – UFC – 9 points 
            Record: 25-13
            Last Five Fights: 2-3
            Record vs Top 10: 2-4 (L-Mousasi, L-Belfort, L-Weidman, L-Silva, W-Rockhold, W-Bisping)
            Next Fight: TBA

Vitor keeps on slipping down the rankings.

10) (NR) Derek Brunson – UFC – 7 points
                  Record: 16-3
                  Last Five Fights: 5-0
                  Record vs Top 10: 0-2 (L-Romero, L-Souza)
                  Next Fight: vs #8 Robert Whittaker – UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs Jacare 2 – Nov 27th

Five-straight wins have propelled Brunson into our top 10.

Dropped off: (8) Lyoto Machida (inactive)

Bubbling under: Mamed Khalidov, Rashad Evans

Rankings:

Heavyweights
Light Heavyweights
Welterweights
Lightweights
Featherweights
Bantamweights
Flyweights
Women’s Bantamweights
Women’s Strawweights
Pound for Pound
Non-UFC Fighters

Check back on Friday for our Welterweight rankings