MMA Rankings: Jones keeps his grip on top overall spot

By ADAM HILL LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

9 years ago

Family Court Judge Steven Jones attends his disciplinary hearing in Las Vegas. (John Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

There was a whole lot of talk this week about Ultimate Fighting Championship flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson potentially overtaking former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones for the top spot in the pound-for-pound rankings.

That’s not the case in this installment of the CoveringTheCage.com rankings.

Jones, who was competing for the first time since January 2015, solidified his grip at the top of the list with a comfortable, yet unspectacular win over Ovince Saint Preux in the main event of UFC 197 at the MGM Grand on Saturday. He won back at least a share of the belt that was stripped from him last year as he was crowned interim champion.

Not to say Johnson looked anything but tremendous. He defended the 125-pound belt for the eighth straight time and had UFC president Dana White lobbying for him to be considered the best fighter in the world.

But the run Jones went on through a star-studded list of former champions just can’t be ignored. He’s not going to let the fictional pound-for-pound title go easily.

Johnson is certainly right there should Jones falter, however.

Stay tuned each week for the latest updates and keep in mind, while the ranked weight classes are those used by the UFC, fighters competing outside the organization are eligible.

MEN

Heavyweight

Fabricio Werdum

Cain Velasquez

Stipe Miocic

Alistair Overeem

Travis Browne

Mark Hunt

Junior dos Santos

Andrei Arlovski

Ben Rothwell

Josh Barnett

Light Heavyweight

Jon Jones

Daniel Cormier

Anthony Johnson

Alexander Gustafsson

Glover Teixeira

Ryan Bader

Phil Davis

Liam McGeary

Ovince St. Preux

Corey Anderson

Middleweight

Luke Rockhold

Chris Weidman

Yoel Romero

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

Vitor Belfort

Lyoto Machida

Michael Bisping

Anderson Silva

Gegard Mousasi

Tim Kennedy

Welterweight

Robbie Lawler

Rory MacDonald

Ben Askren

Carlos Condit

Tyron Woodley

Stephen Thompson

Johny Hendricks

Neil Magny

Matt Brown

Demian Maia

Lightweight

Rafael dos Anjos

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Eddie Alvarez

Tony Ferguson

Donald Cerrone

Nate Diaz

Edson Barboza

Anthony Pettis

Will Brooks

Justin Gaethje

Featherweight

Conor McGregor

Jose Aldo

Frankie Edgar

Max Holloway

Chad Mendes

Ricardo Lamas

Daniel Straus

Cub Swanson

Charles Oliveira

Patricio Freire

Bantamweight

Dominick Cruz

TJ Dillashaw

Renan Barao

Urijah Faber

Raphael Assuncao

Aljamain Sterling

John Dodson

Bibiano Fernandes

Marlon Moraes

Thomas Almeida

Flyweight

Demetrious Johnson

Joseph Benavidez

Henry Cejudo

Ali Bagautinov

Jussier Formiga

Kyoji Horiguchi

Justin Scoggins

John Moraga

Ian McCall

Wilson Reis

WOMEN

Bantamweight

Ronda Rousey

Miesha Tate

Holly Holm

Amanda Nunes

Alexis Davis

Julianna Pena

Cat Zingano

Jessica Eye

Sara McMann

Valentina Shevchenko

Strawweight

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Claudia Gadelha

Rose Namajunas

Jessica Aguilar

Valerie Letourneau

Carla Esparza

Tecia Torres

Karolina Kowalkiewicz

Livia Renata Souza

Alexa Grasso

OVERALL

Pound for Pound