MMAConvert’s June 2012 Rankings: Some Small Shake-Ups In Some Big Divisions

The month of May had a couple very important fights, but not much has changed in terms of the rankings. It’s time to look at what changes, if any, were made to the top 10 in each division.

Of course, these are not anyone’s personal rankings. They are compiled rankings from our staff and do not mirror any one member’s list. Our rankings are heavily based on the fighters’ more recent performances, the strength of their competition and the relevancy of those fights, not who we think could beat who or where we think they would fit in if they were in any other division.

As always, our rankings can easily be referenced on our dedicated rankings page.

Despite some exciting fights having taken place, the light heavyweight, middleweight, bantamweight, and flyweight divisions remain unchanged from May.

The pound for pound rankings had a slight change, as Junior dos Santos’ dominant knockout victory over heavyweight contender Frank Mir has put him slightly ahead of bantamweight kingpin Dominick Cruz, and lightweight champion Benson Henderson, though all of that could change very soon.

With lopsided fights going the way of Cain Velasquez and Daniel Cormier, the AKA teammates both climb up the heavyweight rankings.

In a decision expected to cause some controversy, Martin Kampmann has made a significant leap up the welterweight division. Following his knockout win over Jake Ellenberger, “The Hitman” jumps over him, but also over Nick Diaz, who hasn’t fought in a few months, and won’t be fighting for the rest of 2011 due to a suspension.

Josh Thomson breaks into the top ten of the lightweight division for the first time in our rankings. Despite coming up short in his Strikeforce title bout against Gilbert Melendez, Thomson put on a great showing, and arguably won the fight. A rematch seems like a good possibility.

With his destruction of Dustin Poirier, “The Korean Zombie” breaks into the top five of the featherweight division. His recent performances still don’t propel him past Pat Curran or Chad Mendes, but he’s will on his way to the top of the division. With both Poirier and Marlon Sandro coming up short in their respective bouts, featherweight contender Erik Koch makes his way up the rankings as well.

Pound-For-Pound

1. Anderson Silva
2. Jon Jones
3. Georges St-Pierre
4. Jose Aldo
5. Junior dos Santos (+2)
6. Dominick Cruz (-1)
7. Benson Henderson (-1)
8. Dan Henderson
9. Gilbert Melendez
10. Carlos Condit

Heavyweight

1. Junior dos Santos
2. Cain Velasquez (+1)
3. Alistair Overeem (-1)
4. Daniel Cormier (+2)
5. Fabricio Werdum
6. Frank Mir (-2)
7. Josh Barnett
8. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
9. Antonio Silva
10. Mark Hunt

Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones
2. Dan Henderson
3. Rashad Evans
4. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
5. Phil Davis
6. Alexander Gustafsson
7. Ryan Bader
8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
9. Lyoto Machida
10. Rampage Jackson

Middleweight

1. Anderson Silva
2. Chael Sonnen
3. Mark Munoz
4. Michael Bisping
5. Vitor Belfort
6. Tim Boetsch
7. Luke Rockhold
8. Brian Stann
9. Chris Weidman
10. Hector Lombard

Welterweight

1. Georges St-Pierre
2. Carlos Condit
3. Johny Hendricks
4. Martin Kampmann (+2)
5. Nick Diaz (-1)
6. Jake Ellenberger (-1)
7. Josh Koscheck
8. Jon Fitch
9. Ben Askren
10. Rory MacDonald

Lightweight

1. Benson Henderson
2. Gilbert Melendez
3. Frankie Edgar
4. Nate Diaz
5. Anthony Pettis
6. Jim Miller
7. Gray Maynard
8. Michael Chandler
9. Eddie Alvarez
10. Josh Thomson (N)

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo
2. Hatsu Hioki
3. Pat Curran
4. Chad Mendes
5. Chan Sung Jung (+2)
6. Erik Koch (+2)
7. Dustin Poirier (-2)
8. Marlon Sandro (-2)
9. Bart Palaszewski
10. Denis Siver

Bantamweight

1. Dominick Cruz
2. Urijah Faber
3. Renan Barao
4. Michael McDonald
5. Brian Bowles
6. Scott Jorgensen
7. Eduardo Dantas
8. Masakatsu Ueda
9. Bibiano Fernandes
10. Brad Pickett

Flyweight

1. Ian McCall
2. Joseph Benavidez
3. Jussier Da Silva
4. Demetrious Johnson
5. Darrell Montague
6. Yasuhiro Urushitani
7. Louis Gaudinot
8. John Dodson
9. Mamoru Yamaguchi
10. Yuki Shojo

(+) and (-) indicate the fighters moving up and down in the rankings, while (N) indicates a new addition.

Photo credit: Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images.

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