MMA Fighter Rankings For June

Time for this month's fighter rankings. Please comment and let me know where I got it right or wrong. Enjoy!



Heavyweight (265 pounds)

1. Fedor Emelianenko
2. Frank Mir
3. Brock Lesnar
4. Josh Barnett
5. Andrei Arlovski
6. Alistair Overeem
7. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
8. Randy Couture
9. Tim Sylvia
10. Shane Carwin

Also receiving consideration: Jeff Monson, Cheick Kongo, Mirko Cro Cop, and Fabricio Werdum

No changes were made to this list with none of these fighters in action over the last month.



Light Heavyweight (205 pounds)

1. Lyoto Machida
2. Rashad Evans
3. Forrest Griffin
4. Quinton Jackson
5. Renato Sobral
6. Luis Cane
7. Mauricio Rua
8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
9. Thiago Silva
10. Rich Franklin

Also receiving consideration: Keith Jardine

Note: Due to Wanderlei Silva's eventual move down to 185 and Tito Ortiz's inactivity of a year they have both been removed from the consideration list. Gegard Mousasi, who is moving up to 205, will be considered once he has a legitimate fight against a 205 lb fighter.



Middleweight (185 pounds)

1. Anderson Silva
2. Dan Henderson
3. Nate Marquardt
4. Demian Maia
5. Yushin Okami
6. Vitor Belfort
7. Robbie Lawler
8. Jorge Santiago
9. Yoshihiro Akiyama
10. Mike Bisping

Also receiving consideration: Thales Leites, Chael Sonnen, and Kazuo Mizaki

Note: Mousasi loses his No. 2 ranking due to his move to LHW. This moves everyone up a spot and opens up the number 10 ranking for Mike Bisping. Chael Sonnen also moves onto the consideration list after a strong win over Dan Miller this month. Wanderlei Silva will be considered once he has a fight against a true 185-pound fighter.



Welterweight (170 pounds)

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Thiago Alves
3. Jon Fitch
4. Martin Kampmann
5. Mike Swick
6. Jake Shields
7. Marcus Davis
8. Carlos Condit
9. Paulo Thiago
10. Frank Trigg

Also receiving consideration: Hayato Sakurai, Matt Hughes, Brock Larson, Josh Koscheck, Jay Hieron, Nick Thompson, and Karo Parisyan

Note: No changes to the top ten due to none of those fighters being active this past month. Hughes doesn't gain any ground with a lackluster win over Matt Serra. Sakurai doesn't gain any ground for beating the much smaller but highly touted Shinya Aoki. However, Brock Larson does move onto the consideration list after an impressive win this month.



Lightweight (155 pounds)

1. BJ Penn
2. Shinya Aoki
3. Eddie Alvarez
4. Joachim Hansen
5. Kenny Florian
6. Tatsuya Kawajiri
7. Gesias Calvancante
8. Josh Thomson
9. Gray Maynard
10. Frankie Edgar

Also receiving consideration: Sean Sherk, Satoru Kitaoka, Caol Uno, Diego Sanchez, and Spencer Fisher

Note: Kawajiri and Calvancante flip-flop after Kawajiri's win over Calvancante this month. Frankie Edgar comes out of nowhere to replace Sean Sherk after wiping the floor with him at UFC 98. So Sean Sherk now moves down to the consideration list. And Matsuhiro Ishida moves off the consideration list after a bad loss to Mizuto Hirota.



Featherweight (145 pounds)

1. Mike Brown
2. Urijah Faber
3. Wagnney Fabiano
4. Leonard Garcia
5. Jose Aldo
6. Hatsu Hioki
7. Takeshi Inoue
8. Rafael Assuncao
9. Bibiano Fernandes
10. Marlon Sandro

Also receiving consideration: Nam Phan, Hideki Kadakowi, Hiroyuki Takaya, Antonio Carvalho, and Joe Warren

Note: Norifumi Yamamoto could've gotten back onto the list after being inactive for over a year but lost to Joe Warren at DREAM 9, which prompted Warren's move to the consideration list after only two pro fights.

Nam Phan moves to the consideration list due to his terrible loss to Michihiro Omigawa at Sengoku 8. Bibiano Fernandes moves into his place who beat former member of the consideration list Masakazu Imanari also at DREAM 9. Obviously, Imanari moves off the consideration list.

Also coming off the top ten list is Dokonjonosuke Mishima due to inactivity for a year. Taking his place is the undefeated Marlon Sandro. Last but not last Hiroyuki Takaya moves on to the consideration list after making it to the semi finals of the DREAM FW tournament this month.



Bantamweight (135 points)

1. Miguel Torres
2. Brian Bowles
3. Masakatsu Ueda
4. Joseph Benavidez
5. Damacio Page
6. Akitoshi Tamura
7. Takeya Mizugaki
8. Will Ribeiro
9. Marcos Galvao
10. Rani Yahya

Also receiving consideration: Manny Tapia, Atsushi Yamamoto, Mark Oshiro, Dominic Cruz, Scott Jorgensen, Chris Cariaso, and Jeff Curran

Note: No movement on the top ten due to inactivity of the fighters this month. However, as my knowledge of the division gets deeper I've added some fighters who should be included in the consideration list for the time being: Mark Oshiro, Dominic Cruz, Scott Jorgensen, Chris Cariaso, and Jeff Curran.



POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Anderson Silva
3. Fedor Emelianenko
4. Lyoto Machida
5. Miguel Torres
6. BJ Penn
7. Rashad Evans
8. Thiago Alves
9. Forrest Griffin
10. Quinton Jackson

Also receiving consideration: Mike Brown and Urijah Faber

Note: Machida moves up three spots after his huge win over Rashad Evans. Torres, Penn, and Evans all move down a spot.

Please stay tuned for my Strikeforce and WEC previews coming tomorrow. Also stay tuned for my TUF episode review later this week. And please check out my weekly news article on InsideFights "No News Barred" every Wednesday. Until next time,

Soccer kicks and head stomps...

John Shubert is a staff writer at InsideFights