UFC 167 Recap

At the end of 5 rounds, sometimes body language tells us who won.

UFC 167 was the 20th anniversary celebration for the UFC.  What seemed like a great night for the UFC ended in shambles due to a controversial decision in the main event.  The 20th anniversary will always be tainted by a terrible decision by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).  More on that later on, here is the card's quick results:

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• Gian Villante looked sluggish at first, but pulled off a sick KO win over Cody Donovan in the end.
• Sergio Pettis showed he still has holes in his game, but still dominated his contest with Will Campuzano to win a decision.
• Jason High and Anthony Lapsley hugged it out for 3 rounds.  High won thanks to more top control.

FS1 Prelims:

• Erik Perez mixed good striking with an excellent takedown game to get the unanimous decision win over Edwin Figueroa.
• Rick Story gave Brian Ebersole all he had but did not get the finish.  He will be happy with his unanimous decision win though.
• Thales Leites used his superior grappling to neutralize Ed Herman's power and win a decision.
• Donald Cerrone and Evan Dunham saved to prelims with an exciting fight.  Cerrone capped off a 2-2 record in 2013 with a triangle choke win over Dunham taking home a Submission of the Night bonus.

PPV:

• Ali Bagautinov slowed the rise of Tim Elliott and made a name for himself with an impressive decision win.
• Tyron Woodley and Josh Koscheck threw heavy shots back and forth before the TUF 1 alum went down in spectacular fashion.  Huge win for Woodley who has plenty of big fight options on the horizon.
• Robbie Lawler pulled of a big upset with his destruction of Rory MacDonald.  Rory did well to survive the 3rd round and not get finished, but Lawler took home the split decision win.
• Rashad Evans was the first to get a takedown in his wrestling match with Chael Sonnen.  From there he threw hard shots and put a stamp on the king of the broadcast team.  Or did he?  Daniel Cormier looks like he'll be Rashad's next opponent.  If only Kenny Florian could fight Rashad too...
• GSP retained his crown in one of the most controversial fights I remember.  Round 1 went 2 to 1 for GSP on the scorecards, but Hendricks clearly landed the better shots with those hard elbows and a late takedown.  I do not see how GSP possibly could have won this round, thus the controversy.  Round 2 Johny Hendricks dominated from start to finish, rocking GSP and beating him up good.  Round 3 Hendricks started to slow so he took it off a bit.  However, he got a late takedown and very well could have stolen the round.  I can give GSP the close round champion gift and let him win round 3.  Round 4 again was dominated by Johny.  Round 5 was a wrestling match that GSP won.  This was the only clear round won by GSP.  As you can see, it should be 48-47 for Hendricks since he won rounds 1, 2, and 4.  Round 3 debatably could have been Hendricks as well. However, the judges that gave GSP round 1 are ridiculous and wrong.  Hendricks got robbed and GSP should not be the welterweight king.

As far as the state of the 170 pound division, I have a few ideas.  Robbie Lawler vs Johny Hendricks seems to be an awesome fight to do while GSP is "on vacation."  The interim belt should be created just because GSP's future is unsure.  The winner of Lawler/Hendricks should fight the Brown/Condit winner from the fight scheduled in Sacramento.  That is my take on the division.  I hope GSP comes back and I hope Johny gets the rematch he deserves.  Keith Kizer and the NSAC dropped the ball here.  The judges were flat out wrong on November 16th, 2013.

Picks entering event: 168/290

167 picks: 7/11 (not counting GSP/Hendricks for or against me)

Pick totals 2013: 175/301=58%

UFC Awards:

FOTN: GSP/Hendricks

SOTN: Cerrone

KOOTN: Woodley

Brutal Sports Awards:

Beatdown of the Night: Lawler

Sketchiest Decision of the Night (and year!!!): GSP/Hendricks

Upset of the Night: Lawler

Three Stars:

1. Tyron Woodley
2. Donald Cerrone
3. Robbie Lawler

UFC 167: GSP vs Hendricks

Johny has won big fights on the last 2 cards
 GSP was on, now it's his turn to take on GSP.

Whenever GSP steps into the Octagon it is a treat.  He has been one of the best fighters on the planet for a very long time now.  When a seemingly invincible champion faces the toughest match of his career, it is can't miss fighting.  Hendricks is that one threat that just maybe could dethrone GSP.  The rest of this fight card is pretty solid as well, don't miss UFC 167!

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• Gian Villante and Cody Donovan will get the night started in the light heavyweight division.  Both of these guys were victims of OSP in their last fights.  Villante is my pick to keep his job with a win over Donovan.  I say KO because why not?  Villante via KO.
• I am not a believer that Sergio Pettis is as good as his brother Anthony.  However, he shouldn't have trouble with Will Campuzano.  Everyone expects a head kick or body kick finish from Sergio but I say he barely gets a close decision win due to UFC jitters and over hype.  But a W is a W.  Sergio via decision.
• Jason High was the victim of a sick submission to Erick Silva before getting a nice one of his own in his last fight.  I give him an even better chance against Anthony Lapsley.  I think grinds out a decision in a stinker of a fight, but who really cares other than me since it's on Facebook.  High via decision.

FS 1 Prelims:

• Erik Perez and Edwin Figueroa is a quietly awesome fight.  This could be Fight of the Night, even on this stacked card.  Perez lost for the first time in the UFC in his last fight and will be looking to bounce back.  Figueroa isn't the most dominant fighter, but the dude has heart.  I think Perez beats him senseless for 15 minutes and gets a dominant decision win.  Figueroa is fun to watch and will have his moments, but the night should belong to Perez.  Perez via bloody decision.
• Chest hair.  That's all you need to know about Brian Ebersole.  Even thought the arrow of chest hair is all you need to know, I'll tell you more.  Ebersole is a veteran of 67 fights and has great submission skills.  Rick Story was a highly regarded prospect before falling from grace.  Although Story is tough and should be a good matchup, Rick will be mesmerized by the arrow of hair and will get caught in a submission.  Arm-triangle choke win for Ebersole. (Allegedly an upset, I might throw cash down)
• Ed Herman will take on Thales Leites in a battle of UFC veterans.  Herman has powerful standup but will likely have that neutralized by Leites.  I see Leites beating Herman in very similar fashion to how Jacare Souza did.  Herman will be put against the cage, taken down, beat up, and submitted.  Leites via submission (arm-triangle choke).
• Donald Cerrone has had ups and downs in his career but how the hell is this guy fighting on a preliminary fight!!!  This is a treat for those who watch on free TV but not on PPV.  Evan Dunham also has had his moments, but similar to Rick Story has fallen from his hype train.  I think Donald salvages a rough 2013 with an end of the year win.  Cerrone via decision.

Pay-Per View:

• I am the biggest fan of the little guys, but Cerrone deserves to make PPV over Elliot and Bagautinov.  Maybe the flyweights will prove me and everyone else wrong and put on a show, who knows?  What I do know is that Elliot was ultra impresssive in his last win, destroying Louis Gaudinot.  He also has a notable win over former UFC lightweight champ, Jens Pulver.  His opponent Ali Bagautinov is relatively unknown.  He is a combat sambo guy looking to make it 10 wins in a row.  I say Elliot continues to win via funky striking and awesome wrestling.  Elliot via decision.
• Is Josh Koscheck falling from being a contender, much like his buddy Jon Fitch?  Is Tyron Woodley over-hyped and not that good?  I say yes to both.  Kos is not who he once was and Woodley lost to Nate Marquardt who has now lost 3 straight fights and clearly has a weak chin.  I don't really know what to expect here, so I will side with the veteran guy, Josh Koscheck.  I think Josh employs a wrestling strategy to keep Woodley's power away from his chin.  I think this will be a boring fight and Koscheck will hold Woodley against the cage for 3 rounds like Jake Shields did.  Koscheck via decision.  (allegedly an upset, money might go down again)
• Rory MacDonald is not a fan favorite, at least not in the US.  Robbie Lawler is the favorite of any person who has ever seen him fight.  Everyone in the MGM Grand will be begging to see Lawler knock MacDonald's head off, but it won't happen.  I believed that Ellenberger could do it, but Rory is too good.  Although based on how unbelievable Lawler looked in his last fight, I can at least hope for Robbie to win.  But he won't.  MacDonald via decision.
• Rashad and Chael are both awesome wrestlers and great personalities.  Chael takes everyone not named Jon Jones down.  Will he take Rashad down?  Probably not.  Rashad should be able to sprawl and brawl his way to a victory.  HOWEVER, do not be shocked if Chael turns into the next submission guru and wins this with a slick submission.  Submitting Shogun is no joke, and Chael has done so much submission training over the years that he could have found a new weapon.  But still I side with Rashad tagging Sonnen and finishing him with strikes.  They will hug it out and be besties again.  Rashad via TKO.
• GSP is one of the greatest of all time.  Not just a UFC great, but an MMA great.  He is a future Hall of Famer and the best welterweight ever.  He is a great guy, the face of Canada, and one of the UFC's biggest draws.  Johny Hendricks is just an Oklahoma boy who loves his family, loves to wrestle, and has the best 1 punch knockout power in the welterweight division.  I have said since the day he decimated Jon Fitch that Hendricks is the guy to beat GSP.  He, like Weidman to Silva, is the one bad matchup for the "unbeatable" champion when you look at styles.  Like Weidman, he also has that mentality that he can do it.  He thinks he is destined to be the guy to beat GSP.  He is on a mission and coming to Vegas to take a belt home.  I have never picked anybody to beat GSP ever.  I thought Condit could beat GSP, but I sided with GSP.  I will be picking Johny Hendricks to beat GSP on Saturday night from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.  I say GSP worries too much about the left hand and gets caught by a right hook.  Johny can not only stuff GSP's takedown, I think he might even take Georges down.  Johny is on a mission and Saturday will be the night.  Johny Hendricks via right hook KO in round 3!!

UFC award predictions:

FOTN: Perez/Figueroa

SOTN: Ebersole

KOOTN: Hendricks

Picks entering event: 168/290

On a side note: I never discussed anything regarding Belfort/Henderson.  Vitor is unbelievable and better get the winner of Weidman/Silva 2.  Henderson should retire although I don't mind if he stays around because I love that guy.  Also from that card, Brandon Thatch is a stud and look for him as a prospect to watch in 2014.

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End of the Year MMA Award Candidates

This is the only trophy I can afford
 to give fighters at the end of the year.

The end of the year is approaching which means that the Brutal Sports MMA awards are about to be bestowed to various fighters, organizations, and events.  Here is a look at the nominees, leave a comment if you want your voice to be heard.  Heading into the amazing end of the year lineup, many new candidates should emerge.  If I missed a potential award or award recipient then let me know of that as well so I can consider making tweaks before the end of the year awards become official.  Each award will get its own post breaking down just why I chose the winner.

2013 end of the year awards nominees (in no particular order):

Fight of the Year:

• Matt Grice vs Dennis Bermudez
• Diego Sanchez vs Gilbert Melendez
• Jon Jones vs Alexander Gustafsson
• Wanderlei Silva vs Brian Stann
• Eddie Alvarez vs Michael Chandler 2

Round of the Year:

• Gilbert Melendez vs Diego Sanchez round 3
• Erik Koch vs Dustin Poirier round 1
• Wanderlei Silva vs Brian Stann round 1
• Jordan Mein vs Matt Brown round 1
• Matt Grice vs Dennis Bermudez round 3

Fighter of the Year:

• Vitor Belfort
• Chris Weidman
• Anthony Pettis
• Matt Brown
• Chad Mendes

KO of the Year:

• Cub Swanson "beautiful destruction" of Dennis Siver
• Vitor Belfort destroys Rockhold with a spinning kick
• Vitor Belfort is the first man to KO Dan Henderson, his 3rd head kick KO in 2013.
• Bigfoot Silva destroys Overeem in the 3rd round
• Mark Hunt breaks the jaw of Stefan Struve with a left hook KO

Submission of the Year:

• Werdum submits a legend in Big Nog
• Kenny Robertson unique suloev stretch submission of Brock Jardine
• Erick Silva slick submission of Jason High
• Anthony Pettis snatches Henderson's arm, and the title
• Josh Burkman chokes Jon Fitch unconscious in Fitch's WSOF debut

Beatdown of the Year:

• Jeremy Stephens bloodies up Estevan Payan in a 3 round beatdown
• Cain Velasquez beats up JDS in trilogy fight
• Jessica Andrade whoops Rosi Sexton for 3 rounds
• TJ Grant punishes Matt Wiman and Gray Maynard nonstop in his 2 rounds of work in 2013
• Court McGee lands hundreds of strikes in win over Josh Neer

Event of the Year:

• UFC 166: JDS vs Velasquez 3
• UFC 164: Henderson vs Pettis
• Fox 7: Henderson vs Melendez
• UFC 157: Rousey vs Carmouche
• UFC 162: Silva vs Weidman

Upset of the Year:

• Chris Weidman KO's Anderson Silva to take the middeweight belt
• Emmanuel Newton spinning backfist of King Mo, and a decision win in the rematch
• Bigfoot Silva comeback against Alistair Overeem
• Josh Burkman submits Jon Fitch
• Ashlee Evans-Smith is the first woman to defeat transgendered fighter Fallon Fox

Worst Decision of the Year:

• Bobby Green beats James Krause via groin kick TKO
• Lyoto Machida loses a decision in Brazil to Phil Davis
• Dan Henderson loses not 1, but 2 split decisions to Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans
• Eddie Alvarez "wins" rematch against Michael Chandler
• Gilbert Melendez gets robbed of the lightweight title in a controversial loss to Benson Henderson

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Fight for the Troops 3 Recap

The crowd went bananas when Tim got the 1st round KO.

On Wednesday night the UFC did their part in putting on a show for the troops and UFC fans.  The night did not disappoint with exciting fight after exciting fight.  Here is a quick recap of how things went down:

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• Derek Brunson threw a head kick then swarmed Brian Houston on his way to a submission in under a minute to kick things off.
• Seth Baczynski defeated Neil Magny via a very close decision.  Takedowns ultimately won this fight
• Yancy Medeiros proved his is for real with an uppercut KO of UFC veteran Yves Edwards.
• Lorenz Larkin and Chris Camozzi put on one of 4 fights I thought was worthy of Fight of the Night.  Larkin ultimately won with quicker striking and body kicks.

FS 1 Prelims:

• Amanda Nunes took down Germaine de Randamie and secured full mount.  From there Germaine was stuck and could not get out.  Despite not being in any real danger, Herb Dean saw enough and stopped the fight from elbows.
• Dennis Bermudez put on the 2nd of 4 edge of your seat fights against Steven Siler.  Siler kept jumping on the guillotine as well as attempting submissions from his back but Bermudez clearly has some serious submission defense.  Siler proved he can hang tough but ultimately it was Bermudez with another exciting win which should catapult him to the top 15, maybe top 10.
• Francisco Rivera is one of the most powerful punchers in the bantamweight division and George Roop is one tough customer.  Rivera went for the finish all out when he had Roop rocked in the second round.  After the ref stepped in to stop Roop from taking further punishment, Rivera fell to the ground in exhaustion.  I cannot complain about the stoppage because Roop was VERY badly hurt.  But if he were allowed to continue he may have won the fight since Rivera gassed himself for the finish.  This is the 3rd fight worthy of Fight of the Night in my opinion due to Rivera's wreckless abandon in looking for the finish.
• The last prelim fight still has me very hot!  I am furious at the result of this fight.  Basically Bobby Green and James Krause began with a very exciting striking battle.  Bobby Green almost boxes similar to Floyd Mayweather, in the way he moves his head and uses his arms to block punches.  However his kicking game is not so crisp.  He kicked Krause in the groin early causing him to collapse to the ground.  Shortly after, Green kicked Krause in the same spot again.  Krause complained to ref Big John McCarthy, but John went on to yell at him for complaining.  John did take a point away from Bobby Green for the 2nd kick to the groin.  The fight goes on a big longer when cup kick number 3 happens.  Krause goes to the ground in apparent pain and Big John steps in and says "the fight is over, you (Bobby Green) win."  John is claiming that the kick was completely legal and Krause was no longer able to fight following a clean shot, and thus, the fight was ruled a TKO finish.  When looking at the replay, the kick clearly landed below the belt.  Although maybe not a groin shot, it still hit Krause in the cup.  As Joe Rogan said, that area was probably still very tender and the kick to the cup would definitely hurt.  I absolutely 100% think the ruling by John McCarthy was wrong.  He normally is one of the best refs in the game so I give him the benefit of the doubt, but Krause got absolutely screwed with this call.  I hope they do a rematch but I don't see it happening since Dana White agreed with the call.  Krause, hopfully, will bounce back and be a threat at 155 following this controversial ruling.

FS 1 Main Card:

• Michael Chiesa and Colton Smith had a back and forth first round where each man had the other person's back and threw on a rear-naked choke.  Both men defended it well and saw a round 2.  In the 2nd, Chiesa hip tossed Smith who landed on his head.  This clearly rocked him and allowed Chiesa to take Smith's back and secured his signature choke.  Chiesa took home Submission of the Night with his RNC finish of Smith.
• Rustam Khabilov took home a decision win over Jorge Masvidal, but both men took home Fight of the Night bonus checks.  This was an exciting striking match with a few takedowns mixed in.  It was a spinning kick to the face by Khabilov that secured the 3rd round and the fight.  Masvidal is sitll very much alive in the lightweight rankings, but Khabilov took a huge step up in the standings following this win.
• Another fight, another KO win for Yoel Romero.  He is so athletic and debatably the best wrestler in the UFC.  He uses that wrestling and athleticism to keep fights standing.  He has crazy unorthodox striking and uses changes of speed to confuse opponents.  Ronny Markes had a great start to the fight but seemed helpless following the first.  It was a left hand that ultimately ended Markes night and gained Romero another big win.
• In the co-main event, Alexis Davis picked Liz Carmouche apart for the better part of 3 rounds.  The inside leg kick was the best weapon Davis had.  Carmouche landed a left jab, right hook combination that cut Alexis over her right eye but landed nothing else substantial during the fight.  Carmouche usually looks for the takedown but did not in this fight probably because she was weary of the submission game of Davis.  It was ultimately aggression and cage control that gave Davis the victory.
• Tim Kennedy is an extremely likable guy and a great fighter.  He is a former Green Beret and still is an active military member.  He also has knockout power that nobody thought he had.  Tim has always been a guy who uses grappling to grind fights out.  He likes to drag people into deep waters and suffocate them with his strength.  Against Rafael Natal, he decided to throw power and take home a bonus check.  Natal looked good in the early going, but a left hook late in the first round ended his night.  The roof blew off the hanger when the military man won the main event with the KO of the Night.  Next for Kennedy is probably a guy in the 5-10th spot in the middleweight division.  Mark Munoz, Michael Bisping, and Francis Carmont are people that come to mind at first glance.  Great finish to a great night thanks to Tim Kennedy.  This win was even more exciting since soldiers Magny, Smith, and Carmouche all let down their comrades with losses earlier on the card.

On a side note, I was VERY pleased to have Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan calling last nights fights, but this unfortunately means Jon Anik will most likely be in Brazil on Saturday.

UFC Bonuses:

FOTN: Khabilav/Masvidal

SOTN: Chiesa

KOOTN: Kennedy

Brutal Sports Awards:

Beatdown of the Night: Davis

Sketchiest Decision of the Night: Krause/Green

Upset of the Night: Davis

Three Stars:

1. Tim Kennedy
2. Yancy Medeiros
3. Yoel Romero

Pick totals entering Bellator CVI: 160/273

Bellator CVI picks: 2/5 (Chandler should have won!)

Troops 3 picks: 6/12 (Not counting Green's win)

Pick totals: 168/290=58%

Pick totals reset at the end of 2013.  Hoping to break 60% for the year and look to be even higher in 2014.

UFC Fight for the Troops 3: Kennedy vs Natal

Tim Kennedy looks to win for his comrades.

The UFC has gone back to putting on shows for the troops.  On Wednesday night Tim Kennedy will headline the show from Fort Campbell, Kentucky.  This may not be the most stacked card of the year, but it should still have a handful of intriguing and exciting bouts.  Military veterans on the card include Kennedy, Carmouche, Smith, and Magny.  Here are my quick picks:

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• Derek Brunson decision win over Brian Houston
• Seth Baczynski defeats Neil Magny via submission (Guillotine)
• Yves Edwards KO win over Yancy Medeiros
• Lorenz Larkin split decision win over Chris Camozzi in a fight that should be on the main card

FS1 Prelims:

• Amanda Nunes decision win over Germaine de Randamie
• Dennis Bermudez and Steven Siler win Fight of the Night.  Siler wins via split decision
• George Roop KO win over Francisco Rivera
• Dana White loved the UFC debut of both James Krause and Bobby Green.  Krause wins via submission (Triangle choke)

FS1 Main Card:

• Colton Smith had an exciting fight in a loss to Robert Whittaker.  Michael Chiesa had a tough loss to swallow against Jorge Masvidal in his last fight.  I'm torn here so I will side with the soldier to win against the submission specialist.  Smith via decision.
• The aforementioned Jorge Masvidal will take on Rustam Khabilov in the battle of the awesome names.  Masvidal has too much experience and too many ways to win.  Masvidal via TKO.
• I don't know much about Ronny Markes but I will pick Yoel Romero to win 99 times out of 100.  Romero is my boy at 185.  He is super athletic and awesome.  Romero via KO of the Night.
• Liz Carmouche and Alexis Davis are near the top of the women's division.  Both women have more experience and ability than most women in the UFC.  Davis was a little gun shy in her UFC debut despite the win, but I expect more out of her in her 2nd fight.  That said, Carmouche has looked outstanding thus far in the UFC and she will have the troops on her side.  Carmouche via decision (and her first win over a top 10 opponent).
• Tim Kennedy is a war hero and one hell of a fighter.  Rafael Natal is a much easier matchup for Kennedy than his original opponent Lyoto Machida.  Tim should have no problem with Natal securing a decision win in a 5 round beatdown.  Kennedy via decision.

On a side note:  Bellator put on a snoozer of an event prior to the main event.  I was a little disappointed in Curran laying an egg.  Also, King Mo looked awful.  The Chandler Alvarez fight was awesome but the judges got it wrong and put a damper on a great fight.  3 new title holders is exciting but only when the fights don't suck.  Nobody in Bellator is worthy of the top 10 in the UFC following the November 2nd card!

Updated Fighter Rankings (11/1/13)

John Dodson (pictured) didn't move in
the rankings, but he likely will get a title
shot with his big win over Montague.

October saw a lot of mixed martial arts action.  Most notably, Cain Velasquez won the trilogy against JDS and Lyoto Machida saw his middleweight debut at 185 go perfectly.  But also WSOF crowned its first champion, Bibiano Fernandes unified the ONE FC Bantamweight title, Shinya Aoki made a successful debut at featherweight, and a legend in women's MMA, Megumi Fujii, retired.  Bellator also held a few events, but it is the November 2nd card that I am really concerned about as far as my rankings go.  Here is how I see things after a very busy October, heading into an equally busy November:

Men's Pound for Pound:

1. Jose Aldo (1)
2. Georges St. Pierre (2)
3. Jon Jones (3)
4. Anderson Silva (4)
5. Chris Weidman (5)
6. Renan Barao (6)
7. Cain Velasquez (9)
8. Demetrious Johnson (7)
9. Dominick Cruz (8)
10. Anthony Pettis (10)
11. Joe Benavidez (12)
12. Urijah Faber (13)
13. Vitor Belfort (14)
14. Johny Hendricks (15)
15. Chad Mendes (16)
16. Junior Dos Santos (11)
17. Michael McDonald (17)
18. Benson Henderson (18)
19. Frankie Edgar (19)
20. Gilbert Melendez (20)

Heavyweight:

1. Cain Velasquez (1)
2. Travis Browne (3)
3. Daniel Cormier (5)
4. Fabricio Werdum (4)
5. Junior Dos Santos (2)
6. Mark Hunt (6)
7. Stipe Miocic (7)
8. Josh Barnett (8)
9. Antonio Silva (10)
10. Gabriel Gonzaga (15)
11. Stefan Struve (11)
12. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (12)
13. Frank Mir (13)
14. Alistair Overeem (14)
15.  Roy Nelson (9)
16. Ben Rothwell (16)
17. Brendan Schaub (18)
18. Cheick Kongo (20)
19. Alexander Volkov (19)
20. Shawn Jordan (17)

Light Heavywight:

1. Jon Jones (1)
2. Glover Teixeira (2)
3. Alexander Gustafsson (3)
4. Phil Davis (4)
5. Rashad Evans (6)
6. Dan Henderson (7)
7. Gegard Mousasi (8)
8. Chael Sonnen (9)
9. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (10)
10. Ryan Bader (11)
11. Shogun Rua (12)
12. Emanuel Newton (13)
13. Muhammed Lawal (14)
14. Attila Vegh (15)
15. Rampage Jackson (16)
16. James Te-Huna (18)
17. Jimi Manuwa (NR)
18. Thiago Silva (17)
19. Rafael Cavalcante (20)
20. Ryan Jimmo (19)

Changing weight: Lyoto Machida

Middleweight:

1. Chris Weidman (1)
2. Anderson Silva (2)
3. Ronaldo Souza (3)
4. Vitor Belfort (4)
5. Lyoto Machida (5-light heavyweight)
6. Michael Bisping (6)
7. Tim Kennedy (7)
8. Mark Munoz (5)
9. Alexander Shlemenko (8)
10. Yushin Okami (9)
11. Tim Boetsch (11)
12. Luke Rockhold (10)
13. Cung Le (12)
14. Thales Leites (13)
15. Alan Belcher (14)
16. Francis Carmont (15)
17. Costa Philippou (16)
18. Rich Franklin (17)
19. Tom Watson (18)
20. Yoel Romero (19)

Dropping out: Lorenz Larkin (20)

Welterwight:

1. Georges St. Pierre (1)
2. Johny Hendricks (2)
3. Rory Macdonald (3)
4. Carlos Condit (4)
5. Matt Brown (5)
6. Dong Hyun Kim (7)
7. Jake Ellenberger (8)
8. Jake Shields (11)
9. Robbie Lawler (9)
10. Demian Maia (6)
11. Ben Askren (10)
12. Josh Koscheck (13)
13. Martin Kampmann (14)
14. Nick Diaz (15)
15. Tarec Saffiedine (16)
16. Tyrone Woodley (19)
17. Hector Lombard (NR)
18. Steve Carl (NR)
19. Josh Burkman (12)
20. Jon Fitch (18)

Dropping out: Nate Marquardt (17), Erick Silva (20)

Lightweight:

1. Anthony Pettis (1)
2. Gilbert Melendez (3)
3. Michael Chandler (4)
4. Benson Henderson (5)
5. Josh Thomson (6)
6. TJ Grant (2)
7. Khabib Nurmagomedov (7)
8. Gray Maynard (8)
9. Rafael dos Anjos (9)
10. Pat Healy (10)
11. Eddie Alvarez (11)
12. Jim Miller (12)
13. Nate Diaz (13)
14. Donald Cerrone (14)
15. Melvin Guillard (16)
16. Edson Barboza (17)
17. Jorge Masvidal (18)
18. Joe Lauzon (19)
19. Tatsuya Kawajiri (20)
20. Norman Parke (NR)

Changing weight: Shinya Aoki

Featherweight:

1. Jose Aldo (1)
2. Chad Mendes (2)
3. Cub Swanson (3)
4. Ricardo Lamas (4)
5. Frankie Edgar (5)
6. Dustin Poirier (6)
7. Pat Curran (7)
8. Conor McGregor (8)
9. Chan Sung Jung (9)
10. Shinya Aoki (15-lightweight)
11. Erik Koch (10)
12. Dennis Siver (11)
13. Nik Lentz (12)
14. Paticio Freire (14)
15. Darren Elkins (13)
16. Clay Guida (15)
17. Hatsu Hioki (16)
18. Charles Oliveira (17)
19. Manvel Gamburyan (18)
20. Jimy Hettes (NR)

Dropping out: Steven Siler (19), Mike Brown (20)

Bantamweight:

1. Dominick Cruz (1)
2. Renan Barao (2)
3. Urijah Faber (3)
4. Michael McDonald (4)
5. Rafael Assuncao (5)
6. Brad Pickett (6)
7. Eddie Wineland (8)
8. Scott Jorgensen (9)
9. T.J. Dillashaw (7)
10. Bibiano Fernandes (11)
11. Marlon Moraes (14)
12. George Roop (10)
13. Yuri Alcantara (12)
14. Mike Easton (13)
15. Takeya Mizugaki (15)
16. Tyson Nam (16)
17. Eduardo Dantas (17)
18. Joe Warren (18)
19. Erik Perez (19)
20. Bryan Caraway (20)

Flyweight:

1. Demetrious Johnson (1)
2. Joe Benavidez (2)
3. John Dodson (3)
4. John Lineker (6)
5. John Moraga (4)
6. Ian McCall (7)
7. Tim Elliot (8)
8. Jussier Formiga (9)
9. Darrel Montague (5)
10. Louis Gaudinot (10)

Women's Pound for Pound:

1. Ronda Rousey (1)
2. Cristiane Santos (2)
3. Sara McMann (3)
4. Jessica Aguilar (5)
5. Cat Zingano (4)
6. Miesha Tate (6)
7. Alexis Davis (7)
8. Liz Carmouche (9)
9. Marloes Coenen(10)
10. Jessica Eye (12)
11. Sarah Kaufman (8)
12. Michelle Waterson (11)
13. Jessica Penne (13)
14. Amanda Nunes (14)
15. Carla Esparza (15)
16. Zoila Gurgel (16)
17. Shayna Baszler (19)
18. Jessica Andrade (NR)
19. Rosi Sexton (18)
20. Barb Honchak (NR)

Dropping out: Tara LaRosa (20)

Retired: Megumi Fujii (17)