Georges St. Pierre retains top spot in Times’ MMA rankings

Georges St. Pierre continued his run of dominance with a decisive decision victory over Nick Diaz at UFC 158 and retains the top spot in the welterweight rankings of Todd Martin’s MMA rankings for March.

Heavyweight

1. Cain Velasquez

2. Junior Dos Santos

3. Daniel Cormier

4. Fabricio Werdum

5. Antonio Silva

6. Alistair Overeem

7. Josh Barnett

8. Frank Mir

9. Travis Browne

10. Roy Nelson

Mark Hunt continued an improbable surge by upsetting Stefan Struve in Japan via third round TKO. Hunt, who had a losing record and was only brought into the UFC because of contractual obligations following the purchase of Pride, won his fourth fight in a row. Now, he will have the opportunity to move into title contention when he battles Junior Dos Santos at UFC 160.

Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones

2. Alexander Gustafsson

3. Lyoto Machida

4. Dan Henderson

5. Rashad Evans

6. Phil Davis

7. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

8. Mauricio “Shogun� Rua

9. Glover Teixeira

10. Ryan Bader

It wasn’t pretty, but Lyoto Machida scored a close decision win over Dan Henderson in Anaheim to solidify his spot as one of the top contenders for Jon Jones’ UFC light heavyweight title. UFC will have a tough decision choosing between Machida and Alexander Gustafsson, who fights the dangerous Gegard Mousasi in Sweden April 6.

Middleweight

1. Anderson Silva

2. Chris Weidman

3. Chael Sonnen

4. Yushin Okami

5. Vitor Belfort

6. Luke Rockhold

7. Michael Bisping

8. Mark Munoz

9. Hector Lombard

10. Ronaldo “Jacare� Souza

Hector Lombard entered the UFC with a lot of hype and a long winning streak. Three fights later, the bloom is clearly off the rose. Losses to Tim Boetsch and now Yushin Okami have Lombard fighting for his place in the UFC more than a title shot. While he was competitive against Okami, it wasn’t enough in a wide open division.

Welterweight

1. Georges St. Pierre

2. Johny Hendricks

3. Demian Maia

4. Carlos Condit

5. Rory MacDonald

6. Jake Ellenberger

7. Jon Fitch

8. Nick Diaz

9. Martin Kampmann

10. Ben Askren

Georges St. Pierre continued his run of dominance with a decisive decision victory over Nick Diaz at UFC 158. It was one of the most unique promotional builds in MMA history, with St. Pierre, UFC president Dana White and the UFC implausibly trying to sell the fight as a grudge match. Diaz openly said before the fight started that this wasn’t true and that they were selling “wolf tickets� and St. Pierre confirmed after the fight that Diaz is one of his favorite fighters and he had nothing against Diaz. Emphasizing personal issues has always been a part of fight promotion, but this was a particularly egregious example of trying to sell the public on a bill of goods. Next up for St. Pierre is likely Johny Hendricks, who bested Carlos Condit in an all-time classic bout on the same card. St. Pierre-Hendricks is a very compelling matchup on paper. Demian Maia and Jake Ellenberger are also in position for potential future title shots.

Lightweight

1. Ben Henderson

2. Gilbert Melendez

3. Anthony Pettis

4. Gray Maynard

5. Jim Miller

6. Michael Chandler

7. T.J. Grant

8. Nate Diaz

9. Donald Cerrone

10. Khabib Nurmagomedov

It’s rare that a month goes by without a number of high quality lightweight matchups, but that was the case in the past month. That lightweight quiet will end in a big way when Ben Henderson and Gilbert Melendez fight for the UFC lightweight title on Fox April 20. With Anthony Pettis moving down to featherweight to challenge Jose Aldo, there are plenty of opportunities for other contenders at lightweight to establish a claim for the next title shot.

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo

2. Chad Mendes

3. Ricardo Lamas

4. Pat Curran

5. “Korean Zombie� Chan Sung Jung

6. Frank Edgar

7. Cub Swanson

8. Dustin Poirier

9. Erik Koch

10. Dennis Siver

After years of a thin featherweight division, the 145 pound weight class is starting to get very competitive. Jose Aldo will defend his title next against elite lightweight Anthony Pettis. Top contenders Ricardo Lamas and Chan Sung Jung will fight with the winner in line for a shot after that. Meanwhile, other contenders like Chad Mendes and Cub Swanson linger. There are plenty of intriguing matchups to come.

Bantamweight

1. Dominick Cruz

2. Renan Barao

3. Michael McDonald

4. Urijah Faber

5. Brian Bowles

6. Eddie Wineland

7. Bibiano Fernandes

8. Brad Pickett

9. Eduardo Dantas

10. Raphael Assuncao

Urijah Faber rebounded from another title shot loss by scoring an impressive submission win over Ivan Menjivar at UFC 157. While Faber ought to be out of the title conversation for a long while given he has lost 5 consecutive title fights over his last 11 total fights, he remains a very popular figure and entertaining fighter whenever he steps into the Octagon.

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