Georges St-Pierre retains top welterweight spot in Times MMA rankings

When Georges St-Pierre won a split judges’ decision over Johny Hendricks to retain his UFC welterweight title, it spurred another round of vociferous complaints about MMA judging. It’s understandable that there was frustration, given Hendricks had the two strongest rounds of the fight in the 2^nd and 4^th. But critics would do well to calm down just a little, given most everyone gave rounds 3 and 5 to St. Pierre and the stats in round 1 showed St-Pierre outlanding Hendricks 19-18 in significant strikes, trailing 27-26 in total strikes, attempting the only submission and tying Hendricks in the takedown game 1-1. An outrage? Hardly. That’s why he is still atop The Times’ welterweight rankings.

Heavyweight

1. Cain Velasquez

2. Junior Dos Santos

3. Daniel Cormier

4. Fabricio Werdum

5. Josh Barnett

6. Antonio Silva

7. Travis Browne

8. Alistair Overeem

9. Frank Mir

10. Stipe Miocic

The biggest heavyweight scrap of the month took place in Bellator, where undefeated Russian sambo star Vitaly Minakov captured the Bellator heavyweight title with a win over Alexander Volkov. Minakov possesses a dangerous mix of power and technique, with 12 finishes in his 13 MMA wins.

Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones

2. Alexander Gustafsson

3. Rashad Evans

4. Phil Davis

5. Glover Teixeira

6. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

7. Ryan Bader

8. Gegard Mousasi

9. Dan Henderson

10. Chael Sonnen

After a few lackluster performances, Rashad Evans showcased the ability that has brought him so much career success against Chael Sonnen at UFC 167. Evans took down Sonnen, advanced position, and forced Sonnen to submit to strikes. It was a much needed stoppage win over a talented opponent. Dan Henderson falls down the rankings after a third consecutive loss, this time to Vitor Belfort.

Middleweight

1. Chris Weidman

2. Anderson Silva

3. Vitor Belfort

4. Lyoto Machida

5. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

6. Yushin Okami

7. Luke Rockhold

8. Tim Kennedy

9. Mark Munoz

10. Michael Bisping

Lyoto Machida entered the middleweight division with style, knocking out training partner and friend Mark Munoz in the first round. Machida joins what has become a middleweight division loaded with high level talent. In other action, Vitor Belfort became the first opponent to ever knock out Dan Henderson. Barry Bonds and Lance Armstrong would be proud of Belfort’s remarkable late career physical renaissance.

Welterweight

1. Georges St. Pierre

2. Johny Hendricks

3. Carlos Condit

4. Ben Askren

5. Jake Ellenberger

6. Jake Shields

7. Demian Maia

8. Robbie Lawler

9. Rory MacDonald

10. Nick Diaz

In other welterweight action, Rory MacDonald turned in another baffling performance against Robbie Lawler, losing via decision and raising serious questions about how good the young fighter can be. Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren was released by that promotion and would be an intriguing addition to the UFC mix if the UFC decides to go after him.

Lightweight

1. Anthony Pettis

2. Gilbert Melendez

3. Ben Henderson

4. T.J. Grant

5. Eddie Alvarez

6. Michael Chandler

7. Khabib Nurmagomedov

8. Gray Maynard

9. Josh Thomson

10. Nate Diaz

Eddie Alvarez received a razor thin judges’ decision over Michael Chandler in an excellent rematch of their Bellator lightweight title fight from 2011. Now the fighters will battle in a rubber match to settle one of MMA’s great rivalries. In other action, Donald Cerrone turned in a terrific performance in submitting Evan Dunham. Cerrone had struggled in recent fights and the Dunham win was great for Cerrone’s career.

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo

2. Chad Mendes

3. Ricardo Lamas

4. Cub Swanson

5. Frank Edgar

6. Daniel Straus

7. “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung

8. Dustin Poirier

9. Pat Curran

10. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire

Daniel Straus defeated Pat Curran to capture the Bellator featherweight title and in the process scored the biggest win of his career. Dennis Bermudez won his fifth straight bout over Steven Siler and is knocking on the door of the top 10.

Bantamweight

1. Renan Barao

2. Dominick Cruz

3. Michael McDonald

4. Urijah Faber

5. Eddie Wineland

6. Bibiano Fernandes

7. Raphael Assuncao

8. Brad Pickett

9. Eduardo Dantas

10. Iuri Alcantara

Dominick Cruz and Renan Barao will finally fight to unify the UFC bantamweight title February 1 in Newark. It will be one of the biggest bantamweight fights in UFC history and a significant test for Cruz in his long awaited return from injury.

Flyweight

1. Demetrious Johnson

2. Joseph Benavidez

3. John Dodson

4. Ian McCall

5. John Moraga

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Ronda Rousey

2. Cat Zingano

3. Miesha Tate

4. Jessica Eye

5. Alexis Davis