Ariel Helwani's official MMA rankings
Ariel Helwani gives his monthly MMA rankings by weight and pound-for-pound.
MMA Beat
By Ariel Helwani
updated 11:02 a.m. ET May 5, 2011
Welcome to NBCSports.com's latest mixed martial arts rankings.
With only two major events in April, there wasn’t much movement across our rankings. However, pound-for-pound kings Georges St-Pierre and Jose Aldo were victorious.
Take a look at the rankings below.
HEAVYWEIGHT
1. Cain Velasquez (9-0) – The champ is hoping to return on Oct. 8 against the winner of Lesnar vs. dos Santos.
2. Junior dos Santos (12-1) – Faces Brock Lesnar at UFC 131 on June 11.
3. Fabricio Werdum (14-4-1) – Faces Alistair Overeem on June 18.
4. Brock Lesnar (5-2) - See #2.
5. Alistair Overeem (34-11, 1 NC) - See #3.
6. Antonio Silva (16-2) – He will wait for the winner of Overeem-Werdum.
7. Fedor Emelianenko (31-3, 1 NC) – Momentum building for a super-fight against Dan Henderson in the summer.
8. Shane Carwin (12-1) – Will face UFC newcomer Jon Olav Einemo at UFC 131 in June.
9. Frank Mir (14-5) – Faces Roy Nelson on May 28 at UFC 130.
10. Roy Nelson (15-5) - See #9.
Honorable mention: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Sergei Kharitonov, Brendan Schaub, Mirko Cro Cop.
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
1. Jon Jones – (13-1) – Forced to pull out of Rashad Evans due to a torn ligament in his right hand. Hope to return by the fall.
2. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (19-5) – Faces Forrest Griffin at UFC: Rio.
3. Rashad Evans (15-1-1) – Will now face Phil Davis in August at UFC 133.
4. Quinton Jackson (31-8) – Faces Matt Hamill at UFC 130 on May 28.
5. Lyoto Machida (17-2) – Machida snapped his two-fight losing streak in most impressive fashion at UFC 129.
6. Forrest Griffin (18-6) – See #2.
7. Dan Henderson (27-8) – Looks like he will face Fedor Emelianenko in a heavyweight bout later this summer.
8. Ryan Bader (12-1) – Will face Tito Ortiz at UFC 132.
9. Phil Davis (9-0) – See #3.
10. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (19-5) – Faces Rich Franklin at UFC 133 in August.
Honorable Mention: Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante, Muhammed Lawal, Gegard Mousasi, Rich Franklin, Matt Hamill, Vladimir Matyushenko,
MIDDLEWEIGHT
1. Anderson Silva (28-4) – Faces Yushin Okami at UFC: Rio in August.
2. Chael Sonnen (25-11-1) – Still waiting to meet with the NSAC so he can return to action.
3. Yushin Okami (26-5) – See #1.
4. Nate Marquardt (31-10-2) – We’ll keep him here until he makes his welterweight debut in June.
5. Demian Maia (14-2) – Faces Mark Munoz at UFC 131 in June.
6. Michael Bisping (21-3) – No word on his return yet.
7. Ronaldo Souza (14-2, 1 NC) – No idea who is next for him yet.
8. Vitor Belfort (19-9) – Faces Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 133 in August.
9. Alan Belcher (16-6) – Shooting for a fall return to the UFC.
10. Jorge Santiago (23-8) – Faces Brian Stann at UFC 130.
Honorable Mention: Hector Lombard, Brian Stann, Kazuo Misaki, Robbie Lawler, Wanderlei Silva.
WELTERWEIGHT
1. Georges St-Pierre (22-2) – Picked up his fifth five-round decision win in six fights against Jake Shields at UFC 129.
2. Jon Fitch (23-3-1, 1 NC) – Shoulder surgery will sideline him for at least six months.
3. Jake Shields (26-5-1) – Lost via unanimous decision to GSP at UFC 129.
4. Nick Diaz (25-7, 1 ND) – Is he next for GSP?
5. Thiago Alves (18-7) – Faces Rick Story at UFC 130 on May 28.
6. Josh Koscheck (15-5) – If all goes well for his recovering orbital bone, he could return by the end of the year.
7. BJ Penn (16-7-2) – A shoulder injury forced Penn to pull out of UFC 132.
8. Carlos Condit (26-5) – Faces Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 131.
9. Paul Daley (27-10-2) – Lost an exhilarating fight to Nick Diaz in April.
10. Diego Sanchez (23-4) – Faces Matt Hughes in the fall.
Honorable Mention: Martin Kampmann, Mike Pyle, Ben Askren, Jake Ellenberger, Anthony Johnson.
LIGHTWEIGHT
1. Frankie Edgar (13-1-1) – Gets a third crack at Gray Maynard at UFC 130.
2. Gray Maynard (10-0-1) - See above.
3. BJ Penn (16-7-1) - I still think Penn is one of the best lightweights in the world.
4. Gilbert Melendez (19-2) – There doesn’t appear to be many challenges for him left in Strikeforce.
5. Shinya Aoki (27-6, 1 NC) – Dominant win over Lyle Beerbohm in April.
6. Eddie Alvarez (22-2) – Defeated Pat Curran in his first Bellator title defense.
7. Jim Miller (20-2) – Miller won his seventh in a row when he beat Kamal Shalorus at UFC 128.
8. Kenny Florian (13-5) – Dropping down to 145 to fight Diego Nunes in June.
9. Tatsuya Kawajiri (27-7-2) – Not a good showing against Gilbert Melendez in April.
10. Anthony Pettis (13-1) – Faces Clay Guida on June 4.
Honorable Mention: Dennis Siver, Clay Guida, George Sotiropoulos, Ben Henderson, Sean Sherk, Melvin Guillard, Evan Dunham, Josh Thomson, "JZ" Cavalcante.
FEATHERWEIGHT
1. Jose Aldo (19-1) – Successfully defended his UFC featherweight title for the first time against Mark Hominick at UFC 129.
2. Hatsu Hioki (24-4-2) – Submitted Donald Sanchez at Shooto Tradition 2011 in April.
3. Chad Mendes (10-0) – Looks like he’ll be facing Aldo for the title at UFC 133.
4. Diego Nunes (16-1) – Welcomes Kenny Florian to the featherweight division in June.
5. Manny Gamburyan (11-5) – Welcomes Tyson Griffin to the featherweight division at UFC on Versus 4.
6. Michihiro Omigawa (12-9-1) – Faces Darren Elkins at UFC 131.
7. Marlon Sandro (17-2) – Newest member of the Bellator featherweight division.
8. Mark Hominick (20-9) – His stock seems to have been raised even after his loss to Aldo at UFC 129.
9. Joe Warren (7-1) – Won a controversial decision over Marcos Galvao.
10. Dustin Poirier (9-1) – Faces Rani Yahya at UFC 131.
Honorable Mention: Erik Koch, Josh Grispi, Hiroyuki Takaya, Raphael Assuncao, Rani Yahya.
BANTAMWEIGHT
1. Dominick Cruz (17-1) – Defends his UFC title for the first time on July 2 against Urijah Faber.
2. Brian Bowles (9-1) – Faces Takeya Mizugaki on July 2.
3. Joseph Benavidez (14-2) – Solid win over Ian Loveland at UFC 128.
4. Miguel Torres (39-3) – Fights late replacement Demetrious Johnson at UFC 130.
5. Urijah Faber (25-4) – See #1.
6. Scott Jorgensen (11-4) – Faces Ken Stone on June 4.
7. Brad Pickett (20-5) – Forced to pull out of UFC 130 due to an undisclosed injury.
8. Demetrious Johnson (8-1) – See #4.
9. Eddie Wineland (17-7-1) – Dana White seemed impressed by his performance in a loss against Faber.
10. Masakatsu Ueda (12-1-2) - Defeated Ralph Acosta at Shooto in January.
Honorable Mention: Renan Barao, Cole Escovedo, Antonio Banuelos, Michael McDonald, Ivan Menjivar, Wagnney Fabiano.
MALE POUND-FOR-POUND:
1. Anderson Silva (Brazil)
2. Georges St-Pierre (Canada)
3. Jon Jones (USA)
4. Jose Aldo (Brazil)
5. Frankie Edgar (USA)
6. Jon Fitch (USA)
7. Dominick Cruz (USA)
8. Cain Velasquez (USA)
9. Jake Shields (USA)
10. BJ Penn (USA)
FEMALE POUND-FOR-POUND:
1. Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos (10-1)
2. Zoila Gurgel (11-1)
3. Megumi Fujii (22-1)
4. Tara LaRosa (20-2)
5. Marloes Coenen (19-4)
6. Sarah Kaufman (13-1)
7. Miesha Tate (11-2)
8. Rosi Sexton (12-2)
9. Roxanne Modafferi (15-7)
10. Shayna Baszler (14-6)
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