Holly Holm debuts atop bantamweights in first CoveringTheCage.com rankings

Obviously, the biggest shake up is in the women’s bantamweight division where Holly Holm shocked the world and knocked out Ronda Rousey to take the belt and the top spot in the weight class.

Our rankings will factor in performance in the cage with observations by our staff and oddsmakers.

Along those lines, Rousey almost retained the top spot despite losing the belt. She will be a big favorite in the rematch, so there is clearly a belief she’s still the better fighter.

In the end, Holm’s performance was just too dominant.

Stay tuned each Monday for the latest updates and keep in mind, while the ranked weight classes are those used by the UFC, fighters competing outside the organization are eligible.

MEN

Heavyweight

Fabricio Werdum

Cain Velasquez

Junior dos Santos

Stipe Miocic

Andrei Arlovski

Travis Browne

Alistair Overeem

Ben Rothwell

Josh Barnett

Mark Hunt

Light Heavyweight

Jon Jones

Daniel Cormier

Anthony Johnson

Ryan Bader

Alexander Gustafsson

Phil Davis

Glover Teixeira

Liam McGeary

Rashad Evans

Ovince St. Preux

Middleweight

Chris Weidman

Luke Rockhold

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

Yoel Romero

Vitor Belfort

Lyoto Machida

Tim Kennedy

Michael Bisping

Gegard Mousasi

Robert Whittaker

Welterweights

Robbie Lawler

Rory MacDonald

Carlos Condit

Johny Hendricks

Ben Askren

Tyron Woodley

Hector Lombard

Matt Brown

Demian Maia

Stephen Thompson

Lightweights

Rafael dos Anjos

Anthony Pettis

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Donald Cerrone

Benson Henderson

Tony Ferguson

Eddie Alvarez

Gilbert Melendez

Will Brooks

Michael Johnson

Featherweight

Jose Aldo

Conor McGregor

Frankie Edgar

Chad Mendes

Max Holloway

Ricardo Lamas

Daniel Straus

Cub Swanson

Charles Oliveira

Patricio Freire

Bantamweights

TJ Dillashaw

Dominick Cruz

Renan Barao

Urijah Faber

Raphael Assuncao

Bibiano Fernandes

Aljamain Sterling

Marlon Moraes

Marcos Galvao

John Lineker

Flyweights

Demetrious Johnson

Joseph Benavidez

John Dodson

Henry Cejudo

Jussier Formiga

Ali Bagautinov

Kyoji Horiguchi

John Moraga

Dustin Ortiz

Zach Makovsky

WOMEN

Bantamweight

Holly Holm

Ronda Rousey

Miesha Tate

Amanda Nunes

Alexis Davis

Julianna Pena

Cat Zingano

Jessica Eye

Sara McMann

Sarah Kaufman

Strawweight

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Claudia Gadelha

Jessica Aguilar

Valerie Letourneau

Carla Esparza

Tecia Torres

Paige VanZant

Rose Namajunas

Jessica Penne

Randa Markos

OVERALL

Pound for Pound

Jon Jones

Chris Weidman

Demetrious Johnson

Jose Aldo

T.J. Dillashaw

Daniel Cormier

Robbie Lawler

Fabricio Werdum

Conor McGregor

Joanna Jedrzejczyk