Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo (26-2)

It is not the Conor McGregor rematch he assuredly wants, but Aldo is reportedly set for a Brazilian homecoming to unify the UFC featherweight crown. At this juncture, all signs point to Aldo headlining UFC 212 on June 3 in Rio de Janeiro against interim champion Max Holloway in what could easily be one of the most thrilling bouts of the entire year.

2. Max Holloway (17-3)

It took 10 straight wins in the UFC and an interim title strap, but Holloway finally has the sort of big fight for which he has been angling. Following his December blowout of Anthony Pettis to win his interim trinket and his subsequent “Where’s Jose Waldo?” media campaign, the 25-year-old Hawaiian dynamo is now set to unify the featherweight title against Jose Aldo at UFC 212 on June 3 in Rio de Janeiro.

3. Frankie Edgar (21-5-1)

Despite carrying a back injury and an MCL tear into his UFC 205 clash with Jeremy Stephens, as well as having to recover from a brutal knockdown, Edgar would not be turned away at Madison Square Garden. Edgar won the unanimous decision over “Lil’ Heathen” and successfully rebounded from his second loss to Jose Aldo at UFC 200 in July.

4. Cub Swanson (24-7)

Sometimes, things just do not make sense. Such is the nature of Swanson’s next outing. After an electrifying and violent win over Doo Ho Choi in December, Swanson will get a headlining slot on April 22, when the UFC heads back to Nashville, Tennessee. Yet it will come against Conor McGregor training partner and barely .500 fighter Artem Lobov, who is just 2-2 in the Octagon.

5. Ricardo Lamas (17-5)

With recent losses to Chad Mendes and Max Holloway, Lamas was in need of a sterling win in order to keep pace in an intensifying 145-pound weight class. “The Bully” got just that on Nov. 5 in Mexico City, where he tapped out Charles Oliveira with a guillotine in the second round. Lamas is now 4-2 in his last six bouts.

6. Anthony Pettis (19-6)

It seemed like a dream for Pettis when the former lightweight kingpin dropped to 145 pounds, styled against Charles Oliveira in August and then lucked into an interim featherweight title fight with Max Holloway at UFC 206 that could have set him up for a long-awaited, once-scheduled bout with Jose Aldo. Instead, it became a nightmare: Pettis blew weight, clocking in at 148 pounds, and then got beaten around the cage by Holloway until the Hawaiian put him away with a kick to the body and torrent of punches in Round 3.

7. Charles Oliveira (21-7, 1 NC)

Oliveira is 1-3 in his last four fights and has spent most of his five-year featherweight tenure battling the scale. The timing seems as good as any for “do Bronx” to head back to 155 pounds where he started his career, but he is certainly not being thrown a softball in his lightweight return. Oliveira will square off with former Bellator MMA lightweight champion Will Brooks at UFC 210 on April 8 in Buffalo, New York.

8. Chan Sung Jung (15-4)

Hello again to “The Korean Zombie.” Given the action he provides on a fight-by-fight basis, it is hardly silly that MMA fans missed Jung for the three-plus years he was away from the cage. It makes all the more sense having seen his emphatic Feb. 4 return to the Octagon, as he needed less than three minutes to destroy perennial fringe contender Dennis Bermudez with a sensational right uppercut and announce his return to the 145-pound division and the business of creating thrilling fight outcomes.

9. Jeremy Stephens (25-13)

Stephens was game against Frankie Edgar at UFC 205 on Nov. 12, nearly knocking out “The Answer.” However, Edgar prevailed via unanimous decision on the scorecards, dropping Stephens to 5-4 since he cut down to the UFC’s 145-pound division.

10. Doo Ho Choi (14-2)

Choi’s clash with Cub Swanson at UFC 206 on Dec. 10 was a major step up in competition and easily the biggest bout of his young career. No one could ever make the case that “The Korean Superboy” actually won the fight. Yet Choi’s insane, frenetic offense and otherworldly ability to absorb damage from Swanson in an epic brawl is a small-scale win in its own right: The 25-year-old took an L on his record but cemented himself in the minds and hearts of any MMA fan who caught a glimpse at the 15 minutes of craziness he and Swanson created.

Other Contenders: Dennis Bermudez, Darren Elkins, Andre Fili, Brian Ortega, Yair Rodriguez

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