Rankings: Cain Velasquez jumps back in the mix after big heavyweight win over Junior dos Santos
Cain Velasquez's five-round demolition of Junior dos Santos on Dec. 29 won him the UFC heavyweight title and earned him a return trip into the Yahoo! Sports Top 10.
Velasquez checked into the poll at No. 6 in the January rankings after his impressive victory over dos Santos.
Demetrious Johnson was the beneficiary of a high-profile win, jumping up two spots from No. 9 to No. 7 after defeating John Dodson in an exciting flyweight title fight on Fox.
Lightweight champion Benson Henderson jumped up a spot from No. 6 to No. 5, replacing dos Santos, who fell out of the Top 10. Frankie Edgar slipped from No. 7 to No. 8 and Gilbert Melendez dropped from No. 8 to No. 9 to accommodate Johnson's move upward.
With that, let's take a look at the current rankings:
1. Anderson Silva Points: 208 (19 of 21 first-place votes) |
2. Jon Jones Points: 185 (2 of 21 first-place votes) |
3. Georges St-Pierre Points: 173 |
4. Jose Aldo Points: 141 |
5. Benson Henderson Points: 121 |
6. Cain Velasquez Points: 81 |
7. Demetrious Johnson Points: 69 |
8. Frankie Edgar Points: 62 |
9. Gilbert Melendez Points: 51 |
10. Renan Barao Points: 20 |
Others receiving votes: Junior dos Santos, 10; Ronda Rousey, 8; Carlos Condit, 7; Rashad Evans, 6; Daniel Cormier, 4; Johny Hendricks, 4; Gray Maynard, 4; Anthony Pettis, 2.
Ineligible: Nick Diaz (serving marijuana suspension); Alistair Overeem (serving PED suspension); Dominick Cruz (inactive more than 12 months); Dan Henderson (inactive more than 12 months).
Voting panel: Elias Cepeda, Cage Potato; Steve Cofield, ESPN Radio 1100, Las Vegas; Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press; Dave Deibert, Post Media; Dave Doyle, MMA Fighting/SI.com; Matt Erickson, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Josh Gross, ESPN.com; Ariel Helwani, MMA Fighting; Adam Hill, Las Vegas Review-Journal; Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports; Case Keefer, Las Vegas Sun; Steven Marrocco, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Todd Martin, freelance; Franklin McNeil, ESPN.com; Dave Meltzer, The Wrestling Observer/MMA Fighting; John Morgan, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Brett Okamoto, ESPN.com; Ken Pishna, MMA Weekly; Greg Savage, Sherdog; Dann Stupp, MMA Junkie/USA Today; Jeff Wagenheim, SI.com.
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