Top 5 UFC Rankings, Year by Year

  Post the end of 2022 - No stats from 2023 were taken into consideration yet. Also - an honorable mention to Lyoto Machida and Daniel Cormier. The stats were so close they almost made the cut.   1. Jon Jones   There was never any doubt who was the light heavyweight goat as everything Jones has done is now immeasurable and probably unreachable for future champions to come. In 2011, he became the youngest champion in UFC history and remained champion until he relinquished the title in 2020. Up until writing this, he has yet to lose a fight. It seems like the only one who could defeat him was himself, for no one could match his skill and athleticism, having a combined eleven title defenses. 2. Tito Ortiz Like Teixeira, Ortiz was another light heavyweight with longevity that lasted for the almost ten years, dating back to 1999. The only difference is that he was a dominant champion who still currently holds the second most title defenses at five. He had unbelievab...

   Post: UFC Fight Night - Cannonier vs. Strickland 1. Jiri Prochazka  Prochazka earned his title shot with previous wins over Volkan Oezdemir and Dominick Reyes. He gets the number one spot for submitting Teixeira by the light heavyweight title this year.  2. Glover Teixeira     Teixeira’s title fight against Prochazka was a fight of the year candidate. But he was on the wrong end of it, losing by submission in a fight he may have been winning up until that point. 3. Jan Blachowicz  Blachowicz improves to number three with his win over Rakic that earned him a vacant title fight against Ankalaev which ended in a draw. Although an inconclusive result, he is still on the short list of contenders.   4. Aleksander Rakic   Rakic drops to number four for losing his only fight this year to Blachowicz and injuring his knee in the process which will keep him out of action for several months.  5. Magomed Ankalaev  Ankalaev joins the...

  Post: UFC Fight Night - Lewis vs. Daukaus  1. Aleksander Rakic   The best light heavyweight this year was Rakic beating the former number one contender Santos to put himself one win away from a title shot.   2. Glover Teixeira     Teixeira completes his odyssey to become the new light heavyweight champion with his win over Blachowicz as he used a combination of experience and better training to gain the number two spot. 3 .  Anthony Smith    Too more tune up fights was just what the doctor ordered for Smith as wins over unranked Ryan Spann and Jimmy Crute kept him afloat at number three.   4. Thiago Santos  While Santos does move up to number four with the exit of Jon Jones, he also loses yet again, this time to the peaking Rakic. He would finally get back on track with a win over Johnny Walker who was also struggling to regain some form. 5. Jan Blachowicz  With the exit of Jon Jones, Blachowicz returns to the ...

  Post: UFC Fight Night - Thompson vs. Neal   1. Jon Jones  Jones’ last light heavyweight fight was a narrow controversial split decision win over Dominick Reyes. He would then relinquish his title as Jan Blachowicz would win the title later that year. But until then, he is number one by default for never officially losing.  2. Glover Teixeira     Teixeira returns to the top five for getting unlikely wins over Smith and Santos which increased his winning streak to five wins and put him in line for a title shot against Jan Blachowicz next year. 3. Aleksander Rakic   Rakic joins the top five with his win over Smith using superior kickboxing to get the lopsided win. The win over Smith avenged his only loss of his UFC career to Volkan Oezdemir, placing him at number three.  4 .  Anthony Smith    Smith had mixed results as he went 1-2 this year dropping to number four. First, he was upset by Teixeira who was in the middle ...

   Post: UFC Fight Night - Edgar vs. The Korean Zombie  1. Jon Jones  They weren’t the best performances but Jones remains number one with two successful title defenses against rising contenders Santos and Smith.  2. Thiago Santos    With a win over Jan Blachowicz, Santos increased his winning streak to four in a row to earn him a shot at the title. His performance against Jones was as close as can be as he lost by split decision, that alone places him at number two. 3. Anthony Smith  Smith almost won the light heavyweight title by DQ when Jones landed an illegal blow, he however chose to continue eventually losing the fight. He would then return to submit Gustafsson, who didn’t look his best but still moved Smith up to number three.  4 .  Alexander Gustafsson    Gustafsson falls to number four with a loss to Smith, which now shows signs of him being a shell of his former self. He would question retirement afterwards.  5. ...

   Post: UFC 232 - Jones vs. Gustafsson 2  1. Jon Jones    Over a year later, Jones returns to reclaim the light heavyweight title, beating the best guy in the division in Gustafsson with Cormier returning to heavyweight. 2. Daniel Cormier   DC’s final light heavyweight fight was a successful title defense against Volkan Oezdemir, and with Jones returning from suspension and DC winning the heavyweight title, he wouldn’t return to light heavyweight next year. 3. Alexander Gustafsson  Gustafsson’s previous win over Blachowicz keeps him here at number three by default as his lone fight was a title fight loss to Jones for the vacant title, in a fight that was nowhere near as competitive as their first fight.  4 .  Jan Blachowicz   Błachowicz debuts at number four for extending his winning streak to four wins in a row, this time against Jimi Manuwa and Nikita Krylov. These wins put in contender status for the first time in his UFC c...

  Post: UFC 219 - Cyborg vs. Holm  1. Daniel Cormier   With Jones suspended again and DC beating the biggest threat in the division in Johnson, DC finally gets the respect he deserves as champion as fans grow tired of Jones’ antics.   2. Anthony Johnson    Spamming all those knockout wins last year got Johnson a rematch against Cormier but the fight went similar to their first one, with him getting out grappled and submitted. He retires shortly after. 3. Alexander Gustafsson  Gustafsson’s dominant win over Teixiera was his biggest win since Shogun Rua in 2012, finally earning him a spot in the top five.   4 .  Glover Teixeira  With the absence of Jon Jones due to another suspension Teixeira moves further up to number four in spite of the lopsided loss to Gustafsson. However his wins over Jared Cannonier and Misha Cirkunov keep him relevant in the division.  5. Volkan Oezdemir  Newcomer Oezdemir made a quick impact going 3...

  Post: UFC 207 - Nunes vs. Rousey  1. Jon Jones  Jones’ first fight since his 2015 suspension was an interim title fight win against Ovince St. Preux where he did not look particularly impressive, but a previous win over Cormier and returning to competition earns him the number one spot. 2. Daniel Cormier   Cormier stays champion this year as Jones fails the drug test at the last minute to be pulled from their July fight. Cormier’s only fight was a non title win over middleweight Anderson Silva. 3. Anthony Johnson    AJ stays at number three with first round knockout wins over Teixeira and Bader. We already knew he could have these kinds of performances but until he gets through Jones or Cormier, he can’t go any higher. 4 .  Ryan Bader  Bader stays at number four this year after he failed to beat Johnson. He rebounded with impressive wins over Ilir Latifi and Antonio Nogueira but that knockout loss was enough for his title hopes to disappe...

  Post: UFC on Fox - Dos Anjos vs. Cowboy 2  1. Jon Jones  In spite of getting stripped of the light heavyweight title, Jones remains number one for getting a win over the current champion Cormier. 2. Daniel Cormier   DC suffered his first loss to the hands of Jones in their title fight. But when Jones would get stripped of the title for his arrest, DC would go on to use his wrestling to beat Johnson for the vacant title and defend the title against Alexander Gustafsson in another light heavyweight classic. 3. Anthony Johnson    Rumble Johnson earns his title shot knocking out Alexander Gustafsson in front of his Swedish fans. This earned him a vacant title fight against DC that saw him get outwrestled and submitted. He would rebound with a knockout over Manuwa but it does not undo the loss he suffered to DC. 4 .  Ryan Bader  Bader not only picks up another two wins this year but this time to more credible opponents in Davis and Rashad Evans...

  Post: UFC Fight Night - Machida vs. Dollaway  1. Jon Jones  This year was one of Jones’ weakest showing, only defending his title once this year, albeit an excellent performance. But another injury delayed his rematch with Gustafsson for next year, ending the year anticlimactically. 2. Anthony Johnson   Rumble Johnson returned to the UFC in a big way, upsetting Davis and knocking out Antonio Nogueira. Both wins put him one fight away from a title shot.   3. Phil Davis   Davis drops to number three not prepared for the takedown defense of Johnson, forcing him to stand with him as he picked him apart. But he would rebound with a win over Teixeira preventing him from dropping any further down. 4 .  Glover Teixeira  It was not a good year for Teixeira as he lost both of his fights this year. Though he was never in real danger, Jones was always one step ahead of him in their fight and Davis upsets him by out grappling him to a decision lo...