Los Angeles Times’ August MMA rankings

Heavyweight

1. Junior Dos Santos
2. Cain Velasquez
3. Alistair Overeem
4. Daniel Cormier
5. Fabricio Werdum
6. Josh Barnett
7. Frank Mir
8. Antonio Silva
9. Travis Browne
10. Stefan Struve

Daniel Cormier has one final fight in the Strikeforce organization before he makes his hotly anticipated move to the UFC. Strikeforce recently announced that fight will come against former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, who will come over to Strikeforce for one fight. It’s an intriguing matchup to close out Strikeforce’s heavyweight division.

Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones
2. Rashad Evans
3. Dan Henderson
4. Lyoto Machida
5. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
6. Phil Davis
7. Alexander Gustafsson
8. Ryan Bader
9. Gegard Mousasi
10. Quinton Jackson

UFC’s most recent Fox special gave direction to the company’s light heavyweight division. After Dan Henderson and Jon Jones fight for the UFC light heavyweight title September 1 on pay-per-view, Lyoto Machida will be in line for the next title shot. Machida earned that opportunity by knocking Ryan Bader out with a clean counterpunch. Mauricio Rua defeated a game Brandon Vera on the same card, but it wasn’t enough to put Rua next in line.

Middleweight

1. Anderson Silva
2. Chris Weidman
3. Chael Sonnen
4 Vitor Belfort
5. Michael Bisping
6. Luke Rockhold
7. Yushin Okami
8. Mark Munoz
9. Alan Belcher
10. Jake Shields

Hector Lombard tumbles out of the middleweight rankings following an abysmal performance in his UFC debut against Tim Boetsch. Neither man seemed to have any interest in engaging and Boetsch picked up a lackluster judges’ decision. Jake Shields moved from welterweight back to the middleweight division with a win over Ed Herman.

Welterweight

1. Georges St. Pierre
2. Carlos Condit
3. Johny Hendricks
4. Nick Diaz
5. Martin Kampmann
6. Jon Fitch
7. Nate Marquardt
8. Jake Ellenberger
9. Josh Koscheck
10. Rory MacDonald

Georges St. Pierre’s return to action in November can’t come soon enough, as the welterweight division remains in a holding pattern while waiting for the longtime 170 pound king. Carlos Condit will present a formidable challenge for GSP, while the likes of Johny Hendricks, Nick Diaz and Martin Kampmann wait in the wings.

Lightweight

1. Ben Henderson
2. Frank Edgar
3. Gilbert Melendez
4. Gray Maynard
5. Nate Diaz
6. Anthony Pettis
7. Jim Miller
8. Michael Chandler
9. Donald Cerrone
10. Clay Guida

Frank Edgar lost the hardest of hard luck decisions Saturday night, preventing him from recapturing the UFC lightweight title from Ben Henderson. Most fans and media thought Edgar won, but it was a close enough fight as to be a justifiable decision for Henderson. Henderson’s next challenger will be Nate Diaz, in what should be a very exciting contest. Edgar, Donald Cerrone and Anthony Pettis are also in contention for a shot in the near future.

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo
2. Pat Curran
3. Chad Mendes
4. “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung
5. Erik Koch
6. Hatsu Hioki
7. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire
8. Dustin Poirier
9. Tatsuya Kawajiri
10. Dennis Siver

Bellator’s biggest fight of the summer takes place August 24, when Pat Curran battles Patricio Freire for the Bellator featherweight title. Curran has looked great in recent fights while Freire is one of the best kept secrets in the sport. The next fight for the UFC featherweight title will pit champion Jose Aldo against challenger Erik Koch later in the fall.

Bantamweight

1. Dominick Cruz
2. Renan Barao
3. Michael McDonald
4. Urijah Faber
5. Brian Bowles
6. Miguel Torres
7. Eduardo Dantas
8. Bibiano Fernandes
9. Brad Pickett
10. Eddie Wineland

Renan Barao handed Urijah Faber his fifth consecutive title loss in a dull five round fight at UFC 149. Barao is the UFC interim bantamweight champion and has a showdown coming next year with Dominick Cruz. It will be a stiff test for each man, who sport impressive 19-1 and 29-1 (1 NC) records. Michael McDonald is another upper echelon young fighter, but the pickings in the bantamweight division are relative slim after that.