Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos are on a collision course

The heavyweight MMA picture got a lot clearer after a busy month of action. Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos firmly established themselves above the rest of the pack with knockout wins over Antonio Silva and Mark Hunt at UFC 160.

Heavyweight

1. Cain Velasquez

2. Junior Dos Santos

3. Fabricio Werdum

4. Daniel Cormier

5. Antonio Silva

6. Alistair Overeem

7. Josh Barnett

8. Frank Mir

9. Travis Browne

10. Stipe Miocic

Velasquez and Dos Santos will fight for the third time later in the year for the title. Fabricio Werdum submitted Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to climb into the third spot and could be in line for the winner of Velasquez-Dos Santos. Josh Barnett re-signed with the UFC after over a decade away from the organization and will finally fight Frank Mir in his return. Meanwhile, Roy Nelson suffered a big setback in a one-sided destruction loss to Stipe Miocic.

Light Heavyweight

1. Jon Jones

2. Alexander Gustafsson

3. Lyoto Machida

4. Rashad Evans

5. Phil Davis

6. Dan Henderson

7. Glover Teixeira

8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

9. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

10. Ryan Bader

UFC announced that Alexander Gustafsson will receive the next title shot against light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, an interesting style matchup given Gustafsson’s reach and striking ability. Next in line are likely Lyoto Machida and Glover Teixeira. Teixeira earned another win via submission over James Te Huna at UFC 160. In a close and competitive fight, Rashad Evans earned a badly needed narrow judges’ decision over Dan Henderson that puts him back on the winning track. He’ll likely need a few more wins to get back in the title picture.

Middleweight

1. Anderson Silva

2. Chris Weidman

3. Vitor Belfort

4. Chael Sonnen

5. Yushin Okami

6. Luke Rockhold

7. Michael Bisping

8. Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza

9. Mark Munoz

10. Hector Lombard

July 6, Anderson Silva will defend his crown as the world’s unquestioned top middleweight against Chris Weidman. Weidman’s wrestling and youth could present problems for Silva, but Silva is so dangerous as a striker that he only needs the smallest of openings to finish fights. After this fight is completed, it will present UFC with a tricky decision. Vitor Belfort is on a roll in the cage but his suspicious use of testosterone replacement theory after failing a drug test earlier in his career and astonishing muscular growth at the age of 36 makes for a rather unpleasant title fight storyline.

Welterweight

1. Georges St. Pierre

2. Johny Hendricks

3. Demian Maia

4. Carlos Condit

5. Rory MacDonald

6. Jake Ellenberger

7. Nick Diaz

8. Martin Kampmann

9. Ben Askren

10. Tarec Saffiedine

After a long tenure as one of the sport’s top welterweights, Jon Fitch falls out of the top 10 after being choked out by Josh Burkman. At 35, it seems unlikely Fitch will ever regain the lofty position he once occupied.

Lightweight

1. Ben Henderson

2. Anthony Pettis

3. Gilbert Melendez

4. T.J. Grant

5. Michael Chandler

6. Donald Cerrone

7. Gray Maynard

8. Josh Thomson

9. Nate Diaz

10. Khabib Nurmagomedov

T.J. Grant earned his UFC lightweight title shot in emphatic fashion with a first round knockout of perennial contender Gray Maynard. Grant will now receive his shot at champion Ben Henderson August 31 in Milwaukee. Grant rides into the fight with great momentum but unseating Henderson is no easy task. In other action, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Donald Cerrone scored easy wins.

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo

2. Chad Mendes

3. Ricardo Lamas

4. Pat Curran

5. “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung

6. Frank Edgar

7. Cub Swanson

8. Dustin Poirier

9. Erik Koch

10. Dennis Siver

Anthony Pettis was scheduled to fight Jose Aldo for the UFC featherweight title, but an injury forced him to pull out of the bout. Now, crowd favorite “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung will receive his shot at the title. Jung may not have as good of a shot at winning as Pettis, but he always comes to fight.

Bantamweight

1. Dominick Cruz

2. Renan Barao

3. Michael McDonald

4. Urijah Faber

5. Eddie Wineland

6. Bibiano Fernandes

7. Brad Pickett

8. Raphael Assuncao

9. Eduardo Dantas

10. Iuri Alcantara

Another loss, this time to George Roop, drops former 135 pound champion Brian Bowles out of the rankings. Moving into contention is Raphael Assuncao, who won his fourth straight. The division remains in limbo with interim UFC champion Renan Barao still waiting for the return to action of Dominick Cruz.

Flyweight

1. Demetrious Johnson

2. Joseph Benavidez

3. John Dodson

4. Ian McCall

5. John Moraga

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Ronda Rousey

2. Cat Zingano

3. Sarah Kaufman

4. Miesha Tate

5. Sara McMann