Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Middleweight

1. Michael Bisping (30-7)

Bisping looked like he was on a collision course with Yoel Romero for his second title defense in the early summer. Then Georges St. Pierre unretired and returned to the UFC, and now they are due to square off this fall. The fight should earn Bisping the biggest payday of his career by far. If he wins, “The Count” will not only be UFC middleweight champion but own victories over GSP and Anderson Silva.

2. Luke Rockhold (15-3)

Yoel Romero’s incredible flying knee stoppage of Chris Weidman would have made Rockhold’s path to a rematch with UFC champ Michael Bisping hard anyway, but a knee injury forced the oft-injured American Kickboxing Academy ace to the sidelines, nixing his slated Nov. 27 rematch with Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. The former UFC and Strikeforce titleholder will need to get healthy before hopping back into the suddenly packed line of contenders at 185 pounds.

3. Yoel Romero (12-1)

The heart breaks for Romero. The Olympic silver medalist has gone 8-0 in the UFC, and with his each of his last two victories over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and former champion Chris Weidman, he seemed to have firmed up a title shot. He even started an entertaining trash talking campaign against champion Michael Bisping. Alas, Georges St. Pierre unretired and has signed to face Bisping this fall, meaning the American Top Team product will have to keep biding his time.

4. Chris Weidman (13-2)

After a grueling title loss to Luke Rockhold in December 2015, Weidman returned 11 months later, only to be crushed by a Yoel Romero flying knee in the third round. The former UFC middleweight champ has now taken his first two career losses consecutively, and the road does not get any easier: “All-American” has signed on to face Gegard Mousasi at UFC 210 on April 8 in Buffalo, New York.

5. Ronaldo Souza (24-4, 1 NC)

The middleweight title picture was a mess before Georges St. Pierre unretired, and the constantly campaigning “Jacare” is one of the many impacted by the announcement of GSP-Michael Bisping. In the meantime, Souza enters a risky but exciting bout on April 15, when he takes on rising prospect Robert Whittaker at UFC on Fox 24 in Kansas City, Missouri.

6. Gegard Mousasi (41-6-2)

Since going 4-0 on his 2016 Uriah Hall Redemption Tour, Mousasi has been adamant he deserves a bigger fight in the UFC's 185-pound division. The perennial multi-divisional standout will soon get his wish, as he has earned a date with former middleweight champ Chris Weidman at UFC 208 on April 8.

7. Robert Whittaker (17-4)

After knocking out Derek Brunson in a thrilling and chaotic four minutes in November, Whittaker earned high praise from UFC President Dana White, who assured “The Reaper” that he would catch a major opponent next time out. It may not be Conor McGregor, but the New Zealand native will have the biggest bout of his career on network television when he meets legendary grappler Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza at UFC on Fox 24 in April.

8. Anderson Silva (34-8, 1 NC)

While he may be turning 42 years old soon, the legendary Silva remains surprising relevant, courtesy of a questionable decision over Derek Brunson at UFC 208. The UFC did not waste any time in leveraging the Brazilian icon's surprising late-career success: “The Spider” will take on the surging Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 212 on June 3 in Rio de Janeiro.

9. Kelvin Gastelum (14-2)

No one seems to be sure if Gastelum is a welterweight or middleweight in the long run. It does not necessarily matter, however, as Gastelum in his last two bouts has blown out 185-pound competition in Tim Kennedy and Vitor Belfort, earning him an even bigger prize. In the Arizona native's next bout at UFC 212 on June 3, he will head to Rio de Janeiro to square off with the greatest middleweight in MMA history: Anderson Silva.

10. Derek Brunson (16-5)

It has been a rough couple of months for Brunson, who had a five-fight winning streak snapped by Robert Whittaker in November, falling via first-round knockout despite owning the early portions of the bout. He returned to action in February, only to lose a dubious decision to MMA legend Anderson Silva. Things do not get much easier for the North Carolina native, as the UFC is currently angling for Brunson to face four-time Olympic judoka Daniel Kelly at the UFC Fight Night card in Auckland, New Zealand on June 10.

Other Contenders: David Branch, Rafael Carvalho, Krzysztof Jotko, Daniel Kelly, Thales Leites

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