Sherdog.com’s Pound-for-Pound Top 10

For the duration of his near-decade UFC career, MMA fans have wondered if Michael Bisping would ever be able to earn a UFC title shot. When he finally lucked into one at UFC 199 by replacing former champion Chris Weidman against Luke Rockhold, it seemed like a perfunctory experiment, a simple box to be ticked on the Zuffa ledger, as Rockhold had destroyed Bisping handily just a year and a half earlier, nevermind the two weeks notice for “The Count.”

Yet UFC 199 played host to one of the most provocative MMA outcomes in recent years, as Bisping earned the quickest knockout of his UFC tenure in the biggest fight of his entire career. The question is no longer “Can Michael Bisping fight for a title?” He's the UFC middleweight champion. Now, the question is whether or not “The Count” is one of the 10 most recently accomplished fighters in the sport.

As spiriting as Bisping's championship upset was, this list says no. At least for now.

This edition of the Sherdog.com pound-for-pound rankings see the exits of former 185-pound kings Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman, but unlike his predecessors, Bisping hasn't constructed a long-spanning run over elite fighters. Bisping has been a perennial middleweight throughout his career, but up until his upset of all-time great Anderson Silva in Feburary, Bisping lacked any signature wins with that level of merit, nevermind “The Spider” being well into the twilight of his legendary career. The Rockhold upset was an all-time MMA moment and an outstanding victory, but it's just not enough to vault the “Ultimate Fighter” Season 3 winner into our top 10.

With Rockhold and Weidman falling from our list, their spots are filled by a returning great and an underrated achiever. At UFC 199, Dominick Cruz earned a handy unanimous decision over nemesis Urijah Faber in their rubber match and after nearly five years outside these pound-for-pound rankings due to his myriad injuries, “The Dominator” is back amongst MMA's most accomplished fighters. On the opposite side of the coin, Donald Cerrone has never won a UFC title and may never actually do so, but while he may falter in big title fights, Cowboy's astonishing activity in the cage and ongoing success at 155 and 170 pounds -- MMA's two finest divisions -- still cuts to the heart of what these pound-for-pound rankings are all about.

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1. Jon Jones (22-1)

Seventeen months after being stripped of the UFC light heavyweight title, Jones will have a chance to take back the belt he never lost in the cage. “Bones” returned from his tumultuous layoff in April, earning “interim” gold in a cautious performance against Ovince St. Preux which left some questioning his continued reign atop this list. More telling, however, will be Jones’ clash with old rival and fellow pound-for-pound ranker Daniel Cormier in the main event of UFC 200, where the pair will meet to unify the UFC’s 205-pound belts for good. As it stands, Jones possesses the finest résumé of any light heavyweight ever to grace the Octagon; a second win over Cormier would only add to his legend.

2. Demetrious Johnson (24-2-1)

Johnson is the only flyweight champion that the UFC has ever known -- and at the rate he’s going, it may stay that way for quite some time. In his three-year reign, the undisputed ruler of the 125-pound class has essentially emptied his division of contenders, cutting through seasoned competitors like Joseph Benavidez (twice) and John Dodson (also twice), as well as up-and-comers like Kyoji Horiguchi and Henry Cejudo. Naturally, this level of dominance has led to talk of superfights, such as a proposed rematch with bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz, whose title Johnson tried unsuccessfully to nab in 2011. Before that can happen, “Mighty Mouse” will have to defend his flyweight belt against Wilson Reis at UFC 201.

3. Rafael dos Anjos (25-7)

There can be little rest for the champion of the UFC lightweight division, rightfully regarded as the sport’s deepest and most dangerous weight class. It’s been a busy few years for dos Anjos -- marching his way to contention in 2014, claiming and defending the belt in 2015 -- but after months on the sideline nursing a foot injury, he’ll be lowered straight back into the shark tank. On July 7, the Kings MMA product will look to defend his belt for the second time when he faces Eddie Alvarez, a longtime lightweight top 10 entrant and former Bellator MMA champ.

4. Robbie Lawler (27-10, 1 NC)

In the span of a few years, Lawler has transformed from a dangerous veteran to a world champion whose bouts are almost guaranteed to contain legendary levels of violence. The UFC welterweight ace and two-time Sherdog.com “Fight of the Year” winner earned accolades for his last two title defenses -- against Rory MacDonald in 2014 and Carlos Condit in 2015 -- but Lawler’s next challenger could present a different set of problems for the brick-fisted bruiser. On July 30, “Ruthless Robbie” will go up against American Top Team partner and decorated collegiate wrestler Tyron Woodley in the main event of UFC 201.

5. Daniel Cormier (17-1)

Cormier’s career has been the stuff from which pound-for-pound greats are made. The former freestyle wrestler began his MMA campaign as a heavyweight, using his grappling skills and innate power to best larger, more experienced fighters such as Josh Barnett, Frank Mir and Antonio Silva. After switching divisions, “DC” came up short in his first bid for the UFC light heavyweight title, but when the position became vacant, Cormier put away the fearsome Anthony Johnson to become king of the hill. Now, after a successful defense against Alexander Gustafsson, the 37-year-old will have a chance to cement his legacy at UFC 200 by defeating the only man to beat him in the cage, Jon Jones.

6. Conor McGregor (19-3)

In the weeks following his now-infamous “retirement” tweet, Conor McGregor reminded us all he is MMA's foremost superstar, politicking against his promoter and teasing unrealistic bouts with boxing king Floyd Mayweather Jr.. That said, he seemed anything but a pound-for-pound MMA star in that period, as a UFC featherweight title defense against Frankie Edgar or rematches against Jose Aldo or Nate Diaz seemed like they may never materialize. Now, McGregor is back in the fold for Aug. 20 in Las Vegas in a rematch with the aforementioned Diaz. Should McGregor even the score after his UFC 196 upset loss to Diaz, it will put “The Notorious” one back on the pound-for-pound track. A win in a rematch over Diaz might mean a rubber match down the line for McGregor, but subsequently, an actual 145-pound title defense against the Aldo-Edgar 2 winner or a superfight at 155 pounds would likely be in the cards, offering exactly the sort of matchups that all-time great records are made of.

7. Jose Aldo (25-2)

Jose Aldo is the best fighter to ever enter the cage under 155 pounds. Heck, there is even an argument to be made that he's the best fighter under 170 pounds if you lump the likes of B.J. Penn and Takanori Gomi in as well. However, a decade-long run of dominance doesn't change the fact that Aldo was sent into unconsciousness with a single Conor McGregor punch in a mere 13 seconds this past December. Aldo's road to potential redemption runs through a former opponent, Frankie Edgar, who he will meet at UFC 200 for an interim 145-pound strap. Although it's not the legitimate title at stake and despite Aldo owning a February 2013 victory over Edgar, the stakes of the fight are enormous: not only does the winner potentially earn a big-money fight for the legit crown against Conor McGregor, but Edgar's outstanding recent résumé at 145 pounds would actually make a second win over “The Answer” bigger than the first and arguably the biggest of the Brazilian's career.

8. Frankie Edgar (20-4-1)

At worst, Frankie Edgar is one of the best five 155-pound fighters to ever put on the fingerless gloves. However, over the last three years since his February 2013 loss in his featherweight debut to then-UFC champ Jose Aldo, Edgar has absolutely blown away an exceptional field of talent over five fights, humiliating the likes of B.J. Penn, Cub Swanson, Urijah Faber and Chad Mendes. But, the biggest win of Edgar's career could come on July 9 at UFC 200, if he is able to even the score against Jose Aldo in a UFC interim featherweight title fight. Better still, a win for Edgar would either set up a long-awaited clash with legitimate champion Conor McGregor, or if the Irishman moves on from the division, put Edgar in the line of a string of outstanding future challengers, principally surging Hawaiian Max Holloway.

9. Dominick Cruz (22-1)

In 2010 and 2011, when Dominick Cruz was World Extreme Cagefighting and then UFC bantamweight champion, he was a fixture on this list. Then, one of the most destructive and disappointing strings of injuries this sport has ever seen seemed hellbent on derailing Cruz's push toward all-time greatness. Since recovering from his nightmarish spate of knee and groin injuries, Cruz has been sensational, regaining the UFC bantamweight title from T.J. Dillashaw in January before dominating rival Urijah Faber in their rubber match at UFC 199. Cruz has slowly began to rebuild his status as a pound-for-pound stalwart and interestingly, perhaps the most outstanding opponent he could face is a man he's already beat, as with every passing fight for both men, the MMA world beats the drum louder for a rematch between Cruz and UFC flyweight king Demetrious Johnson.

10. Donald Cerrone (29-7, 1 NC)

Donald Cerrone has a bit of a reputation as a bridesmaid in this sport. For years, Cerrone would rip off an exciting win streak only to be thwarted in a high-profile fight as he inched closer to a lightweight title bid. Finally, when Cerrone ripped off eight straight wins in MMA's most talented division in just 18 months, he earned an elusive crack at the UFC's 155-pound title, yet lasted only 66 seconds against champion Rafael dos Anjos' striking onslaught. The 33-year-old Cerrone is unlikely to shake that rep with most folks any time soon, but it doesn't change the fact that in the last three years, Cerrone is 10-2 with both losses coming to dos Anjos. On top of that, Cerrone has recently started moonlighting at 170 pounds, first tapping Alex Oliveira in less than three minutes in February before signing on to face resurgent Canadian vet Patrick Cote in Ottawa on June 18.