Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings - Sitting on Top of the Middle
By: Sherdog.com Staff Oct 12, 2016
Michael
Bisping’s dizzying year continued at
UFC 204 in his own backyard on Oct. 8, as “The Count” avenged
the most demoralizing loss of his career to rival and legend
Dan
Henderson, overcoming early adversity to win a five-round
unanimous decision in front of a partisan Manchester crowd.
The 37-year-old Bisping’s 2016 campaign has been repeatedly
shocking, from essentially getting up from a knockout to thwart
all-time middleweight ruler Anderson
Silva and knocking out Luke
Rockhold on short notice for the title to even winding up in a
rematch with a 46-year-old Henderson, who was bound for retirement.
Even then, Bisping had to overcome a first-round knockdown to top
Henderson, injecting the kind of drama that has become part and
parcel of his recent run.
What comes next for Bisping is unclear and largely rests on two
forthcoming middleweight contests: Chris
Weidman vs. Yoel Romero
and Rockhold vs. Ronaldo
“Jacare” Souza. However, UFC 204 had another middleweight spark
of life, as perennial divisional stalwart Gegard
Mousasi blew away Vitor
Belfort with ease, earning his third straight win since he was
shocked by the high-flying offense of Uriah Hall in
September 2015. With the victory, Mousasi climbs from No. 10 to the
seventh spot in our 185-pound rankings.
Twenty pounds north of middleweight, British puncher Jimi Manuwa
announced his return to 205-pound consideration, bouncing back from
nasty knockout losses to Alexander
Gustafsson and Anthony
Johnson with a resounding second-round KO of Ovince St.
Preux, vaulting back into our rankings at No. 8.