Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Featherweight

1. Max Holloway (19-3)

Holloway’s first UFC featherweight title defense was supposed to come against Frankie Edgar on Dec. 2 in Detroit. However, when the former UFC lightweight champ suffered a broken orbital bone, it resulted in Holloway facing and defeating Brazilian legend Jose Aldo for a second time. Holloway-Edgar was rebooked for UFC 222 on March 3 before the 145-pound champion was forced to withdraw due to injury. As a result, Edgar will take on surging contender Brian Ortega at the event, with Holloway presumably awaiting the winner at a future date later this year.

2. Jose Aldo (26-4)

Aldo’s second effort in six months against Max Holloway was less successful than the first, as the Brazilian legend was battered for three rounds and stopped by the Hawaiian once again at UFC 218 on Dec. 2. “Scarface” has now lost three of his last four bouts. What comes next for the all-time featherweight king is uncertain.

3. Frankie Edgar (22-5-1)

After twice having title shots against Max Holloway fall through in the past three months, Edgar will now have more work to do if he hopes to get a third crack at 145-pound gold. When Holloway withdrew from the UFC 222 headliner due to injury, “The Answer” was booked against Brian Ortega in a title eliminator bout on March 3 in Las Vegas.

4. Brian Ortega (13-0)

After vanquishing perennial divisional standout Cub Swanson in the UFC Fight Night 123 headliner on Dec. 9, Ortega said he was willing to wait while Frankie Edgar got his championship shot against Max Holloway. Due to an injury to the reigning featherweight king, “T-City” will instead have to go through Edgar at UFC 222 for a chance to face Holloway down the road.

5. Cub Swanson (25-8)

At 34 years old and riding a four-fight winning streak into the last bout on his UFC contract, Swanson was in a bit of a make-or-break position headed into UFC Fight Night 123 on Dec. 9. Unfortunately for Swanson, things broke, as undefeated prospect Brian Ortega choked him out in the second round and sent him into free agency on the heels of a loss.

6. Darren Elkins (24-5)

Elkins was getting pieced up by Michael Johnson in the latter’s featherweight debut at UFC Fight Night 124. Then, in a scene reminiscent of his 2017 comeback against Mirsad Bektic, “The Damage” dug deep, took Johnson’s back and choked him out in the second round. With six straight wins, Elkins now has the longest winning streak at 145 pounds in the UFC outside of champion Max Holloway.

7. Chan Sung Jung (15-4)

With Jung returning from two and a half years of mandatory military service in his native South Korea, the MMA world was thrilled when “The Korean Zombie” returned in February and lanced Dennis Bermudez in mere minutes. It was then quickly heartbroken when Jung’s slated June bout with Ricardo Lamas fell apart after he was injured. Jung has since taken to social media to needle power-punching veteran Jeremy Stephens, angling for another potentially thrilling style matchup in the coming months. However, Stephens has been booked opposite Josh Emmett in the UFC on Fox 28 main event on Feb. 24.

8. Josh Emmett (13-1)

Talk about a domino effect. Emmett suffered his first career defeat to Desmond Green in April and decided to move back down to 145 pounds. Frankie Edgar’s injury drew Jose Aldo into a UFC 218 rematch with Max Holloway and thrust Emmett into the biggest fight of his career against Ricardo Lamas on Dec. 18. Emmett wound up icing Lamas with a left hook. The Team Alpha Male rep has been quickly rewarded with a network, primetime, main event slot against Jeremy Stephens at UFC on Fox 28 on Feb. 24.

9. Ricardo Lamas (18-6)

Your heart breaks for Lamas. After impressive back-to-back stoppages of Charles Oliveira and Jason Knight, “The Bully” earned a second crack at all-time featherweight king Jose Aldo, only to the lose the fight when the Brazilian stepped in for an injured Frankie Edgar against Max Holloway at UFC 218. Lamas accepted a high-risk, low-reward bout with replacement Josh Emmett on Dec. 16 and wound up on the wrong end of one of 2017’s most devastating knockouts.

10. Patricio Freire (26-4)

It has been a rough go recently for many of Bellator MMA’s main events and co-headlining fights, and Freire now finds himself ensnared in that bad luck, too. After winning the Bellator featherweight championship for a second time in his fourth bout with rival Daniel Straus in April, Freire was set for the first defense of his second reign on Nov. 16, with a rematch against Daniel Weichel in Tel Aviv, Israel. However, a second showdown with the German MMA pioneer will have to wait, as the Brazilian was injured in training and pulled out of the Bellator 188 headliner.

Other Contenders: Renato Carneiro, Doo Ho Choi, Calvin Kattar, Yair Rodriguez, Jeremy Stephens.

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