Please note that due to a suspension Dennis Siver is currently ineligible for the rankings. Also the last rankings (3/20/14) are in parenthesis:
1. Jose Aldo (1)
The UFC Featherweight Champion currently has nothing scheduled. However he is certainly open to a rematch with Chad Mendes as he has said in past interviews. In addition the match up would be the logical step in the division as Mendes is the number one UFC contender.
2. Chad Mendes (2)
Like Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes currently has nothing scheduled and would like a rematch with the UFC Featherweight Champion. He also has Aldo’s respect and support for the rematch and as stated above, Mendes would be the next logical step for Aldo’s next title defense.
3. Ricardo Lamas (3)
Ricardo Lamas currently has nothing scheduled but one would expect that he’ll get a rebound match sometime in the near future. The best choice would be to match him up against a ranked opponent also coming off a loss, likely the “Korean Zombie.“
4. Cub Swanson (4)
At the present Cub Swanson is currently on course for his UFC Fight Night 44 match with Jeremy Stephens scheduled on June 28th.
5. Frankie Edgar (5)
With The Ultimate Fighter season 19 debut on Wednesday, Frankie Edgar will wait and start training for his Finale match with B.J. Penn.
6. (tied) Dustin Poirier (9)
Dustin Poirier continues to rise in the rankings after defeating veteran Akira Corassani at The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale this last Wednesday by technical knockout. It is quite possible that a few wins against ranked opponents could earn him a year end title shot.
6. (tied) Nik Lentz (tied 7)
With an upcoming match against Manny Gamburyan at UFC Fight Night 40, one can only hope that Nik Lentz will break out of ranking ties.
8. Chan Sung Jung (tied 7)
Chan Sung Jung or the “Korean Zombie” as he is called, still has nothing scheduled and that is probably the reason for his rankings drop.
9. Clay Guida (6)
His recent win against Tatsuya Kawajiri at UFC Fight Night 39 gives Clay Guida a winning record in the featherweight division. However, he is far from deep water as he will need to face some bigger name and probably ranked opponents if he wants to establish himself.
10. Pat Curran (10)
Pat Curran already has two contenders lined up in Bellator in Patricio “Pitbull” Freire and Magomedrasul Khasbulaev but no dates as of yet.
~ Contenders ~
The following fighters received votes for the featherweight rankings and are listed as contenders: 11) Jeremy Stephens, Dennis Bermudez.