Please note the rankings are determined by a panel of MMA Freak writers. Also note the previous rankings (6/27/14) are in parenthesis:
1. Johny Hendricks (1)
Johny Hendricks is now recovered but his rematch with Robbie Lawler won’t happen until next year do to a busy rest of 2014 schedule. Hendricks has said that he is looking forward to this rematch so that he can see how he’ll perform against Lawler with two good arms.
2. Robbie Lawler (2)
Since loosing to Johny Hendricks the first time around, Robbie Lawler has defeated Jake Ellenberger and Matt Brown for a title shot. However, like Hendricks Lawler will have to wait until early 2015 to get his title shot due to a currently booked schedule.
3. Rory MacDonald (3)
Rory MacDonald is now expected to face final Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Tarec Saffiedine on October 4th at UFC Fight Night 54. MacDonald has had trouble with elite strikers in the past and Saffiedine maybe in that same category but time will certainly tell.
4. Tyron Woodley (4)
After a successful rebound win against Dong Hyun Kim, expect Tyron Woodley to come out hungry to build himself back up to a title shot. Supposedly Woodley was offered a match for a title shot against Hector Lombard but turned it down for unknown reasons.
5. Carlos Condit (5)
Carlos Condit is still recovering from the surgery required on his knee after tearing his ACL and meniscus against Tyron Woodley. It is a very big question as to whether Condit will still be his deadly self or whether he’ll be gimpy.
6. Hector Lombard (6)
There are preliminary plans for Hector Lombard to compete at UFC Fight Night 55 on November 8th, an opponent is to be determined. Supposedly he was going to face Tyron Woodley for a title shot, but Woodley turned down the fight for unknown reasons.
7. Ben Askren (7)
Ben Askren recently competed at ONE FC: Reign of Champions and defeated Nobutatsu Suzuki for the OFC Welterweight Champion.
8. Matt Brown (8)
Without a doubt, Matt Brown put up a valiant effort against Robbie Lawler but ultimately came up short for a shot at the UFC title.
9. Jake Shields (10)
Jake Shields will be making his long anticipated World Series of Fighting debut at WSOF 14 on October 11th against Ryan Ford. Shields maybe the veteran favorite going into this fight but Ford cannot be underestimated considering his extremely versatile striking.
10. Demian Maia (9)
Staph infections can be really nasty and that is what Demian Maia is currently recovering from. Hopefully we can see him back in action.