USAT/SBN April MMA Consensus Rankings: Featherweight

Rankings compiled by Richard Wade.

Last month I promised a lot of shakeup in April and nothing could be truer.

#1 Jose Aldo defended his title against #3 Urijah Faber in a dominant performance at WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber. While there was some fan disappointment at Aldo's inability to finish The California Kid, there is no doubt who the top dog is in the division. As for what's next, nothing's official but most experts expect him to eventually face now #2 Manny Gamburyan.

Speaking of which, #2 Gamburyan has moved himself to his highest position ever in any MMA division by stopping former WEC featherweight champion #4 Mike Brown (who drops a spot in the rankings). Rumors have swirled that Brown walked into his loss at WEC 48 with personal problems. Regardless, any future shot at the title will prove exceptionally difficult now.

DREAM Featherweight Champion #5 Bibiano Fernandes defended his title at DREAM.13. He narrowly defeated #18 Joachim Hansen by split decision in the main event. Fernandes was able to take advantage of Hansen's poor wrestling en route to clear if unimpressive victory.

#6 Hatsu Hioki drops to the sixth spot, but currently is not scheduled to compete.

#7 Michihiro Omigawa falls one spots and even though he defeated ATT's Micah Miller at ASTRA's inaugural event. The Yoshida Dojo standout recently expressed interest in competing in the WEC. While his failed lightweight run in the UFC did him no favors, a return to Zuffa's fold at a weight class where he has shown dominance could prove where he really belongs in the division.

Nova Uniao product #8 Marlon Sandro falls one spot. He is currently  scheduled to battle #9 Masanori Kanehara at Sengoku 13. That event is scheduled for June 20.

Last, but certainly not least, Boston standout and new entry to the top ten (likely because of his impending fight) #10 Josh Grispi breaks through into the rankings. He has his hands full, though, as he takes on #12 L.C. Davis at WEC 49. That fight is scheduled to take place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on June 20th.

Based on the premise that all MMA rankings are subjective but that it’s still useful and informative to know who the online MMA community as a whole ranks as the best fighters in MMA, we collect and average the rankings of the top MMA websites to produce our consensus rankings. We compile the top MMA rankings from each of our sources and award 25 points for a first place ranking, 16 for a 10th place ranking, 1 for a 25th place ranking. A formula is used to "normalize" the data so all fighters are awarded points from those lists that do not include a full 25 fighters. This formula ensures that each ranking site awards the same number of total points regardless of how many fighters they choose to rank. Each fighter’s total is divided by the number of possible points to determine their standing in the Consensus Rankings.USAT/SBNApril MMA Consensus Rankings: Featherweight.