UFC fighter rankings: Phil Davis removed, Jan Blachowicz enters light heavyweight top 15

Yesterday marked a big day for the light heavyweight division, as long-time UFC contender Phil Davis made the official switch to Bellator MMA after his UFC contract had expired. As expected, the UFC has pulled him from the roster page as well as the rankings, making him the 3rd different top 10 fighter within the past week to be removed from the list.

With Davis out of the picture, the new top 15 sees Ovince St. Preux assume Davis' previous 7th spot, while Jimi Manuwa, Mauricio Rua, Rafael Cavalcante, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, and Patrick Cummins make up the 8th-12th order. Fabio Maldonado stays at 13th, Dan Henderson is somehow still on this list at 14th, while Jan Blachowicz actually rounds out the top 15 despite losing to Manuwa over the weekend.

To put things in perspective, this is the landscape of the UFC light heavyweight division from 4th-15th now that Davis is off to Bellator:

Rashad Evans. Hasn't fought since November 2013 and is expected to be sidelined until the 2nd half of 2015 with another knee surgery.

Ryan Bader. On a four-fight winning streak and will face Daniel Cormier in June.

Glover Teixeira. On a two-fight losing streak, including a decision loss to Phil Davis, and will face Alexander Gustafsson in June.

Ovince St. Preux. 5-1 in the UFC, facing Patrick Cummins this Saturday. Has an August 2014 loss to Ryan Bader.

Jimi Manuwa. 4-1 in the UFC, defeated Jan Blachowicz last Saturday. He's expected to be out indefinitely after suffering a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus.

Mauricio Rua. 1-4 in his last 5 fights, including 3 stoppage defeats. Scheduled to fight Rogerio Nogueira at UFC 190.

Rafael Cavalcante. 1-2 in the UFC and hasn't fought since losing to Bader in June 2014.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. 2-3 in his last 5, has losses to Davis, Bader, and Johnson and a win over Rashad Evans. He will rematch Shogun in August.

Patrick Cummins. On a 3 fight winning streak since losing to Daniel Cormier on short notice. Fights OSP on Saturday.

Fabio Maldonado. 5-4 in the UFC but 4-0 in his last 4 bouts at light heavyweight. He has no wins over a ranked opponent. Will fight Steve Bosse at UFC 186.

Dan Henderson. Fought at middleweight in his last fight and will fight at middleweight again in June vs. Tim Boetsch. He's 1-4 in his last 5 fights at 205 lbs.

Jan Blachowicz. 1-1 in the UFC with the aforementioned loss to Manuwa over the weekend.

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I don't think anymore needs to be said about the current strength of the 205 lbs division.