It's been a busy few weeks in the Featherweight division (though it would have been busier had UFC 176 not gone the way of 151), which means now is a good time to take a look at the latest rankings from the SB Nation panel. The rankings panel consists of two members from each of the SB Nation MMA sites - MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani and Dave Doyle, MMA Mania's Alex Giardini and Thomas Myers, and Bloody Elbow's Dallas Winson and myself, Fraser Coffeen.
Occupying the top 2 spots are your familiar names - champion Jose Aldo and consensus #1 contender Chad Mendes. But thanks to his win over Jeremy Stephens and his constant activity, Cub Swanson now clearly takes the #3 spot, bumping Frankie Edgar back to 4 and Ricardo Lamas down to 5.
Joining the list this cycle is Dennis Bermudez, as his dominant win over Clay Guida brings him in at #8. Also in: Bellator Featherweight champion Pat Curran at #7.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this list is who is NOT ranked. Conor McGregor may be the talk of the town after his win over Diego Brandao, but it did not get him a spot in the overall top 10 (though he did sneak in at the bottom of two individual lists). Also not ranked overall: Bellator Featherweights Daniel Straus and Patricio Pitbull. Both were ranked by two panelists (coincidentally, the two BE reps), but it wasn't enough.
Check out the full list here:
Scoring: Fighters are given 10 points for a first-place vote, nine points for a second, etc., down to one point for 10th place. The results are then tallied up and presented here.
Official SB Nation rankings policy: Fighters under commission or company suspensions are ineligible to be ranked during the duration of their suspension or if they have licensing issues.
Upcoming matchups for ranked fighters
#1 Jose Aldo vs. #2 Chad Mendes - UFC 179, October 25
#6 Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor - UFC 178, September 27
#7 Pat Curran vs. Patricio Freire - Bellator 123, September 5