Bellator MMA middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi remains a problem for the rest of the promotion's 185-pound fighters. The long-traveled champ continued his reign as the division's king with an emphatic stoppage of top contender Austin Vanderford in Dublin on Friday.
Mousasi, 37, has now won 12 of his last 13 dating back to 2016 when he was still fighting under the UFC banner. His lone blemish came in majority decision loss to Rafael Lovato Jr. in 2019 where he lost the middleweight title. He was never able to avenge that defeat as Lovato Jr. was forced to retire shortly after because of a brain injury.
Mousasi remained No. 4 in the promotion's male pound-for-pound rankings with the victory. He also held onto his spot atop the 185-pound division. Vanderford fell to No. 2 with the loss.
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Below are the top-10 pound-for-pound rankings for both the men and women. The full top-10 rankings for each division within the promotion can be found here. The rankings are voted on by 17 members of the media.
Editor's note: CBS Sports insiders Brian Campbell and Shakiel Mahjouri are members of the 17-person voting panel. Bellator and CBS Sports are both owned by ViacomCBS.
Bellator Rankings (March 1)
Men's pound-for-pound
| Fighter | Record |
|---|---|
1. AJ McKee | 18-0 |
2. Vadim Nemkov | 15-2 |
3. Patricio Pitbull | 32-5 |
4. Gegard Mousasi | 49-7-2 |
5. Yaroslav Amosov | 26-0 |
6. Ryan Bader | 29-7 |
7. Sergio Pettis | 22-5 |
8. Corey Anderson | 16-5 |
9. Michael Page | 20-1 |
10. Valentin Moldavsky | 11-1 |
Women's pound-for-pound
| Fighter | Record |
|---|---|
1. Cris Cyborg | 24-2 |
2. Juliana Velasquez | 12-0 |
3. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane | 11-1 |
4. Liz Carmouche | 16-7 |
5. Denise Kielholtz | 6-3 |
6. Arlene Blencowe | 14-8 |
7. Cat Zingano | 12-4 |
8. Kana Watanabe | 10-1-1 |
9. Sinead Kavanagh | 8-5 |
10. Leslie Smith | 12-9-1 |
Other notable results
- Women's featherweight: Sinead Kavanagh scored a gutsy win over Leah McCourt in the co-main event after suffering an injury early in the fight. The former title challenger is likely heading to another date with Cris Cyborg as Bellator president Scott Coker announced after the fight. Kanavagh moved to No. 4 with the victory while McCourt fell to No. 5. Kavanagh also replaced McCourt on the pound-for-pound rankings at No. 9.
