L.A. Times June MMA rankings

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Heavyweight

1. Fedor Emelianenko

2. Brock Lesnar

3. Cain Velasquez

4. Shane Carwin

5. Junior Dos Santos

6. Frank Mir

7. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

8. Alistair Overeem

9. Fabricio Werdum

10. Antonio Silva

Heavyweight kingpin Fedor Emelianenko returns to action June 26 against Fabricio Werdum. Werdum is a high level fighter but stylistically isn’t a dangerous matchup for Fedor. Brett Rogers drops from the top ten following a loss to Alistair Overeem where he looked intimidated and completely uncompetitive. 14-2 Antonio Silva takes his place.

Light Heavyweight

1. Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua

2. Lyoto Machida

3. Rashad Evans

4. Quinton Jackson

5. Forrest Griffin

6. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

7. Thiago Silva

8. Jon Jones

9. ‘King Mo’ Lawal

10. Gegard Mousasi

Rashad Evans is sitting pretty following the month of May. He vanquished rival Quinton Jackson and earned a shot to regain the UFC light heavyweight title. His opponent? No longer Lyoto Machida, who knocked out Evans in spectacular fashion. Rather, it’s Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, who could prove vulnerable to Evans’ wrestling and speed. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira was fortunate to receive a judges’ decision against Jason Brilz in a fight most felt he lost.

Middleweight

1. Anderson Silva

2. Jake Shields

3. Chael Sonnen

4. Nate Marquardt

5. Dan Henderson

6. Vitor Belfort

7. Demian Maia

8. Robbie Lawler

9. Yushin Okami

10. Yoshihiro Akiyama

Chael Sonnen has put the full court pressure on Anderson Silva prior to their Oakland title fight, trash-talking the champion loudly and incessantly. Jake Shields looks inevitably bound for the UFC, but he is likely to move back to the welterweight division. Strikeforce star Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza is knocking on the door of the top ten.

Welterweight

1. Georges St. Pierre

2. Jon Fitch

3. Thiago Alves

4. Josh Koscheck

5. Nick Diaz

6. Paulo Thiago

7. Dan Hardy

8. Matt Hughes

9. Carlos Condit

10. John Hathaway

Nick Diaz won his seventh straight fight, submitting Hayato Sakurai in the main event of Dream 14. Paulo Thiago faces another tough challenge June 12 against Martin ‘Hitman’ Kampmann. Undefeated Brit John Hathaway sneaks into the top 10 for the first time following an incredibly impressive domination of former lightweight title contender Diego Sanchez.

Lightweight

1. Frank Edgar

2. B.J. Penn

3. Gilbert Melendez

4. Eddie Alvarez

5. Gray Maynard

6. Kenny Florian

7. Tatsuya Kawajiri

8. Shinya Aoki

9. Tyson Griffin

10. Ben Henderson

A number of organizations are promoting upcoming fights between their two top lightweight fighters. Frank Edgar and B.J. Penn will rematch at UFC 118. Dream stars Tatsuya Kawajiri and Shinya Aoki will collide at Dream 15. Meanwhile, Bellator is lobbying for a fight between its lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez.

Featherweight

1. Jose Aldo

2. Urijah Faber

3. Bibiano Fernandes

4. Manny Gamburyan

5. Hatsu Hioki

6. Mike Brown

7. Rafael Assuncao

8. Josh Grispi

9. Takeshi Inoue

10. Marlon Sandro

With Jose Aldo clearing out the top of the American featherweight scene, the rest of the top 10 is in flux. Hatsu Hioki moves up following an impressive win in a competitive fight with Takeshi Inoue. The formerly dominant Kid Yamamoto earned his first victory in years against Kiko Lopez and could return to the top 10 with a few more wins.

Bantamweight

1. Dominick Cruz

2. Joseph Benavidez

3. Brian Bowles

4. Miguel Torres

5. Takeya Mizugaki

6. Wagnney Fabiano

7. Scott Jorgensen

8. Masakatsu Ueda

9. Damacio Page

10. Rani Yahya

With few top bantamweight bouts in the past month, the rankings remain stable. Masakatsu Ueda scored a win over Akitoshi Tamura in the month’s most important bantamweight bout.

-- Todd Martin