Category: MMA Rankings

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Nov. 14: Alex Pereira on top of light heavyweight

Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings following UFC 295 in New York.

The UFC’s latest pay-per-view event was the source of a number of changes in this week’s rankings.

The UFC’s light heavyweight has a new champion and his name is [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag]. The former middleweight champ claimed a title in his second weight class by finishing Jiri Prochazka in the main event of UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

In the co-main, [autotag]Tom Aspinall[/autotag] viciously knocked out Sergei Pavlovich to take the interim heavyweight title. Time will tell when Aspinall will have an opportunity to unify the title as the promotion has currently decided to wait for champion Jon Jones to return from injury to face former champ Stipe Miocic.

Both winners made big moves in this week’s update, but the biggest is Pereira taking the throne at light heavyweight with the No. 1 spot.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Nov. 7: Jailton Almeida nearing top 10

Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings following UFC Fight Night 231 in Brazil.

The UFC may have a new contender in its heavyweight division.

At UFC Fight Night 231, Jailton Almeida defeated former title challenger Derrick Lewis in the headliner Ginasio Do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It was a dominant performance in which Almeida clocked a ton of control time on the mat, as Lewis struggled to keep the fight standing. After 25 minutes, it was a clear unanimous decision win for Almeida, and one of the biggest of his UFC run thus far.

Entering the week at No. 15, Almeida climbs three spots to No. 12, replacing Lewis, who drops one spot in this week’s USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie heavyweight rankings.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Oct. 24: Islam Makhachev climbs P4P

Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings following UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi.

The UFC’s latest pay-per-view event was the source of a number of changes in this week’s rankings.

First and foremost, UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] continued to prove he’s one of the best in the world today by stopping Alexander Volkanovski in the first round of the main event. He could climb no higher than No. 1 in the lightweight division, but his performance adds to his impressive resume, resulting in movement in the pound-for-pound rankings. Makhachev is now No. 2, behind Jon Jones.

The co-main event saw [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag] take on former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in a short-notice contest at middleweight. Chimaev pulled off the victory by majority decision, and despite bouncing back and forth between two weight classes, claims the No. 9 spot in this week’s update.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Oct. 17: Edson Barboza nearing top 15

Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings.

The main event of UFC Fight Night 230 was an incredible back-and-forth Fight of the Night battle.

[autotag]Edson Barboza[/autotag] overcame an early scare to defeat Sodiq Yusuff by unanimous decision. Thanks to his veteran savvy combined with powerful, dynamic striking, Barboza found a way to fight to victory after being nearly finished in the first round.

While Barboza remains outside of the top 15 at featherweight, this win has him knocking on the door among the honorable mentions.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Oct. 10: Usman Nurmagomedov climbing

Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, which saw key moves at lightweight and women’s pound-for-pound.

In the main event of Bellator 300, [autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag] proved he’s among the best lightweights on the planet.

After five rounds of a shut out showing against Brent Primus, Nurmagomedov retained the Bellator lightweight crown in a one-sided affair. Entering the event at No. 11 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Nurmagomedov’s performance sees him rise to the No. 7 spot.

Women’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter [autotag]Cris Cyborg[/autotag] was in action in the co-main event, where she soundly defeated Cat Zingano. While Cyborg can get no higher than first place, the rest of the women’s P4P rankings saw a shuffle in placement.

In the main event of UFC Fight Night 229, [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag] knocked out No. 6 Grant Dawson in quick fashion, causing him to tumble a few spots down to No. 8.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Sept. 26: Bryce Mitchell reaches top 10

Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, which saw key moves at lightweight and featherweight.

UFC Fight Night 228 in Las Vegas was the source of a few moves in this week’s rankings update.

In the main event, [autotag]Mateusz Gamrot[/autotag] picked up a win over Rafael Fiziev, albeit an anticlimactic one by TKO due to injury. Regardless, a win is a win, and Gamrot climbs to No. 7, taking Fiziev’s old spot.

In the co-feature, Bryce Mitchell scored a unanimous decision win over Dan Ige. Mitchell entered the bout at No. 12, and now settles into his new ranking at the No. 10 slot.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Sept. 19: Tracy Cortez on the rise

Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, which key moves in the women’s divisions.

UFC flyweight [autotag]Tracy Cortez[/autotag] returned to action at Noche UFC for her first fight in 16 months. She defeated Jasmine Jasudavicius by unanimous decision to keep her unbeaten UFC run alive, while also extending her current winning streak to 10.

In this week’s rankings update, Cortez climbs in the women’s flyweight division from No. 14 to No. 9, right behind former title challenger Taila Santos.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Sept. 12: Sean Strickland makes big moves at MW and P4P

Sean Strickland shook up the world at UFC 293 – and the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings.

Sean Strickland shook up the world – and the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings.

This past Saturday at UFC 293, Strickland shockingly dominated Israel Adesanya by standing and trading with him for the majority of five rounds to claim the middleweight championship by unanimous decision with scores of 49-46 across the board.

As a result, Strickland makes a huge leap from No. 7 to No. 1 at middleweight, dropping Adesanya to No. 2 from the top spot. At pound-for-pound, Strickland – who’s on a three-fight winning streak at both 185 and 205 pounds – enters the list at No. 7, just ahead of No. 8 Adesanya who falls from No. 4.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Sept. 5: How valuable is Manon Fiorot’s win over Rose Namajunas?

UFC women’s flyweight Manon Fiorot sees a nice jump in the latest rankings after arguably the biggest win of her career over Rose Namajunas.

The latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings saw a few moves thanks to the action this past weekend at UFC Fight Night 226 in Paris.

The biggest move of the week goes to [autotag]Manon Fiorot[/autotag], who scored arguably the biggest win of her career – a unanimous decision – against two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas making her divisional debut. Fiorot entered fight week No. 8 at 125 pounds; now she sits at No. 5, leapfrogging Taila Santos, Juliana Velasquez and Jessica Andrade. Fiorot’s victory, however, wasn’t enough to move past No. 4 Erin Blanchfield, with whom Fiorot is in the running for the next title shot.

The results at UFC Fight Night 226 also produced a rankings newcomer and return – both honorable mentions. At lightweight, [autotag]Benoit Saint-Denis[/autotag] replaces former champ Rafael dos Anjos (now at welterweight) after his second-round TKO of Thiago Moises. And at light heavyweight, former title challenger [autotag]Volkan Oezdemir[/autotag] is back in the mix as he replaces Rob Wilkinson following a first-round submission of Bogdan Guskov.

[autotag]Ciry Gane[/autotag] put on a masterful performance against Serghei Spivac in the UFC Fight Night 226 main event, but he stays put at No. 4 in the heavyweight rankings right behind Sergei Pavlovich.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Aug. 29: Sean O’Malley enters, Erin Blanchfield rises in P4P lists

Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, which features moves in the men’s and women’s pound-for-pound lists.

With a new champion crowned and a rising star continuing to turn in impressive performances, the latest rankings update features a few key movements on the pound-for-pound lists.

At UFC 292, [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] became the UFC bantamweight champion by stopping Aljamain Sterling in the second round of the main event title fight. Naturally, knocking off the now-former champion elevated O’Malley to No. 1 in the divisional rankings, but he also debuted on the men’s P4P rankings at No. 8.

The following week, [autotag]Erin Blanchfield[/autotag] continued to prove a real threat to the top of the women’s flyweight division. At UFC Fight Night 225, Blanchfield picked up a unanimous decision win over Taila Santos. She now holds the No. 4 spot in the division, but also rises in the women’s P4P ranks to No. 14.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.