As always, the latest action on offer inside the Octagon has seen some climb the ladder toward contention and others fall away.
And in the aftermath of UFC 304, MMA News has you covered with this week’s updates to the official UFC rankings.
Men’s Pound-For-Pound: In addition to reaching the mountaintop at 170 pounds, Belal Muhammad’s title-winning triumph over Leon Edwards this past weekend has seen him join the P4P rankings. The newly crowned welterweight champion has debuted at #6, with his defeated opponent dropping three spots to #7. Muhammad’s arrival has resulted in the removal of former bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling.
Also on a climb is the other man who left the Co-op Live with gold in his possession, Tom Aspinall. The interim heavyweight kingpin’s rapid knockout of Curtis Blaydes has seen him rise by two places to #9, jumping above Max Holloway (#10), Dricus Du Plessis (#11), and Alexandre Pantoja (#12).
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Women’s Pound-for-Pound: No changes.
Women’s Strawweight: No changes.
Women’s Flyweight: No changes.
Women’s Bantamweight: No changes.
Flyweight: After some controversial antics and a lackluster victory at UFC 304, Muhammad Mokaev evidently didn’t do enough to convince the promotion he was worth re-signing. As a result of his departure, “The Punisher” has been quickly removed from the 125-pound rankings. That’s paved the way for Cody Durden to return at #15.
The man he beat at UFC 304, Manel Kape, has fallen by one position to #9, with both Steve Erceg (#7) and Matheus Nicolau (#8) receiving two-spot boosts to jump above “Starboy.”
Bantamweight: No changes.
Featherweight: Arnold Allen’s decision win over Giga Chikadze in the early hours of Sunday morning was enough to secure his return to the top five at 145 pounds. “Almighty” has moved up by one spot to share the #5 place with former opponent Movsar Evloev.
Lightweight: Paddy Pimblett was among the biggest winners to emerge from UFC 304, putting King Green to sleep with a triangle choke to record his first success over ranked opposition. As expected, the result has pushed “The Baddy” into contention, with the Liverpool native replacing Green at #15.
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Welterweight: With Muhammad surging to the throne in Manchester, Edwards has slipped back to the #1 position as the leader in the chasing pack. That’s also left former champ Kamaru Usman one place worse off at #2.
Middleweight: No changes.
Light Heavyweight: No changes.
Heavyweight: After falling short in his first UFC title shot, Blaydes has been relegated to #5 in the heavyweight pecking order, with Sergei Pavlovich replacing him at #4 a month on from his defeat to Alexander Volkov in Saudi Arabia.
You can view the full updated UFC rankings here.
