UFC Rankings Report: UFC 221 Causes Movement in 3 Divisions

The UFC’s trip to Perth created movement in 3 UFC divisions this weekend. The UFC rankings have been updated and as a result of wins by heavyweights Curtis Blaydes and Tui Tuivasa, the heavyweight division was impacted the most.

Let’s take a look at all 3 divisions impacted by this weekend’s fights:

UFC Heavyweight Division Rankings

Champion: Stipe Miocic

  1. Francis Ngannou
  2. Alistair Overeem
  3. Fabricio Werdum
  4. Cain Velasquez
  5. Curtis Blaydes (+4)
  6. Mark Hunt (-1)
  7. Derrick Lewis (-1)
  8. Alexander Volkov (-1)
  9. Marcin Tybura (-1)
  10. Stefan Struve
  11. Aleksei Oleinik
  12. Andrei Arlovski
  13. Tim Johnson
  14. Junior Albini
  15. Tai Tuivasa (previously unranked)

Curtis Blaydes’ dominate wrestling performance over New Zealand’s Mark Hunt shot him up 4 places in the heavyweight division. Blaydes passed Marcin Tybura, Alexander Volkov, Derrick Lewis, and his opponent in Perth, Mark Hunt. The 26-year-old now occupies the same #5 spot that Hunt held heading into their clash on Saturday.

Also in the heavyweight division, Tai Tuivasa moved into the rankings for the first time in his career. Tuivasa’s 1st round knockout of Cyril Asker may not have been good enough for a $50K bonus cheque, but it was good enough to land him the #15 spot in the division. The 24-year-old is now 9-0 (2-0 UFC) and has knocked out all his opponents in the 1st round.

UFC Middleweight Rankings

Champion: Robert Whittaker

  1. Yoel Romero
  2. Jacare Souza (+1)
  3. Luke Rockhold (-1)
  4. Chris Weidman
  5. Kelvin Gastelum
  6. Michael Bisping
  7. Derek Brunson
  8. David Branch
  9. Uriah Hall
  10. Vitor Belfort
  11. Thiago Santos
  12. Lyoto Machida
  13. Krzysztof Jotko
  14. Paulo Costa
  15. Brad Tavares

The top of the UFC’s middleweight division was impacted by the main event of UFC 221. Everywhere else in the division stayed the same, however.

Luke Rockhold dropped one spot due to his knockout loss to Yoel Romero on Saturday. Jacare Souza, whose only UFC losses are to Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero, moves into the #2 position. Rockhold once defeated Souza for the Strikeforce championship in 2011. Souza most recently defeated Derek Brunson in the main event of UFC on Fox 27 last month.

UFC Light Heavyweight Rankings

Champion: Daniel Cormier

  1. Alexander Gustafsson
  2. Glover Teixeira
  3. Volkan Oezdemir
  4. Jimi Manuwa
  5. Ovince Saint Preux
  6. Mauricio Rua
  7. Misha Cirkunov
  8. Corey Anderson
  9. Ilir Latifi
  10. Patrick Cummins
  11. Jan Blackhowicz
  12. Tyson Pedro (+1)
  13. Gadzhimurad Antigulov (-1)
  14. Gian Villante
  15. Jared Cannonier

As a result of his victory on Saturday, Australia’s Tyson Pedro moved up one spot in the rankings. The popular prospect submitted Saparbek Safarov in the 1st round at UFC 221, hence his ascension up the rankings.

The only blemish on Pedro’s impressive record so far is his UFC 215 loss to #9 ranked, Ilir Latifi. Pedro couldn’t keep up with Latifi’s wrestling that night and as a result, dropped a unanimous decision.

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