Kamaru Usman is firmly entrentch on the new P4P list, while Zabit Magomedsharipov is up big at featherweight.
UFC 235 turned the rankings upside down. One new champion emerged from the event, while viable new contenders staked their claims in three different divisions.
Kamaru Usman’s dominant decision win over Tyron Woodley saw him enter the P4P list inside the top 10 as well as placing him atop the welterweight division. The three new contenders – Pedro Munhoz, Zabit Magomedsharipov, and Weili Zhang – are all going to likely get feature spots the next time they fight and could be as little as one win away from a title shot.
Here’s a look at all the changes this week.
P4P – Amanda Nunes, T.J. Dillashaw, and Conor McGregor all move up a spot each to six-eight respectively. Usman enters the list for the first time at nine. Robert Whittaker is up one to 11. Tony Ferguson is up one to 12. Woodley drops seven big spots to 13, and probably won’t stick around on the list much longer.
Heavyweight – Justin Willis moves up one spot into a tie for ten with Marcin Tybura. Andrei Arlovski is up one to 14. Blagoy Ivanov enters the list at 15. That’s due to Stefan Struve’s apparent retirement.
Light Heavyweight – Thiago Santos is up one to three, bumping Anthony Smith to four after his decision loss to Jon Jones in the headliner. Volkan Oezdemir drops from a tie for five to assume six on his own. Johnny Walker is up two to 13. Shogun Rua drops one to 14, while the man that got stomped by Walker, Misha Cirkonov, holds on at 15.
Middleweight – No changes.
Welterweight – Obviously we have a new champion. Tyron Woodley is still the top contender. Colby Covington drops to two. Ben Askren enters the list at six after his controversial win over Robbie Lawler. Lawler drops two to eight. Demian Maia, Leon Edwards, Jorge Masvidal, Neil Magny, Gunnar Nelson, and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos all drop one spot each to 9 to 15 respectively.
Lightweight – No changes.
Featherweight – Zabit is up seven huge spots to sit in the six position now. Jeremy Stephens, Cub Swanson, Mirsad Bektic, Josh Emmett, Ricardo Lamas, Yair Rodriguez, and the Korean Zombie all fell one spot. They now sit from seven to thirteen.
Bantamweight – Raphael Assuncao is up one to to two. Aljamain Sterling is up two spots to three. Munhoz is up five spots after stopping former champ Cody Garbrandt. Hes at four, while Garbrandt fell four spots to six. Dominick Cruz is now above Garbrandt at five. Jimmie Rivera, John Lineker, and Petr Yan all dropped a spot to sit between seven and nine. Cody Stamann is up two spots to ten. Rob Font is down one to 11, while John Dodson is down one to 12.
Flyweight – No changes.
Women’s Bantamweight – Tonya Evinger passed Bethe Correia for the 11 spot for no apparent reason. Macy Chiasson cracks the rankings at 14 after her UFC 235 win. Talita Bernardo dropped one to 15.
Women’s Flyweight – No changes.
Women’s Strawweight – Zhang became an immediate contender with an impressive win over Tecia Torres. She’s up eight spots to seven. Torres drops one to eight. Michelle Waterson, Carla Esparza, Cynthia Calvillo, and Felice Herrig dropped one spot each to take up the 9-12 positions. Alexa Grasso fell two spots to 14. Randa Markos is down one to 15.