There were a lot of changes to the rankings coming out of UFC 280.
Well folks, UFC 280 certainly didn’t disappoint. The event produced a new lightweight champion in Islam Makhachev, who starched Charles Oliveira in the second round of their headliner. The show also produced two new top contenders in their respective divisions – Sean O’Malley and men’s bantamweight, and Manon Fiorot at women’s flyweight.
Here’s a look at all the changes from this week, which are extensive.
Men’s P4P – Makhachev enters at three. Oliveira drops four spots to seven. Leon Edwards and Francis Ngannou flip-flop the five and six spots. Aljamain Sterling drops a spot to eight despite his win. Jiri Prochazka is up one to nine. Deiveson Figueiredo drops one to ten. Dustin Poirier falls three big spots to 11. Jon Jones and Max Holloway fall one spot each to 12 and 13. Robert Whittaker re-enters at 15.
Heavyweight – No changes.
Light Heavyweight – Nikita Krylov and Volkan Oezdemir flip-flop the eight and ten spots.
Middleweight – No changes.
Welterweight – Belal Muhammad’s huge win moves him up one spot to four, dropping Gilbert Burns to five.
Lightweight – New champ. Since the title was vacant before, Oliveira remains the number one contender. Beneil Dariush rises two spots to four with his victory over Mateusz Gamrot. Rafael Fiziev, Rafael dos Anjos, Gamrot, and Arman Tsarukyan are all up one slot to six through nine respectively. Jalin Turner is up three spots to ten. Dan Hooker’s up two to 12. Conor McGregor falls one to 13, as he should. Tony Ferguson is up one to 14. Drew Dober re-enters at 15.
Featherweight – The Korean Zombie drops from a tie for six to take over seven on his own. Sodiq Yusuff and Dan Ige switch 11 and 12.
Bantamweight – O’Malley nails one of the biggest rises I’ve ever seen in the rankings, moving up ten gigantic spots to become the number one contender. Yan is now two, and he’s tied with Mareb Dvalishvili for it. Marlon Vera is up one to four. Dillashaw falls three spots to sit at five. Cory Sandhagen falls two slots to six. Five fighters – Rob Font, Dominick Cruz, Pedro Munhoz, Song Yadong, and Ricky Simon – are all down one to seven through 11 respectively.
Flyweight – Sumudaerji is up one to 12, pushing Manel Kape to 13. Muhammad Mokaev enters at 15.
Women’s P4P – Carla Esparza is up one into a tie for three with Julianna Pena. Taila Santos is up one to 12. Fiorot enters at 13. Xiaonan falls two spots to 14. Irene Aldana is down one to 15.
Women’s Bantamweight – No changes.
Women’s Flyweight – Fiorot is the new number one contender, rising five spots. Chookagian falls two spots to three. Lauren Murphy is down one to four. And Jessica Andrade drops two slots to six.
Women’s Strawweight – Tecia Torres takes over eight on her own.