The official Bellator MMA rankings were updated following Bellator 278 and 279, both of which went down last weekend (Fri., April 22 and Sat., April 23, 2022) inside Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. In the main event of Bellator 278, Liz Carmouche defeated Juliana Velasquez via controversial fourth-round stoppage to win the Flyweight title.
At Bellator 279, Cris Cyborg was taken the distance by Arlene Blencowe, though the champ ultimately won a unanimous decision after 25 minutes of bloody action (see it again here). Also, the opening round of the Bantamweight Grand Prix kicked off with some very exciting activities that triggered notable movement in the rankings.
MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Patricio Pitbull (33-5)
2. AJ McKee (18-1)
3. Vadim Nemkov (15-2, 1 NC)
4. Gegard Mousasi (49-7-2)
5. Yaroslav Amosov (26-0)
6. Ryan Bader (29-7)
7. Corey Anderson (16-5, 1 NC) -1
8. Sergio Pettis (22-5) -1
9. Michael Page (20-1)
10. Raufeon Stots (18-1) NR
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Cris Cyborg (26-2, 1 NC)
2. Liz Carmouche (17-7) +2
3. Juliana Velasquez (12-1) -1
4. Denise Kielholtz (6-3) +1
5. Arlene Blencowe (15-9) +1
6. Cat Zingano (12-4) +1
7. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (11-2) -4
8. Kana Watanabe (10-1-1)
9. Sinead Kavanagh (8-5)
10. Leslie Smith (12-9-1)
MEN’S HEAVYWEIGHT (265 Pounds)
C. Ryan Bader (29-7)
1. Valentin Moldavsky (11-2)?
2. Cheick Kongo (31-11-2)
3. Linton Vassell (23-8)
4. Fedor Emelianenko (40-6)
5. Steve Mowry (10-0)
6. Tyrell Fortune (12-2) +1
7. Tim Johnson (15-9) -1
8. Davion Franklin (5-0)
9. Said Sowma (8-3)
10. Gokhan Saricam (7-1)
MEN’S HEAVYWEIGHT (265 Pounds)
C. Ryan Bader (29-7)
1. Valentin Moldavsky (11-2)?
2. Cheick Kongo (31-11-2)
3. Linton Vassell (23-8)
4. Fedor Emelianenko (40-6)
5. Steve Mowry (10-0)
6. Tyrell Fortune (12-2)
7. Tim Johnson (15-9)
8. Davion Franklin (5-0)
9. Said Sowma (8-3)
10. Gokhan Saricam (7-1)
MEN’S MIDDLEWEIGHT (185 Pounds)
C. Gegard Mousasi (49-7-2)
1. Johnny Eblen (11-0)
2. Austin Vanderford (11-1)
3. John Salter (18-6)
4. Fabian Edwards (9-2)
5. Anatoly Tokov (30-2)
6. Lorenz Larkin (23-7)
7. Romero Cotton (6-0)
8. Dalton Rosta (6-0)
9. Anthony Adams (9-2)
10. Khalid Murtazaliev (15-3)
MEN’S WELTERWEIGHT (170 Pounds)
C. Yaroslav Amosov (26-0)
1. Michael Page (20-1)
2. Douglas Lima (32-10)
3. Jason Jackson (15-4)
4. Logan Storley (13-1)
5. Neiman Gracie (11-3)
6. Andrey Koreshkov (25-4)
7. Derek Anderson (17-4)
8. Paul Daley (43-18-2)
9. Kyle Crutchmer (8-1)
10. Sabah Homasi (16-10)
MEN’S LIGHTWEIGHT (155 Pounds)
C. Patricky Pitbull (24-10)
1. Sidney Outlaw (16-4)
2. Brent Primus (11-2)
3. Benson Henderson (29-11)
4. Usman Nurmagomedov (14-0)
5. Peter Queally (13-6-1)
6. Islam Mamedov (20-1-1)
7. Myles Jury (19-6)
8. Alexander Shabliy (20-3)
9. Dan Moret (15-7)
10. Gadzhi Rabadanov (17-4-1)
MEN’S FEATHERWEIGHT (145 Pounds)
C. Patricio Pitbull (33-5)
1. AJ McKee (18-0)
2. Adam Borics (18-1)
3. Mads Burnell (16-4)
4. Aaron Pico (10-3)
5. Pedro Carvalho (12-5)
6. Jeremy Kennedy (17-3) +1
7. Daniel Weichel (41-13) +1
8. Justin Gonzales (13-1) +1
9. Cody Law (6-0) +1
10. Darrion Caldwell (15-6) NR
MEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT (135 Pounds)
C. Sergio Pettis (22-5)
IC. Raufeon Stots (18-1)
2. Patchy Mix (16-1)
3. Juan Archuleta (25-4) -2
4. Magomed Magomedov (18-2)
5. Kyoji Horiguchi (29-5)
6. Leandro Higo (21-5)?
7. James Gallagher (11-2)
8. Josh Hill (21-4)
9. Danny Sabatello (12-1) NR
10. Enrique Barzola (18-5-2) NR
WOMEN’S FEATHERWEIGHT (145 Pounds)
C. Cris Cyborg (26-2, 1 NC)
1. Arlene Blencowe (15-9)
2. Cat Zingano (12-4)
3. Leslie Smith (12-9-1)
4. Sinead Kavanagh (8-5)
5. Leah McCourt (6-2)
6. Pam Sorenson (9-4) +1
7. Talita Nogueira (8-2) +1
8. Janay Harding (6-6) -2
9. Dayana Silva (10-7) +1
10. Jessica Borga (3-4) -1
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT (125 Pounds)
C. Liz Carmouche (17-7) +2
1. Juliana Velasquez (12-1) -1
2. Denise Kielholtz (6-3) +1
3. Kana Watanabe (10-1-1) +1
4. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (11-2) -3
5. Alejandra Lara (9-5)
6. Veta Arteaga (6-4)
7. DeAnna Bennett (12-7-1)
8. Vanessa Porto (23-9)
9. Justine Kish (8-5) NR
10. Diana Avsaragova (5-0) -1
Bellator will be back in action on Friday May 6, 2022 to stage Bellator 280 in Paris, France, which will feature a Heavyweight championship rematch between division king, Ryan Bader, taking on Cheick Kongo. In the co-main event, Yoel Romero will battle Melvin Manhoef in a Middleweight affair.
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