The UFC has revealed the rankings for their newest division.
After two events in two nights last weekend, the UFC rankings were mixed up a fair amount even with most of the favorites winning. Heavyweight has a new number one contender, a former UFC lightweight champion re-asserted his place at the top of the division, and a few fighters made their rankings debut.
But the biggest news is the first official rankings of the UFC’s newest division, women’s flyweight. After a TUF show around the division that crowned an inaugural champion, the rankings unsurprisingly feature a lot of talent from the show, at least for now.
Here’s a look at all the changes and additions in the wake of the TUF 26 Finale and UFC 218.
P4P – Jose Aldo fell from the pound-for-pound list after a second straight loss to Max Holloway. This allowed Robert Whittaker and Joanna Jedrzejczyk to move up one spot each to 13 and 14. Dominick Cruz re-entered the list at 15.
Heavyweight – Francis Ngannou’s huge KO win over Alistair Overeem rocketed him up three spots into the number one contender position. This dropped Overeem to two, Fabricio Werdum to three, and Cain Velasquez to four.
Light Heavyweight – No changes.
Middleweight – No changes.
Welterweight – Yancy Medeiros entered the list for the first time at 15 after his thrilling win over Alex Oliveira.
Lightweight – Eddie Alvarez’s amazing victory over Justin Gaethje allowed him to move up one spot to three, bumping Edson Barboza to four. Gaethje stayed at five. Michael Johnson actually moved up a spot from eleven to ten, despite being scheduled to fight in the featherweight division next month. Al Iaquinta dropped one to eleven. Francisco Trinaldo re-entered the list at 14, with James Vick dropping one to 15.
Featherweight – No changes.
Bantamweight – Brett Johns is ranked for the first time after his calf slicer win at the TUF Finale. He’s at 13, with Rob Font and Matthew Lopez both dropping one spot to 14 and 15.
Flyweight – Sergio Pettis’ loss to Henry Cejudo sent him down one spot from three to four. Jussier Formiga took over the three spot.
Women’s Bantamweight – No changes.
Women’s Flyweight – Here we go. Nicco Montano is the champ. Sijara Eubanks, the woman that made the finals but couldn’t make weight, is the first number one contender. Lauren Murphy is at two, with Roxanne Modafferi coming in at three. Four through ten are Barb Honchak, Montana De La Rosa, DeAnna Bennett, Rachael Ostovich, Jessica-Rose Clark, Mara Borella, and Shana Dobson. 11-15 is Gillian Robertson, Kalindra Faria, Melinda Fabian, Bec Rawlings, and Emily Whitmire. Expect many changes in the next few months.
Women’s Strawweight – Michelle Waterson fell one slot from six to seven after her loss to Tecia Torres. Cynthia Calvillo moved up one to six. Felice Herrig also moved up one spot to eight, sending Carla Esparza down to nine.