The heavyweight division has undergone a big shakeup over the past few days.
Change are afoot in one of the UFC’s elite divisions. Last weekend’s UFC Vegas 20 saw Ciryl Gane put his stamp on title contendership with a steady, if not that exciting, unanimous decision win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik. That led to some changes in the rankings, as expected.
But today, we were informed that two of the stalwarts at heavyweight over the last decade were no longer with the company. Former champion Junior dos Santos and perennial contender Alistair Overeem have been cut, likely due to their large paychecks as much as their faltering performances of late.
And that led to even more changes. Here’s a look at everything that’s happened lately.
Men’s P4P – No changes.
Heavyweight – New-look division, who dis. Gane is up three spots to four following his win. Rozenstruik falls two to six. Shamil Abdurakhimov, Augusto Sakai, Chris Daukaus, and Walt Harris are up one spot each to seven through ten. Sergei Pavlovich, Blagoy Ivanov, and Marcin Tybura are up two each to 11 through 13. Tom Aspinall enters at 14, and Aleksei Oleinik is back in at 15.
Light Heavyweight – Magomed Ankalaev is on the move. Following his sixth UFC win in a row, Anakalev moved up four spots to sit at seven. Four men – Volkan Oezdemir, Nikita Krylov (who Ankalaev just beat), Johnny Walker, and Misha Cirkunov – all fell a spot each to eight through 11.
Middleweight – No changes.
Welterweight – No changes.
Lightweight – Kevin Lee and Diego Ferreira flip-flopped the 11 and 12 spots.
Featherweight – No changes.
Bantamweight – Jimmie Rivera’s UFC Vegas 20 lost led to him falling one spot to ten. Raphael Assuncao passed him for the nine spot.
Flyweight – No changes.
Women’s P4P – No changes.
Women’s Bantamweight – No changes.
Women’s Flyweight – Antonina Shevchenko is up one spot to 13, bumping Taila Santos to 14.
Women’s Strawweight – No changes.