UFC rankings: New champ, new contender at lightweight

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Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush made the biggest moves coming out of UFC 262. UFC 262 delivered as expected, and while the biggest rankings changes…


MMA: MAY 17 UFC 262 - Charles Oliveira Returns to Brazil
Photo by Leandro Bernardes/PxImages/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush made the biggest moves coming out of UFC 262.

UFC 262 delivered as expected, and while the biggest rankings changes came in the lightweight division, there was movement elsewhere too. Charles Oliveira now sits atop the 155-pound division and is on the pound-for-pound list now for the very first time. Beneil Dariush made a huge jump, as did Edson Barboza. And women’s flyweight was mixed up a bit following three fights in that division on Saturday night.

Here’s a look at the changes for this week.

Men’s P4P – Jan Blachowicz moves up one spot to seven, bumping Stipe Miocic to eight. Oliveira enters at 11. Robert Whittaker and Petr Yan fall a spot each to 12 and 13. Justin Gaethje falls two to 14. Aljamain Sterling hangs on at 15.

Heavyweight – No changes.

Light Heavyweight – No changes.

Middleweight – Sean Strickland and Chris Weidman flip-flop the 11 and 12 spots again. Omari Akhmedov is up one to 13, dropping Kevin Holland to 14.

Welterweight – No changes.

Lightweight – Dariush rises six huge spots to sit at number three. Conor McGregor moves up one to five as Tony Ferguson drops one to six. It should be noted that Conor hasn’t won a lightweight bout since 2016, but he’s still here for some reason. Paul Felder rises one spot to nine. Gregor Gillespie, Kevin Lee, Diego Ferreira, and Drew Dober all rise a spot each to 11 through 14 respectively. Thiago Moises enters for the first time at 15.

Featherweight – Edson Barboza’s fun win over Shane Burgos led them to switch positions in the rankings, with Edson up four to sit at nine, while Burgos dropped four to 13.

Bantamweight – No changes.

Flyweight – The outcome of the Rogerio Bontorin-Matt Schnell fight saw them flip positions as well, with Bontorin at eight and Schnell at 9. Even though the fight took place at bantamweight (which Bontorin still couldn’t make).

Women’s P4P – No changes.

Women’s Bantamweight – No changes.

Women’s Flyweight – Jessica Eye rises one spot to eight as Viviane Araujo falls to nine following her loss. Taila Santos is up one spot to 12. Miranda Maverick is up two spots to 13. Antonina Shevchenko falls three spots to 15.

Women’s Strawweight – No changes.