UFC 261 certainly led to some rankings changes, but the removal of a few names changed a lot more.
UFC 261 was a pretty crazy event. Bad injuries, lots of action, and a new champion meant that there were going to be a few rankings changes. But the removal of two fighters – Zabit Magomedshapirov and Al Iaquinta – due to inactivity, and former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley’s removal due to his contact being up, meant a lot of movement in divisions that weren’t really affected by Saturday’s card. Jeremy Stephens was also taken out of the featherweight rankings due to his move to lightweight.
Here’s a look at all the changes this week.
Men’s P4P – No changes.
Heavyweight – No changes.
Light Heavyweight – No changes.
Middleweight – Uriah Hall’s “win” allowed him to move up one to eight, bumping Kelvin Gastelum to nine. Omari Akhmedov and Kevin Holland flip-flopped the 12 and 13 spots.
Welterweight – Jorge Masvidal drops one spot to five, allowing Stephen Thompson to move up one to four. Woodley had been sitting at ten, but that spot now goes to Geoff Neal. Li Jingliang, Belal Muhammad, Sean Brady, and Robbie Lawler are up one spot each to 11 though 14. Khamzat Chimaev is in at 15.
Lightweight – Iaquinta is out. Gregor Gillespie is up on to 14. Donald Cerrone re-enters at 15.
Featherweight – Due to the removals, nearly everyone moved up at least one spot. Yair Rodriguez takes over at three, where Zabit was before. Chan Sung Jung, Calvin Kattar, Josh Emmett, Arnold Allen, and Dan Ige move up one each to four through eight respectively. Shane Burgos, Sodiq Yusuff, Bryce Mitchell, Edson Barboza, and Movsar Evloev are all up two to nine through 13. Giga Chikadze enters at 14. And Cub Swanson is back in at 15.
Bantamweight – No changes.
Flyweight – No changes.
Women’s P4P – Rose Namajunas is up one spot to three after reclaiming her title. Weili Zhang drops one to four. Joanna Jedrzejczyk re-enters the top five, as Jessica Andrade drops one to six.
Women’s Bantamweight – No changes.
Women’s Flyweight – No changes.
Women’s Strawweight – New champ. Weili is the number one contender.