Brendan Allen now has a number next to his name thanks to an impressive showing at UFC Vegas 70 on Saturday night.
Allen found himself in an impromptu main event after the evening’s originally scheduled headliner, Ryan Spann vs. Nikita Krylov, was canceled at the last minute due to an illness suffered by Krylov. ‘All In’ made the most of his surprise spotlight by delivering a fantastic performance and scoring a third-round submission against Andre Muniz.
With his win, Brendan Allen moved into the No. 12 spot in the rankings while Muniz dropped two spots from No. 11 to No. 13. Perhaps the biggest victim of the rankings shift is Darren Till who found himself out of the top 15 altogether. Till’s omission from the rankings is not all that surprising considering the struggles he has faced getting into the win column in recent years. ‘The Gorilla’ has lost five of his last six, the most recent being a third-round submission loss to Dricus Du Plessis in December.
Brendan Allen’s victory over Muniz extended his win streak to four. Now ranked in the top 15, Allen will likely see a significant increase in competition going forward.
Tatiana Suarez Joins Brendan Allen in the UFC Rankings
Brendan Allen wasn’t the only fighter to burst into the rankings at UFC Vegas 70. After nearly four years away from the Octagon, Tatiana Suarez made her triumphant return on Saturday night. Immediately eliminating any concerns of cage rust, Suarez delivered a masterful performance, submitting Montana Del La Rosa in the second round of their main card bout. With the win, the Covina, Cali native moved to 9-0 and implanted herself in both the strawweight and the women’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Suarez is now the No. 13 ranked strawweight, pushing Luana Pinheiro and Emily Ducote back one spot. She also earned the No. 15 spot in the women’s pound-for-pound ranking.
Below is an explanation of how the UFC determines its rankings:
“Rankings were generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings” (h/t MMA Mania).