UFC Rankings Update: Valentina Shevchenko Soars In New Division

Former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko is making waves in her new weight class. ‘Bullet’ made her women’s 125-pound debut against debuting Brazilian Priscilia Cachoeira in the co-main event of last weekend’s (Sat., February 3, 2018) UFC Fight Night 125 from Arena Guilherme Paraense in Belém, Brazil, and her performance was as dominant a […]

The post UFC Rankings Update: Valentina Shevchenko Soars In New Division appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko is making waves in her new weight class.

‘Bullet’ made her women’s 125-pound debut against debuting Brazilian Priscilia Cachoeira in the co-main event of last weekend’s (Sat., February 3, 2018) UFC Fight Night 125 from Arena Guilherme Paraense in Belém, Brazil, and her performance was as dominant a one we’ve seen in the UFC.

So much so that the bigger overall story of her one-sided beating was referee Mario Yamasaki’s insistence to let the overmatched Cachoeira continue fighting despite being outstruck 230-3 before having to tap out multiple times to a Shevchenko rear-naked choke for Yamasaki to call it off. The horrific refereeing has caused Dana White to embark on a justified smear campaign against Yamasaki, calling him a ‘moron’ and saying he’ll never referee again.

But that was beyond her control.

What was in her control was an absolutely perfect performance where she looked sharp in all aspects of MMA, resulting in one of the most flawless wins in UFC history to the point where some questioned the matchmaking in the still-developing division.

For the win, “Bullet” shot all the way up to the No. 1 spot in the class and should be headed for a clash with champion Nicco Montano. She was removed from the women’s bantamweight rankings as well, bumping the rest of the top 15 up one spot apiece and allowing Ashlee Evans-Smith to re-debut at No. 15.

Check out the full updated rankings courtesy of UFC.com right here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Conor McGregor
3 Daniel Cormier
4 Stipe Miocic
5 Max Holloway -1
6 Georges St-Pierre
7 TJ Dillashaw
8 Tyron Woodley
9 Cris Cyborg
10 Tony Ferguson
11 Cody Garbrandt
12 Robert Whittaker
13 Amanda Nunes
14 Khabib Nurmagomedov
15 Joanna Jedrzejczyk

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Ray Borg
4 Jussier Formiga
5 Sergio Pettis
6 Wilson Reis
7 Brandon Moreno
8 Ben Nguyen
9 Dustin Ortiz
10 John Moraga
11 Matheus Nicolau
12 Tim Elliott
13 Alexandre Pantoja
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Magomed Bibulatov

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Jimmie Rivera
5 Marlon Moraes
6 John Lineker
7 Bryan Caraway
8 John Dodson
9 Aljamain Sterling
10 Pedro Munhoz
11 Rob Font
12 Thomas Almeida
13 Eddie Wineland
14 Brett Johns
15 Matthew Lopez

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Jose Aldo
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Brian Ortega
4 Josh Emmett
5 Cub Swanson
6 Ricardo Lamas
7 Chan Sung Jung
8 Jeremy Stephens
9 Darren Elkins
10 Yair Rodriguez
11 Renato Moicano
12 Mirsad Bektic
13 Dooho Choi
14 Myles Jury
15 Calvin Kattar

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Conor McGregor
1 Tony Ferguson (Interim Champion)
2 Khabib Nurmagomedov
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Edson Barboza
5 Dustin Poirier
6 Justin Gaethje
7 Kevin Lee
8 Nate Diaz
9 Michael Chiesa
10 Al Iaquinta
11 Beneil Dariush
12 James Vick
13 Anthony Pettis
14 Francisco Trinaldo
15 Evan Dunham

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Stephen Thompson
2 Rafael Dos Anjos
3 Colby Covington
4 Robbie Lawler
5 Demian Maia
6 Jorge Masvidal
7 Darren Till
8 Neil Magny
9 Kamaru Usman
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Donald Cerrone
12 Carlos Condit
13 Gunnar Nelson
14 Dong Hyun Kim
15 Yancy Medeiros

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Jacare Souza
4 Chris Weidman
5 Kelvin Gastelum
6 Michael Bisping
7 Derek Brunson
8 David Branch
9 Uriah Hall
10 Vitor Belfort
11 Thiago Santos +4
12 Lyoto Machida +1
13 Krzysztof Jotko -1
14 Paulo Costa
15 Brad Tavares -4

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Glover Teixeira
2 Volkan Oezdemir
4 Jimi Manuwa
5 Ovince Saint Preux
6 Mauricio Rua
7 Misha Cirkunov
8 Corey Anderson
8 Ilir Latifi
10 Patrick Cummins
11 Jan Blachowicz
12 Gadzhimurad Antigulov
13 Tyson Pedro
14 Gian Villante
15 Jared Cannonier

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Stipe Miocic
1 Francis Ngannou
2 Alistair Overeem
3 Fabricio Werdum
4 Cain Velasquez
5 Mark Hunt
6 Derrick Lewis
7 Alexander Volkov
8 Marcin Tybura
9 Curtis Blaydes
10 Stefan Struve
11 Aleksei Oleinik
12 Andrei Arlovski
13 Tim Johnson +2
14 Junior Albini -1
15 Shamil Abdurakhimov *NR

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Felice Herrig
9 Cynthia Calvillo
10 Alexa Grasso
11 Randa Markos
12 Cortney Casey
13 Joanne Calderwood
14 Maryna Moroz
15 Tatiana Suarez

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Valentina Shevchenko *NR
2 Sijara Eubanks -1
3 Lauren Murphy -1
4 Alexis Davis -1
5 Roxanne Modafferi -1
6 Barb Honchak -1
7 Liz Carmouche -1
8 Katlyn Chookagian -1
9 Jessica-Rose Clark -1
10 Jessica Eye -1
11 Montana De La Rosa -1
12 Rachael Ostovich
13 Mara Romero Borella -2
14 Paige VanZant -1
15 Shana Dobson -1

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Holly Holm +1
2 Julianna Pena +1
3 Raquel Pennington +1
4 Germaine de Randamie +1
5 Ketlen Vieira +1
6 Cat Zingano +1
7 Sara McMann +1
8 Ronda Rousey +1
9 Marion Reneau +1
10 Leslie Smith +1
11 Bethe Correia +1
12 Aspen Ladd +1
13 Sarah Moras +1
14 Irene Aldana +1
15 Ashlee Evans-Smith *NR

The post UFC Rankings Update: Valentina Shevchenko Soars In New Division appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

UFC Rankings Update: Valentina Shevchenko Soars In New Division

Former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko is making waves in her new weight class. ‘Bullet’ made her women’s 125-pound debut against debuting Brazilian Priscilia Cachoeira in the co-main event of last weekend’s (Sat., February 3, 2018) UFC Fight Night 125 from Arena Guilherme Paraense in Belém, Brazil, and her performance was as dominant a […]

The post UFC Rankings Update: Valentina Shevchenko Soars In New Division appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Former UFC women’s bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko is making waves in her new weight class.

‘Bullet’ made her women’s 125-pound debut against debuting Brazilian Priscilia Cachoeira in the co-main event of last weekend’s (Sat., February 3, 2018) UFC Fight Night 125 from Arena Guilherme Paraense in Belém, Brazil, and her performance was as dominant a one we’ve seen in the UFC.

So much so that the bigger overall story of her one-sided beating was referee Mario Yamasaki’s insistence to let the overmatched Cachoeira continue fighting despite being outstruck 230-3 before having to tap out multiple times to a Shevchenko rear-naked choke for Yamasaki to call it off. The horrific refereeing has caused Dana White to embark on a justified smear campaign against Yamasaki, calling him a ‘moron’ and saying he’ll never referee again.

But that was beyond her control.

What was in her control was an absolutely perfect performance where she looked sharp in all aspects of MMA, resulting in one of the most flawless wins in UFC history to the point where some questioned the matchmaking in the still-developing division.

For the win, “Bullet” shot all the way up to the No. 1 spot in the class and should be headed for a clash with champion Nicco Montano. She was removed from the women’s bantamweight rankings as well, bumping the rest of the top 15 up one spot apiece and allowing Ashlee Evans-Smith to re-debut at No. 15.

Check out the full updated rankings courtesy of UFC.com right here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Conor McGregor
3 Daniel Cormier
4 Stipe Miocic
5 Max Holloway -1
6 Georges St-Pierre
7 TJ Dillashaw
8 Tyron Woodley
9 Cris Cyborg
10 Tony Ferguson
11 Cody Garbrandt
12 Robert Whittaker
13 Amanda Nunes
14 Khabib Nurmagomedov
15 Joanna Jedrzejczyk

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Ray Borg
4 Jussier Formiga
5 Sergio Pettis
6 Wilson Reis
7 Brandon Moreno
8 Ben Nguyen
9 Dustin Ortiz
10 John Moraga
11 Matheus Nicolau
12 Tim Elliott
13 Alexandre Pantoja
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Magomed Bibulatov

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Jimmie Rivera
5 Marlon Moraes
6 John Lineker
7 Bryan Caraway
8 John Dodson
9 Aljamain Sterling
10 Pedro Munhoz
11 Rob Font
12 Thomas Almeida
13 Eddie Wineland
14 Brett Johns
15 Matthew Lopez

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Jose Aldo
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Brian Ortega
4 Josh Emmett
5 Cub Swanson
6 Ricardo Lamas
7 Chan Sung Jung
8 Jeremy Stephens
9 Darren Elkins
10 Yair Rodriguez
11 Renato Moicano
12 Mirsad Bektic
13 Dooho Choi
14 Myles Jury
15 Calvin Kattar

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Conor McGregor
1 Tony Ferguson (Interim Champion)
2 Khabib Nurmagomedov
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Edson Barboza
5 Dustin Poirier
6 Justin Gaethje
7 Kevin Lee
8 Nate Diaz
9 Michael Chiesa
10 Al Iaquinta
11 Beneil Dariush
12 James Vick
13 Anthony Pettis
14 Francisco Trinaldo
15 Evan Dunham

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Stephen Thompson
2 Rafael Dos Anjos
3 Colby Covington
4 Robbie Lawler
5 Demian Maia
6 Jorge Masvidal
7 Darren Till
8 Neil Magny
9 Kamaru Usman
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Donald Cerrone
12 Carlos Condit
13 Gunnar Nelson
14 Dong Hyun Kim
15 Yancy Medeiros

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Jacare Souza
4 Chris Weidman
5 Kelvin Gastelum
6 Michael Bisping
7 Derek Brunson
8 David Branch
9 Uriah Hall
10 Vitor Belfort
11 Thiago Santos +4
12 Lyoto Machida +1
13 Krzysztof Jotko -1
14 Paulo Costa
15 Brad Tavares -4

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Glover Teixeira
2 Volkan Oezdemir
4 Jimi Manuwa
5 Ovince Saint Preux
6 Mauricio Rua
7 Misha Cirkunov
8 Corey Anderson
8 Ilir Latifi
10 Patrick Cummins
11 Jan Blachowicz
12 Gadzhimurad Antigulov
13 Tyson Pedro
14 Gian Villante
15 Jared Cannonier

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Stipe Miocic
1 Francis Ngannou
2 Alistair Overeem
3 Fabricio Werdum
4 Cain Velasquez
5 Mark Hunt
6 Derrick Lewis
7 Alexander Volkov
8 Marcin Tybura
9 Curtis Blaydes
10 Stefan Struve
11 Aleksei Oleinik
12 Andrei Arlovski
13 Tim Johnson +2
14 Junior Albini -1
15 Shamil Abdurakhimov *NR

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Felice Herrig
9 Cynthia Calvillo
10 Alexa Grasso
11 Randa Markos
12 Cortney Casey
13 Joanne Calderwood
14 Maryna Moroz
15 Tatiana Suarez

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Valentina Shevchenko *NR
2 Sijara Eubanks -1
3 Lauren Murphy -1
4 Alexis Davis -1
5 Roxanne Modafferi -1
6 Barb Honchak -1
7 Liz Carmouche -1
8 Katlyn Chookagian -1
9 Jessica-Rose Clark -1
10 Jessica Eye -1
11 Montana De La Rosa -1
12 Rachael Ostovich
13 Mara Romero Borella -2
14 Paige VanZant -1
15 Shana Dobson -1

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Holly Holm +1
2 Julianna Pena +1
3 Raquel Pennington +1
4 Germaine de Randamie +1
5 Ketlen Vieira +1
6 Cat Zingano +1
7 Sara McMann +1
8 Ronda Rousey +1
9 Marion Reneau +1
10 Leslie Smith +1
11 Bethe Correia +1
12 Aspen Ladd +1
13 Sarah Moras +1
14 Irene Aldana +1
15 Ashlee Evans-Smith *NR

The post UFC Rankings Update: Valentina Shevchenko Soars In New Division appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Valentina Shevchenko Comments On Controversial UFC Belem Bout

This past weekend (Feb. 3, 2018), Valentina Shevchenko defeated Priscila Cachoeira in a flyweight bout in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 125 from Belem, Brazil. The bout, which ended in a second-round stoppage victory for “Bullet,” was a one-sided contest and referee Mario Yamasaki has come under fire for not stopping it earlier […]

The post Valentina Shevchenko Comments On Controversial UFC Belem Bout appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

This past weekend (Feb. 3, 2018), Valentina Shevchenko defeated Priscila Cachoeira in a flyweight bout in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 125 from Belem, Brazil.

The bout, which ended in a second-round stoppage victory for “Bullet,” was a one-sided contest and referee Mario Yamasaki has come under fire for not stopping it earlier as Shevchenko out-landed Cachoeira by a gaping.

Shevchenko, however, recently defended Yamasaki, saying that Cachoeira continued to move and try to escape prior to the submission:

“When I am inside of the Octagon, I go there and I will not stop before someone stops me. And (if) I feel that I have to continue, I will continue with all my power,” Shevchenko told Ariel Helwani on this week’s edition of The MMA Hour. “And of course I was feeling that this is a moment, it will end soon. And when Mario, for Priscila, he said, ‘If you do not move, I will stop the fight’ — in this moment, she started trying to escape and do everything.

“Before the last minute, the last second, she was trying to escape, and it doesn’t matter — she was receiving (punches) hard but she was trying to do something. And that moment, I was thinking, okay, if it’s not stopped with just punching, then I went for the submission and I just continued, because in my mind, like a fighter, I have to do everything to finish my fight.”

On the contrary, however, Shevchenko made it clear that she simply did her job, which is to fight, while also crediting Cachoeira for her toughness:

“I’m a fighter. I’m not a referee, I’m not a judge,” Shevchenko said. “I do my job, and the referees and judges, they do their jobs. For example, before the fight, Mario, he came to our changing room and explained the rules, what he will do in case (something happens), and he said, … ‘While you are moving and trying to protect (yourself), I will keep the fight going.’”

“And this is what I think it was in the fight, because Priscila, she had good [heart] and she didn’t want to quit, and she wasn’t laying there and saying, ‘Someone please help me.’ No, she was trying to do something, something every time.”

What do you make of the situation?

The post Valentina Shevchenko Comments On Controversial UFC Belem Bout appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

UFC Belem: Machida vs. Anders Viewership Peaks at 974,000

UFC Belem viewership data is in for the main card and prelims on FS1 and FS2. The FOX Sports 1 (FS1) broadcast drew 839,000 viewers (via MMAFighting.com). The event peaked at 974,000 viewers for the main event between Lyoto Machida and Eryk Anders. In …

UFC Belem viewership data is in for the main card and prelims on FS1 and FS2. The FOX Sports 1 (FS1) broadcast drew 839,000 viewers (via MMAFighting.com). The event peaked at 974,000 viewers for the main event between Lyoto Machida and Eryk Anders. In addition to the FS1 broadcast, 12,538 viewers saw the card through FOX Now […]

Commission Issues Statement On Mario Yamasaki’s Latest Controversy

Mario Yamasaki may have issued a statement defending his decision to let clearly overmatched flyweight Priscila Cachoeira continue absorbing a never-ending beating from Valentina Shevchenko in the co-main of last Saturday night’s (Feb. 3, 2018) UFC Belem, but CABMMA, the commission presiding over the bout, doesn’t agree. In a statement issued to MMA Fighting, CABMMA COO […]

The post Commission Issues Statement On Mario Yamasaki’s Latest Controversy appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Mario Yamasaki may have issued a statement defending his decision to let clearly overmatched flyweight Priscila Cachoeira continue absorbing a never-ending beating from Valentina Shevchenko in the co-main of last Saturday night’s (Feb. 3, 2018) UFC Belem, but CABMMA, the commission presiding over the bout, doesn’t agree.

In a statement issued to MMA Fighting, CABMMA COO Cristiano Sampaio stated he had discussed the stoppage – or lack thereof – with Yamasaki, noting that while Cachoeira, who was making her UFC debut and suffered a serious knee injury early in the bout, demonstrated exemplary toughness, that should not interfere with a referee’s duty to call off a bout when a fighter is clearly not defending themselves.

Like most pro MMA fighters, Cachoeira insisted she would not have wanted her corner to throw in the towel even though she was out-landed by a gross margin of 230-3 total strikes. It was far from Yamasaki’s first transgression inside the octagon.

You can read the full CABMMA statement here:

The Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) has discussed the stoppage with referee Mario Yamasaki at the post-fight meeting held at venue with all of the officials assigned for the event. We made it clear all of our concerns regarding the incident.

Priscilla Cachoeira demonstrated toughness and heart during the two rounds but those are two attitudes that should not interfere or confuse the referee when it comes to stoppages. In the first round, in the last couple of minutes, it was clear that Priscilla could not defend herself efficiently nor technically. That reflected directly on the judges scores, all three giving it a 10-8. Round two was the same, but obviously with Priscilla not physically recovered enough from the previous round to demonstrate her chance against Valentina, the fight should have been called off right in the initial moments. And if the fight wasn’t called off, it would have been a clear 10-7, due to what we considered a overwhelming dominance and significant impact in the round.

As to the matchmaking, the fight was approved by CABMMA. If it was not well matched and that being evidently demonstrated during the fight, it should have been identified by the referee in charge, as he is the highest authority in that moment, whose role is to protect the fighter at all times including stopping the fight at the proper moment.

CABMMA understands that errors can occur from all aspects, but they should be recognized and corrected, to avoid similar cases in the future. And in a sport where the main concern is the fighter’s health and integrity, from the regulator’s standpoint we should do everything possible to minimize the risk of a scenario such as the one of this weekend.

Mario Yamasaki has been one of the best referees in MMA for the past decade and played a key role in helping our commission build the team of officials. We will discuss the next steps together and decide what is certainly best for all parts involved in the process.

The post Commission Issues Statement On Mario Yamasaki’s Latest Controversy appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Mario Yamasaki Defends UFC Belem Performance

This past weekend (Feb. 3, 2018), UFC Fight Night 125 took place from Belem, Brazil. In the evening’s co-main event, former bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko took on Priscila Cachoeira in a flyweight bout. The fight ended up being a one-sided showcase for Shevchenko, who won the fight via second round submission. Up until the […]

The post Mario Yamasaki Defends UFC Belem Performance appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

This past weekend (Feb. 3, 2018), UFC Fight Night 125 took place from Belem, Brazil.

In the evening’s co-main event, former bantamweight title challenger Valentina Shevchenko took on Priscila Cachoeira in a flyweight bout. The fight ended up being a one-sided showcase for Shevchenko, who won the fight via second round submission.

Up until the time of the stoppage, however, Cachoeira took a plethora of damage, and many have criticized referee Mario Yamasaki for not calling the bout earlier.

In a statement released to MMAFighting.com, Yamasaki defended his performance:

During the second round, I signaled to ‘Pedrita’ that if she didn’t move I’d stop the fight, and every time I’d stop, I told her and she moved to try to escape from the punches. Unfortunately, I also can’t control the number of blows thrown — again, when a fighter is trying to come back she’s game.

Fighters go through times of hard effort and dedication to be there. MMA is a contact sport and no fighter likes his fight to be stopped with no chance to revert the result. In my opinion, I allowed Pedrita to be a warrior and keep fighting. I could have stopped the fight in the second crucifix or in the mount, but she moved the whole time.

I also recognize that I should have stopped when she tapped the first time to the rear-naked choke. I only stopped a few seconds later.

About other people’s opinions, it’s their right to say.

Aside from fans and media members, UFC President Dana White also blasted Yamasaki, saying that he hopes the referee never officiates a UFC contest again.

What do you make of Yamasaki’s explanation?

The post Mario Yamasaki Defends UFC Belem Performance appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.