UFC Rankings Update: Valentina Shevchenko Passes Conor McGregor

We have a new UFC Rankings Update to pass along after this past weekend’s fights in Uruguay. In the main event of the night, women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko continued her dominant title reign by besting Liz Carmouche. Shevchenko took home a lopsided unanimous decision victory over Carmouche after five rounds inside the Octagon. Now, […]

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We have a new UFC Rankings Update to pass along after this past weekend’s fights in Uruguay.

In the main event of the night, women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko continued her dominant title reign by besting Liz Carmouche. Shevchenko took home a lopsided unanimous decision victory over Carmouche after five rounds inside the Octagon. Now, she has jumped up the pound-for-pound rankings to the number 12 spot.

With the jump up to number 12, “The Bullet” passes up former featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor, who now sits at 13. You can check out the full updated rankings below.

UFC Rankings Update

POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Daniel Cormier
2. Jon Jones 
3. Khabib Nurmagomedov 
4. Henry Cejudo 
5. Max Holloway
6. Amanda Nunes
7. Dustin Poirier 
8. Kamaru Usman 
9. Robert Whittaker 
10. Tony Ferguson
11. Stipe Miocic 
12. Valentina Shevchenko +1
13. Conor McGregor -1
14. Tyron Woodley 
15. Jessica Andrade

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: HENRY CEJUDO

1. Joseph Benavidez
2. Jussier Formiga 
3. Deiveson Figueiredo 
4. Alexandre Pantoja 
5. Sergio Pettis 
6. Tim Elliott 
7. Rogerio Bontorin +1
8. Brandon Moreno -1
9. Matt Schnell
10. Kai Kara France +1
11. (T) Ryan Benoit -1
11. (T) Jordan Espinosa +1 
13. Alex Perez 
14. Mark De La Rosa +1
15. Raulian Paiva -1

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: HENRY CEJUDO

1. Marlon Moraes 
2. Aljamain Sterling 
3. Raphael Assuncao 
4. Petr Yan 
5. Pedro Munhoz 
6. Dominick Cruz 
7. Cody Garbrandt 
8. Jimmie Rivera 
9. Cory Sandhagen 
10. Cody Stamann 
11. Rob Font 
12. John Dodson 
13. Song Yadong 
14. Urijah Faber 
15. Thomas Almeida

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: MAX HOLLOWAY

1. Alexander Volkanovski 
2. Brian Ortega 
3. Jose Aldo 
4. Frankie Edgar 
5. Zabit Magomedsharipov 
6. Chan Sung Jung 
7. Yair Rodriguez 
8. Jeremy Stephens 
9. Renato Moicano 
10. Josh Emmett 
11. Calvin Kattar 
12. Arnold Allen 
13. Shane Burgos 
14. Ryan Hall 
15. Mirsad Bektic

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV

1. Dustin Poirier INTERIM 
2. Tony Ferguson 
3. Conor McGregor 
4. Donald Cerrone 
5. Justin Gaethje 
6. Al Iaquinta 
7. Edson Barboza 
8. Kevin Lee 
9. Anthony Pettis 
10. Paul Felder 
11. Gregor Gillespie
12. Charles Oliveira
13. Alexander Hernandez 
14. Dan Hooker 
15. Islam Makhachev

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: KAMARU USMAN

1. Tyron Woodley 
2. Colby Covington 
3. Jorge Masvidal 
4. Leon Edwards 
5. Rafael dos Anjos 
6. Darren Till 
7. (T) Anthony Pettis +1
7. (T) Stephen Thompson 
9. Santiago Ponzinibbio 
10. Demian Maia
11. Ben Askren
12. Robbie Lawler
13. Elizeu dos Santos 
14. Vicente Luque *NR
15. Neil Magny -1

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: ROBERT WHITTAKER

1. Israel Adesanya (Interim champion) 
2. Yoel Romero 
3. Kelvin Gastelum 
4. Jack Hermansson 
5. Ronaldo Souza 
6. Chris Weidman 
7. Paulo Costa 
8. Derek Brunson 
9. Jared Cannonier 
10. Ian Heinisch 
11. Brad Tavares
12. Uriah Hall
13. Antonio Carlos Junior 
14. Anderson Silva
15. Krzysztof Jotko

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: JON JONES

1. Daniel Cormier
2. Thiago Santos
3. Anthony Smith 
4. Dominick Reyes 
5. Jan Blachowicz 
6. Alexander Gustafsson 
7. (T) Volkan Oezdemir 
7. (T) Corey Anderson +1
9. Glover Teixeira +1 
10. Aleksandar Rakic +1
11. Johnny Walker +1
12. Ilir Latifi -3
13 Nikita Krylov 
14 Mauricio Rua 
15 Misha Cirkunov

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: DANIEL CORMIER

1. Stipe Miocic 
2. Francis Ngannou 
3. Junior dos Santos 
4. Curtis Blaydes 
5. Derrick Lewis 
6. Alexander Volkov 
7. Alistair Overeem 
8. Cain Velasquez 
9. Shamil Abdurakhimov 
10. Blagoy Ivanov 
11. Walt Harris 
12. Aleksei Oleinik 
13. Tai Tuivasa 
14. Marcin Tybura 
15. Augusto Sakai

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: JESSICA ANDRADE

1. Rose Namajunas 
2. Tatiana Suarez 
3. Nina Ansaroff 
4. Joanna Jedrzejczyk 
5. Claudia Gadelha 
6. Weili Zhang 
7. Michelle Waterson 
8. Carla Esparza +1
9. Alexa Grasso +1
10. Marina Rodriguez *NR
11. Cynthia Calvillo 
12. Felice Herrig
13. Tecia Torres -5
14. Karolina Kowalkiewicz -1
15. Cortney Casey -1

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO

1. Jessica Eye 
2. Katlyn Chookagian 
3. Liz Carmouche 
4. Jennifer Maia 
5. Joanne Calderwood 
6. Andrea Lee
7. Viviane Araujo
8. Roxanne Modafferi
9. Lauren Murphy
10. Alexis Davis
11. Montana De La Rosa 
12. Maycee Barber
13. Antonina Shevchenko
14. Mara Romero Borella
15. Gillian Robertson

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: AMANDA NUNES

1. Germaine de Randamie 
2. Ketlen Vieira 
3. Holly Holm 
4. Julianna Pena 
5. Aspen Ladd 
6. Raquel Pennington 
7. Yana Kunitskaya +1
8. Marion Reneau +1 
9. Sara McMann +1
10. Irene Aldana +1
11. Macy Chiasson +1
12. Lina Lansberg +1
13. (T) Nicco Montano +2
13. (T) Sijara Eubanks +1
15. Bethe Correia *NR

What do you think about Shevchenko passing up McGregor on the pound-for-pound list?

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Mike Perry Claims To Have Just Six Dollars In His Bank Account Following UFC Uruguay

Despite bagging Fight of the Night honors and going viral for his toughness following a broken nose, Mike Perry didn’t seem to bank much in the process. Perry was recently outpointed by Vicente Luque in a close encounter during the co-main event of UFC Uruguay this past weekend. In the final round, Perry notably suffered […]

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Despite bagging Fight of the Night honors and going viral for his toughness following a broken nose, Mike Perry didn’t seem to bank much in the process.

Perry was recently outpointed by Vicente Luque in a close encounter during the co-main event of UFC Uruguay this past weekend. In the final round, Perry notably suffered a nasty broken nose but still managed to go the full distance.

“Platinum” received a lot of plaudits for his toughness and one would imagine going through what he did, he was paid handsomely. However, even with his post-fight bonus, he disputed claims from a fan page that he made $117,000 on the night:

“My a** I didn’t make that much smh,” he wrote in an Instagram story. “58 to show, Uruguay took 17, Management and team 15%, Still got last years taxes, Nose job priceless, Money in the bank $6.00, 400k fans on IG tho.”

It only goes to show that even a fan favorite like Perry, who is one of the more popular non-mainstream stars in the promotion, can be suffering financially.

It also brings up the debate for the need for mixed martial artists to unionize so they they can be paid better among other things.

What do you think of Perry’s claims? Do you think MMA fighters should unionize?

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UFC Uruguay Fallout: Five Fights to Make

We had some great fights over the weekend (Sat. August 10, 2019) at the Antel Arena in Montevideo, Uruguay. Though it wasn’t the most stacked card, it delivered with eight decisions, two knockouts, and three submissions by the night’s end. The event featured a rematch between UFC flyweights Valentina Shevchenko and Liz Carmouche, a fight […]

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We had some great fights over the weekend (Sat. August 10, 2019) at the Antel Arena in Montevideo, Uruguay. Though it wasn’t the most stacked card, it delivered with eight decisions, two knockouts, and three submissions by the night’s end.

The event featured a rematch between UFC flyweights Valentina Shevchenko and Liz Carmouche, a fight that showed Shevchenko dominate all five rounds with ease to rack up her second title defense, as most expected. There were some really great performances from last night, and we at LowKickMMA have compiled a list of five fights to make after their showings.

Where do the winners go from here? Where do the losers go from here? Continue reading to see our five matchups:

Enrique Barzola (16-4-1) vs. Grant Dawson (14-1)

Enrique Barzola had a good showing over the weekend, defeating Bobby Moffett via split decision. Though one judge scored it for Moffett, one judge gave Barzola all three rounds. The judging was a little inconsistent, but at least the final results were left without controversy. Barzola’s entire MMA game was on point again, as it usually is. He’s so good at mixing his attack up and is also very good at imposing his will.

“El Fuerte” showed off his crisp hands in bunches and once again showed why he’s such a great takedown artist. Going into this fight with Moffett, Barzola was No. 3 in all-time takedowns at featherweight, and he added to that total in the bout. The craziest thing about that, this division has hosted stud wrestlers like Frankie Edgar, Chad Mendes, Dennis Bermudez, and more. Not only that, but Barzola’s only been in the UFC for three-and-a-half years. That just shows how good he is at getting the fight down to the mat.

He has five separate fights with five takedowns or more, it’s insane how good of a wrestler he is, especially considering where he’s from. South Americans are not known for their wrestling, but Peru’s Enrique Barzola is.

A fight with Grant Dawson would be great because they’re both working their way up the featherweight rankings, and both are incredibly well rounded, as well as they both like to keep an incredible pace. It was a big surprise to see Dawson dominate Mike Trizano the way he did at UFC Rochester, but that just goes to show us all, he’s right where he should be, in the UFC.

Barzola was a finisher before he came to the UFC, now half of his wins are decisions. This is mainly because he almost always goes for a takedown at the end of every round. If he doesn’t finish his opponent in the round, he doesn’t really try to toward the end of it, he tries to win the round, a very smart tactic to use. He has four submission wins (all rear-naked chokes) and four knockout wins (all TKO to punches), along with eight decisions (six in the UFC).

The Peruvian still has yet to score a finish in the UFC, while 13 of Dawson’s 14 wins are finishes (10 submissions, 3 TKOs). This would be a great matchup to see where each guy is at, and who should perhaps crack the top 15 next in this stacked featherweight division.

Gilbert Burns (16-3) vs. Claudio Silva (14-1)

These two have fought recently, both within this month actually, with both winning dominantly. Silva had a great showing at UFC Newark by submitting Cole Williams in round one via rear-naked choke, and Burns just defeated the formerly 20-0 Russian stud Alexey Kunchenko via unanimous decision.

The main reason to make this fight is that they’re both stellar BJJ fighters, they’re both finishers (only three decision wins each), and Burns just moved up to welterweight, while Silva returned recently after being out for almost four years.

Both of these guys can fight on the feet well, and both can grapple better than just about anyone, considering both are longtime, high-level BJJ black belts. Burns looked incredible in Uruguay, everywhere the fight went. His striking has really come a very long way, and so has his wrestling. Who expected him to out-wrestle Kunchenko? A guy who has top-notch wrestling, and also great striking. Burns beat him wherever the fight went. He just wouldn’t let Kunchenko get started.

For filling in on short notice, to it being his first welterweight fight since his UFC debut five years ago, Burns deserves a whole lot for that performance he put in. Of Burns’ finishes, five are knockouts, and eight are decisions; and of Silva’s finishes, two are knockouts, and nine are submissions. Silva’s only loss is via DQ as well, which took place in his first fight. Meaning, he’s on a 14-fight win streak.

It’s great to see Silva back and doing his thing, and it’s great to see Burns at 170 pounds. Who takes this matchup of BJJ wizards?

Volkan Oezdemir (16-4) vs. Aleksandar Rakic (12-1)

Since Oezdemir is 1-3 in his last four, why give him someone ahead of him in the rankings? Let’s see if he can rack some wins up before giving him more top-five competition. A fight with Aleksandar Rakic would be very interesting to see. Not only are they both in the top 15, not only are they both European, but they’re both successful kickboxers as well as successful mixed martial artists.

Oezdemir should be 2-2 in his last four according to most, but he wasn’t given that decision against Reyes. “No Time” scored his first win in two years in Urugay, it had been a while since he had his hand raised, and he made sure he wasn’t going to lose again. He had a beautiful performance, ending with a vicious knockout.

Rakic’s last win was against the last guy that Oezdemir had defeated, Jimi Manuwa. Both of them actually knocked Manuwa out in less than a minute, with Oezdemir’s at 42 seconds and Rakic’s at 47 seconds.

Both men are coming into their primes, particularly Oezdemir, considering he’s almost 30-years-old, and Rakic is 27-years-old. Many believe that Oezdemir was pushed up the ladder too soon, that he shouldn’t have gotten a title shot when he did. That may have some truth to it, but he’s a top 10 guy nonetheless, and light heavyweight was weak at that point.

Rakic hasn’t lost since his first fight, an outing in which he lost via submission. He’s on a 12-fight win streak at the moment. Rakic has really come into his own recently. After winning his first decision ever in his UFC debut, and following it up with another unanimous decision, he’s now again coming off multiple knockout wins. How would this one go down?

Mike Perry (13-5) vs. Niko Price (13-3) 1 NC

Who wouldn’t be dying to see this fight if it were made? These two sluggers would put on an absolute war, just like Perry did with Vicente Luque.

Mike Perry showed massive improvements over the weekend. His footwork was much, much better than it’s ever been, and his combinations and punches looked better than they have in a while. He looked like a skilled and accomplished boxer in there. After he lost a couple of fights, it appeared that he grew to be a little bit gunshy for a while, but he’s back to fighting the way he did when he was still undefeated – with no fear.

After having his nose shattered by a thunderous knee from Luque, it’ll take a little while for him to heal and get back at it. Price just lost to Geoff Neal via TKO, so perhaps he could wait and let his brain recover while Perry’s nose heals. These two are always going for the finish. They’re always looking for a war, ending in a brutal knockout with their own hand raised. That’s what each of them wants, that’s what each of them has built their careers on.

These two are also close to reaching their primes, with Perry turning 28-years-old in September, and Price turning 30-years-old later that same month. Price is a little more solid on the ground with a BJJ brown belt and three submission wins, but who knows if that’d play a factor. This is a fight that non-fight fans would get excited for, it’s always exciting to see highly-skilled fighters that are as dangerous as they come compete against one another. Who would take this one?

Santiago Ponzinibbio (27-3) vs. Vicente Luque (17-6-1)

After scoring his first decision win in his UFC career, and only his second ever, Vicente Luque is more deserving of a top 15 opponent than ever before. To be 10-2 in the UFC, only losses in your debut and to Leon Edwards, with nine of your ten wins being finishes, is quite the resume.

Luque certainly proves records don’t mean much. After losing his UFC debut, he was 7-5-1, now he’s 17-6-1. He’s so technically sound, along with having some real, natural power, he’s a dangerous man for anyone in the world at 170 pounds to fight.

It used to be mostly his hooks that we’d see him hurt people with, but he’s also hurt people pretty badly with his straight punches recently. Not to mention he also has a BJJ brown belt to go with it. Of his BJJ game, we generally only see front chokes out of him, but a variety of them. Luque sees those openings that no one else does, especially on the feet.

With the power he has, he doesn’t throw huge shots, because he doesn’t need to. So many guys we’ll see that have natural power just throw technique out the window because they know they can knock their opponent out, so that’s all they try to do. Not Luque. He’s a very intelligent, and now experienced, fighter. He also has two Fight of the Year candidates for 2019, and things are looking better for him than ever.

Ponzinibbio has been on many welterweight’s radars for a while now. After going 4-0 on “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 2,” he had a 2-2 start to his UFC career and has since won seven-straight; finishing the likes of Court McGee, Gunnar Nelson, and Neil Magny. He’s the only person to ever finish McGee or Nelson, his boxing is so sharp and he’s got some good power as well.

The 30-fight veteran is also a BJJ black belt, though we almost never see that out of him. We’ve seen him on the ground in the UFC a few times, and he is very good there, but we haven’t seen him submit anyone. Ponzinibbio likes to stand and trade, pick his shots, like Luque.

It’s surprising that the UFC hasn’t given both of them higher-ranked opponents yet. Not that who they’ve fought aren’t elite, because both have fought, and beat, great competition. However, it’s time for both of them to be fighting the very best welterweights out there. How would this clash of strikers with elite BJJ skills go?

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UFC Uruguay Medical Suspensions: Mike Perry Sidelined Six Months For Gruesome Injury

Mike Perry is justifiably headed to the sidelines for quite some time following his gruesome nose injury last weekend. Perry took on surging welterweight Vicente Luque in the co-main event of Saturday’s (August 10, 2019) UFC Uruguay. It was a rou…

Mike Perry is justifiably headed to the sidelines for quite some time following his gruesome nose injury last weekend. Perry took on surging welterweight Vicente Luque in the co-main event of Saturday’s (August 10, 2019) UFC Uruguay. It was a rousing, violent bout that ultimately saw Luque take home a split decision win. As he […]

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UFC Uruguay Medical Suspensions: Mike Perry Sits Six Months

The UFC Uruguay Medical Suspensions have been released by the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) after this past weekend’s event, via MMA Fighting. The most notable name that sticks out is Mike Perry, who has received a six-month sit after suffering a nasty broken nose in his fight with Vicente Luque. Perry underwent immediate surgery […]

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The UFC Uruguay Medical Suspensions have been released by the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) after this past weekend’s event, via MMA Fighting.

The most notable name that sticks out is Mike Perry, who has received a six-month sit after suffering a nasty broken nose in his fight with Vicente Luque. Perry underwent immediate surgery after the fight to help repair his disfigured nose. However, “Platinum” wasn’t the only fighter who received a 180-day suspension.

Also, Geraldo de Freitas and Tecia Torres join the club. Of course, all these suspensions can be lifted early if cleared by their respective doctors. You can check out the full list of UFC Uruguay Medical Suspensions below.

UFC Uruguay Medical Suspensions

  • Polyana Viana: Suspended 14 days no contest, seven days no contact
  • Alex da Silva: Suspended 14 days no contest, seven days no contact
  • Chris Gutierrez: Suspended 30 days no contest, 21 days no contact
  • Raulian Paiva: Suspended 60 days no contest, 45 days no contact
  • Marina Rodriguez: Suspended 14 days no contest, seven days no contact
  • Raphael Pessoa: Suspended 14 days no contest, seven days no contact
  • Alexey Kunchenko: Suspended 14 days no contest, seven days no contact
  • Bobby Moffett: Suspended 30 days no contest, 21 days no contact
  • Oskar Piechota: Suspended 14 days no contest, seven days no contact
  • Ilir Latifi: Suspended 60 days no contest, 45 days no contact
  • Humberto Bandenay: Suspended 14 days no contest, seven days no contact
  • Mike Perry: Suspended 180 days pending clearance from otolaryngologist; minimum suspension of 60 days no contest, 45 days no contact
  • Liz Carmouche: Suspended 30 days no contest, 21 days no contact
  • Veronica Macedo: Suspended 14 days no contest, seven days no contact
  • Rodrigo Vargas: Suspended 14 days no contest, seven days no contact
  • Geraldo de Freitas: Suspended 180 days pending x-ray of nose; minimum suspension of 30 days no contest, 21 days no contact
  • Rogerio Bontorin: Suspended 45 days no contest, 30 days no contact
  • Tecia Torres: Suspended 180 days pending x-ray of left forearm; minimum suspension of 30 days no contest, 21 days no contact
  • Ciryl Gane: Suspended 14 days no contest, seven days no contact
  • Gilbert Burns: Suspended 14 days no contest, seven days no contact
  • Enrique Barzola: Suspended 30 days no contest, 21 days no contact
  • Rodolfo Vieira: Suspended 30 days no contest, 21 days no contact
  • Volkan Oezdemir: Suspended 30 days no contest, 21 days no contact
  • Eduardo Garagorri: Suspended 30 days no contest, 21 days no contact
  • Vicente Luque: Suspended 45 days no contest, 30 days no contact
  • Valentina Shevchenko: Suspended 14 days no contest, seven days no contact

What do you think about the UFC Uruguay Medical Suspensions?

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Valentina Shevchenko Responds To Criticism Over Boring UFC Uruguay Fight

Valentina Shevchenko dominated Liz Carmouche in the main event of UFC Uruguay. There, she won every single round on each judge’s scorecards, yet many fans inside the arena were booing the fight. There were no highlight-reel knockouts like her las…

Valentina Shevchenko dominated Liz Carmouche in the main event of UFC Uruguay. There, she won every single round on each judge’s scorecards, yet many fans inside the arena were booing the fight. There were no highlight-reel knockouts like her last fight. So, following her win, Shevchenko responded to the criticism that her fight was boring. […]

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