The UFC has released their updated rankings after last Saturday’s successful UFC 285 card.
The heavyweight title win over Ciryl Gane has readily catapulted Jon Jones to the No.1 position in the pound-for-pound rankings overnight.
Jones held the top spot for a long time until Khabib Nurmagomedov dethroned him with his retirement fight against Justin Gaethje in 2020.
Jones took issue with Nurmagomedov being at the top and called it the “number one bullsh*t” decision.
The position was given back to Jones after Nurmagomedov’s retirement was confirmed.
Jones’ long hiatus did not help and he kept slipping down the list. The position was briefly held by Kamaru Usman as the welterweight champion. Upon his loss to Leon Edwards, Alexander Volkanovski became the proud owner of the No.1 P4P status.
Jones skipped 9 places to be ranked at the top once again. This somewhat takes away from the Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski fight that was supposed to be over the #1 P4P position.
While the UFC did not reward Makhachev with the rank despite a win, they have both now slipped down a rank each in the wake of Jones’ return.
UFC Rankings Update: Middleweight, welterweight, and other divisions see movement
Dricus du Plessis, with his impressive knockout win over a former top contender Derek Brunson, has climbed up four spots. He is now the No.7-ranked middleweight, just one position ahead of Sean Strickland.
Paulo Costa has also gone up by a rank due to the shuffle despite not having competed at UFC 285. Ironically, du Plessis claimed in the post-fight press conference that ‘Borrachinha’ will have to “stand in line” now since he would be ranked lower.
Shavkat Rakhmonov jumped three places with his submission victory over Geoff Neal. He is currently ranked No.7 in the welterweight division, ahead of Stephen Thompson.
Stipe Miocic is now the top contender in the heavyweight division.
The women’s pound-for-pound rankings also saw significant movement. Alexa Grasso entered the list at No.2 right below double champion Amanda Nunes, pushing Valentina Shevchenko down to No.3. With Grasso now the new flyweight champion, ‘Bullet’ remains the top contender for a possible rematch.
Amanda Ribas entered the flyweight rankings at No.9 with a decision win, while her opponent Viviane Araujo dropped two places.
Tabitha Ricci entered the strawweight rankings at No.15 thanks to her submission win over Jessica Penne.
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