With UFC Paris done and dusted, the latest UFC Rankings are in. After his main event loss to Ciryl Gane, Tai Tuivasa sees a change in his ranking in the heavyweight division.
Ranked third ahead of his headlining act, Tuivasa slips a position to fourth and is overtaken by Curtis Blaydes. His spirited performance against hometown hero Gane did not yield a winning result as ‘Bon Gamin’ knocked him out in round three.
The only time Tai Tuivasa came close to sniffing victory was when he knocked down Gane in the second round but he failed to capitalize on it.
Most of the movement occurred in the middleweight division with three fighters shuffling positions. Marvin Vettori’s hard-fought loss to Robert Whittaker at UFC Paris saw him move down the rankings from second to third.
Derek Brunson also moved down a place from fourth to fifth. Brunson hasn’t fought since his knockout loss to Jared Canonnier in February at UFC 271. He is scheduled to fight Jack Hermansson next in December but will likely have to be content being the fifth-ranked contender until then.
Meanwhile, Alex Pereira continues his steady rise in the middleweight contenders rankings. The Brazilian moved up a place to third and is now only behind Robert Whittaker and Jared Canonnier. However, ‘Poatan’ has a chance to better that at UFC 281 when he goes up against old foe Israel Adesanya for the championship.
Elsewhere in the lightweight division, Jalin Turner displaced Dan Hooker from 13th in the contenders rankings to 14th while moving up a place himself. Turner’s five-fight win streak was finally rewarded while Hooker will attempt to salvage his two-fight skid against Claudio Puelles at UFC 281.
Check out all the movements in the latest rankings update:
Tai Tuivasa chills out in Paris after loss to Ciryl Gane
True to his easy-going nature, Tai Tuivasa seemed unaffected by his loss at the UFC Paris main event. The Australian graciously acknowledged Ciryl Gane in the aftermath of the fight and only added to that in a video posted on his Instagram account.
Seemingly still in Paris, ‘Bam Bam’ is seen smoking on the streets of sunny ‘La Ville Lumiere’. He addressed the city and appreciated the turnout for the event in the video:
“Bonjour Paris! [in French accent] Shoutout to Ciryl [Gane], he was better than me last night… Or whatever night it was hahaha! Probably one of the best crowds I’ve ever performed in front of. The fans were crazy. Appreciate all the love, shoutout to all my team, my family that come over. And yeah, we’ll be back. We didn’t get the win but we will be back.”
Tai Tuivasa thanked all of his supporters and fans, and continued in a good line of sportsmanship with Gane. While his loss does peg him back in terms of a shot at the title, he promised to be back and fans will hope to see him in action soon.