Jon Jones (Credits: MMA News)
Here’s everything you need to know about the updated Men’s P4P rankings
UFC 274 was an emotional transience – from the build-up, to the champion missing weight, and all of it was capped off by some brilliant and some forgetful performances. It was palpable, that this would directly impact the rankings, and it did in a spectacular fashion.
Kamaru Usman sits comfortably on the top of the pile as the P4P king with five successful title defenses against the best in the welterweight division. He faces the rare dilemma much like his Nigerian counterpart Israel Adesanya, who have wiped out pretty much the entire division, and are running laps now.
Behind him is Australian featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who had an impressive showing at UFC 273 with a dominant victory against the Korean Zombie. Fellow City Kickboxing teammate Israel Adesanya comes in at the third position. One of the greatest MMA fighters of all time Jon Jones drops one spot to 10, and his initial spot at number nine is occupied by undisputed bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling.
Here’s everything you need to know about the changes in fighter rankings post-UFC 274.
Men’s P4P – Oliveira jumps up one spot to be ranked fourth now, which dropped Francis Ngannou to five. Aljamain Sterling moved up a rank higher for a tie at nine with Jon Jones. Robert Whittaker is up to one to 14, pushing Brandon Moreno down to 15.
Heavyweight – No changes.
Light Heavyweight – No changes.
Middleweight – No changes.
Welterweight – No changes.
Lightweight – The entire division took a topsy-turvy curve to sixes and sevens in the freshly released rankings. With the lightweight belt being vacant now, everyone moved down a spot. Oliveira is the undeniable number one contender, with Dustin Poirier dropping to two. Gaethje moves down to the third position, while Dagestani Islam Makhachev is down to four. Beneil Dariush falls two slots to six. Rafael dos Anjos is down one to seven. Ferguson sees a massive fall from six to ten.
Featherweight – No changes.
Bantamweight – No changes.
Flyweight – Alexandre Pantoja moves back up for tied position at three with Askar Askarov. Brandon Royval’s quick win on the weekend moves him up to four, pushing Alex Perez to five.
Women’s P4P – Julianna Pena rises to the third position, with Thug Rose moving down to four. New champ Esparza is up two spots to six. Jessica Andrade and Holly Holm go down one spot each to seven and eight respectively. Mackenzie Dern and Irene Aldana exchange the 12 and 13 spots.
Women’s Bantamweight – Pannie Kianzad passes Miesha Tate for the nine spot, dropping the former champ to ten.
Women’s Flyweight – Tracy Cortez enters the rankings for the first time at 15.
Women’s Strawweight – Esparza sits atop the division. Namajunas is the number one contender, with Zhang Weili dropping to two. Yan Xiaonan moves up into a tie for five with Andrade.
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