In the main event of this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night, Sean Strickland picked up the biggest win of his career when he earned a split decision win over Jack Hermansson. The fact that the fight was a split decision was the result of one questionable scorecard in a fight Strickland clearly won through patient, effective striking.
With the win, Strickland made a jump at middleweight in the CBS Sports UFC Divisional Rankings, moving up one spot to No. 7. Hermansson dropped one spot to No. 8, flip-flopping with Strickland.
Attention in the MMA world now turns to Saturday’s UFC 271. The card is headlined by a huge title fight as Israel Adesanya defends the middleweight championship against former champ Robert Whittaker.
UFC 271 features four fights involving CBS Sports ranked fighters.
- Middleweight: No. 1 Israel Adesanya (c) vs. No. 2 Robert Whittaker
- Heavyweight: No. 5 Derrick Lewis vs. Tai Tuivasa
- Middleweight: No. 4 Derek Brunson Vs. No. 4 Jared Cannonier
- Flyweight: No. 5 Alex Perez vs. No. 8 Matt Schnell
Rankings are compiled following the submission of ballots by Brent Brookhouse, Brian Campbell, Brandon Wise and Shakiel Mahjouri. Without further ado, here’s where things stand ahead of Saturday’s card.
For Brian Campbell’s updated Pound for Pound Rankings, click here.
Flyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
Deiveson Figueiredo (c) |
21-2-1 |
|
2. Brandon Moreno |
19-6-2 |
|
3. Askar Askarov |
14-0-1 |
|
Alexandre Pantoja |
24-5 |
|
T5. Alex Perez |
24-6 |
|
T5. Kai Kara-France |
23-9 |
|
T5. Brandon Royval |
12-6 |
|
8. Matt Schnell |
15-6 |
|
Rogerio Bontorin |
17-3 |
|
David Dvorak |
20-3 |
Bantamweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
Petr Yan |
16-2 |
|
2. Aljamain Sterling (c) |
20-3 |
|
TJ Dillashaw |
17-4 |
|
Cory Sandhagen |
14-4 |
|
Jose Aldo |
31-7 |
|
Merab Dvalishvili |
14-4 |
|
Rob Font |
19-5 |
|
Dominick Cruz |
24-3 |
|
Marlon Vera |
20-7-1 |
|
Pedro Munhoz |
19-7 |
Featherweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
Alexander Volkanovski (c) |
23-1 |
|
Max Holloway |
23-6 |
|
Brian Ortega |
15-2 |
|
4. Yair Rodriguez |
13-3 |
|
5. Giga Chikadze |
14-2 |
|
6. Calvin Kattar |
22-5 |
|
7. Korean Zombie |
17-6 |
|
Josh Emmett |
17-2 |
|
Edson Barboza |
22-10 |
|
Arnold Allen |
17-1 |
Lightweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Charles Oliveira (c) |
32-8 |
|
Justin Gaethje |
23-3 |
|
Dustin Poirier |
28-7 |
|
4. Islam Makhachev |
21-1 |
|
T5. Beneil Dariush |
21-4-1 |
|
T5. Michael Chandler |
22-6 |
|
Rafael Dos Anjos |
30-13 |
|
8. Dan Hooker |
20-11 |
|
Rafael Fiziev |
11-1 |
|
Tony Ferguson |
25-6 |
Welterweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
Kamaru Usman (c) |
20-1 |
|
Colby Covington |
16-3 |
|
Leon Edwards |
19-3 |
|
Gilbert Burns |
20-4 |
|
5. Vicente Luque |
21-7-1 |
|
6. Stephen Thompson |
16-5-1 |
|
Jorge Masvidal |
35-15 |
|
Khamzat Chimaev |
10-0 |
|
9. Sean Brady |
15-0 |
|
10. Neil Magny |
25-8 |
Middleweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Israel Adesanya (c) |
21-1 |
|
2. Robert Whittaker |
23-5 |
|
Marvin Vettori |
18-5-1 |
|
T4. Derek Brunson |
23-7 |
|
T4. Jared Cannonier |
14-5 |
|
Paulo Costa |
13-2 |
|
Sean Strickland |
25-3 |
|
8. Jack Hermansson |
22-7 |
|
9. Darren Till |
18-4-1 |
|
10. Uriah Hall |
17-10 |
Light heavyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Glover Teixeira (c) |
33-7 |
|
Jiri Prochazka |
28-3-1 |
|
Jan Blachowicz |
28-9 |
|
Aleksandar Rakic |
14-2 |
|
5. Anthony Smith |
36-16 |
|
6. Thiago Santos |
22-9 |
|
7. Magomed Ankalaev |
16-1 |
|
Dominick Reyes |
12-3 |
|
9. Nikita Krylov |
26-8 |
|
Johnny Walker |
18-6 |
Heavyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Francis Ngannou (c) |
16-3 |
|
2. Miocic support |
20-4 |
|
Ciryl Gane |
10-1 |
|
Curtis Blaydes |
15-3 |
|
Derrick Lewis |
25-8 |
|
Alexander Volkov |
34-9 |
|
Marcin Tybura |
22-7 |
|
Chris Daukaus |
12-3 |
|
9. Jairzinho Rozenstruik |
12-3 |
|
Tom Aspinall |
11-2 |
Women’s strawweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Rose Namajunas (c) |
11-4 |
|
Weili Zhang |
21-3 |
|
Carla Esparza |
18-6 |
|
Marina Rodriguez |
15-1-2 |
|
T5. Yan Xiaonan |
13-2 |
|
T5. Joanna Jedrzejczyk |
16-4 |
|
7. Mackenzie Dern |
11-1 |
|
Amanda Ribas |
11-2 |
|
9. Tatiana Suarez |
8-0 |
|
10. Claudia Gadelha |
18-5 |
Women’s flyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
Valentina Shevchenko (c) |
22-3 |
|
Jessica Andrade |
22-9 |
|
Katlyn Chookagian |
16-4 |
|
Lauren Murphy |
15-5 |
|
5. Talia Santos |
19-1 |
Women’s bantamweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
T1. Julianna Pena (c) |
11-4 |
|
T1. Amanda Nunes |
21-5 |
|
Germaine de Randamie |
10-4 |
|
Holly Holm |
14-5 |
|
5. Irene Aldana |
13-6 |
|
6. Aspen Ladd |
9-2 |
|
Yana Kunitskaya |
14-6 |
|
Sara McMann |
12-6 |
|
9. Ketlen Vieira |
12-2 |
|
Julia Avila |
9-2 |
