MMA pound-for-pound rankings: UFC 300 winners and losers cause chaos across the charts

Welcome to the latest update to the MMA Fighting Pound-for-Pound Rankings. Each month in this ranking, our esteemed panel organizes a variety of information to answer his one question: Who are the best male and female MMA fighters in the world, overall? mosquito?

It’s no exaggeration to say that the events of UFC 300 had an impact on the rankings. So where did Saturday night’s biggest winners and losers rank on the list?

Alex Pereira Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC, Getty Images

Alex Pereira has a lot of responsibility for breaking the pound-for-pound rankings, so it’s no surprise that he’s this close to dominating the rankings.

Pereira, who suffered a first-round knockout loss to Jamahal Hill in Saturday’s main event, moved up two spots to second place. He’s far behind Islam Makhachev in points (the UFC lightweight champion is still our unanimous No. 1 pick), but he’s far ahead of schedule considering his lack of professional MMA experience.

There’s no need to rehash the absurdity of Pereira’s two UFC titles (and his first successful defense). Simply put, nothing can match what “Poitan” accomplished in just his eight fights in his UFC career. Typically, such a rise up the pound-for-pound charts requires a champion to have a long title reign. Instead, Pereira is left to carve his own path, competing at a high level in two weight classes and threatening a third weight if his proposal to move to heavyweight goes through.

It’s unlikely that Pereira will become the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world, but then again, everything about his rise to fame was improbable.

Brazil’s light heavyweight king isn’t the only big move this month. Fan favorite Max Holloway moves up seven places to 11th place, while Arman Tsarukyan makes his debut in 14th place.

It’s no surprise that Holloway is back at the top of the top 10. That’s because he defeated Justin Gaethje in a breathtaking storm with one second left in the bout for the most memorable victory not only at UFC 300 but in his entire storied career. . A win for the ‘BMF’ Championship would all but guarantee Holloway a shot at the lightweight or featherweight title, and could see the former UFC champion accelerate his climb even further up the ladder.

As for Tsarukyan, he established himself as one of the best young fighters at 155 pounds, defeating Charles Oliveira in a hard-fought split decision. After the best fighter in the world finishes his fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 on June 1st, a rematch with Makhachev looms.

Recent results for ranked fighters (see previous rankings): No. 4 Alex Pereira def. Jamahal Hill, Arman Tsarukyan def. 6th Charles Oliveira, 18th (tie) Max Holloway def. 14 1st place (tie) Justin Gaethje, 18th place (tie) Aljamain Sterling def. Calvin Kattar

Upcoming bouts by ranked fighters: No. 1 Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier (UFC 302, June 1), No. 6 Alexandre Pantoja vs. Steve Erceg (UFC 301, May 4), No. . 13 Patchy Mix vs. Magomed Magomedov (Bellator Champions Series: Paris, May 17), No. 17 Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa (UFC 302, June 1), No. 19 Khamzat – Chimaev vs. Robert Whittaker (UFC Fight Night, June 22)

Other fighters receiving votes (show number of ballot appearances): Anatoly Malihin (3), Shavkat Rakhmonov (3), Johnny Evren (2), Justin Gaethje (2), Patricio Pitbull (2), Dustin Poirier (2), Kamaru Usman (2), Jan Blachowicz (1), AJ McKee (1), Belal Muhammad (1), Usman Nurmagomedov (1), Vadim Nemkov (1), Jiri Prochaska (1)

Kayla Harrison Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC, Getty Images

She’s baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Kayla Harrison’s high rankings during her time in the PFL have always felt shaky given the lack of depth on the league’s roster that she ran through en route to tournament titles in 2019 and 2021. She knew there was a potentially dominant fighter coming up, but she also felt like she was next. One loss would be a harsh reality check.

When she suffered her first loss to Larissa Pacheco (after defeating Pacheco in their previous two fights), it didn’t take long for Harrison to plummet down the pound-for-pound list. Her lukewarm victory over Aspen Ladd did little to get her back into the conversation.

But did you know, after making the jump to the UFC, moving down to 135 pounds (which she had never competed in before), and defeating perennial title contender Holly Holm, Harrison I’m back on top again. Female fighters from around the world. The two-time Olympic judo champion just missed the top 10, moving up eight places.

There’s no telling how consistently Harrison will be able to hit 135 pounds (or if she can, considering she needed a pound of non-title allowance this time around), but if she takes the belt It would be hard not to believe if I had the chance to do so. We think she has the potential to not end the story and put together a memorable UFC championship run. Amanda Nunes, where are you?

Outside of UFC 300 (in which Weili Zhang maintained her No. 1 ranking with a win over Yang Xiaonan), flyweight contestant Manon Fiorot caused the most controversy. The Frenchwoman can now call herself one of the top five pound-for-pound fighters in the world after handing blue chipper Erin Blanchfield her first loss in the UFC in a not-so-close fight. .

Recent results for ranked fighters (view previous rankings): No. 1 Zhang Weili def. No. 10 Yan Xiaonan, No. 8 Manon Fiorotto def. 5th Erin Blanchfield, 11th Liz Carmouche def. No.15 Juliana Velasquez, No.13 Seika Izawa def. Shiyoon Park, No.14 Rose Namajunas def. Amanda Rivas, No.15 Jessica Andrade def. Marina Rodriguez, No.16 Tyra Santos DF Ilara・Joanne, 19th Kayla Harrison def. No. 20 (tie) Holly Holm

Upcoming matches featuring ranked fighters: No. 20 Stamp Fairtex vs. Dennis Zamboanga (ONE 167, June 7)

Other Fighters who received votes (show number of ballot appearances): Macy Barber (5), Vilna Jandilova (2), Marina Rodriguez (2), Eileen Aldana (1), Holly Holm ( 1), Lauren Murphy (1), Ketlen Vieira (1)

Finally, let’s review some basic rules.

The eight-person voting committee includes mixed martial arts staff members Sean Al Shatty, Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, E. Casey Leydon, Stephen Marko, Damon Martin, and Jed Messiux. It is made up of. Ranking updates are completed after each UFC pay-per-view. Fighters who have not fought within 18 months of their most recent fight will be removed from the rankings. When a fighter announces retirement, our committee will decide whether that fighter should be immediately removed from the rankings or remain in place until further notice (let’s put it this way) : The UFC would have been quicker to remove Khabib Nurmagomedov from the rankings (which the UFC did).

Just to be clear, the concept of pound-for-pound advantage is always subjective in nature. There’s no real right answer when debating whether someone like Justin Gaethje should be ranked higher than someone like Max Holloway. In other words, this is not serious business, folks.

What are your thoughts? Have questions? Concerns? Let your voice be heard in the comments section below.

vote

Where should Alex Pereira rank on the P4P list after UFC 300?

This voting has ended

Four%

Top 10 (38 votes) Total 838 votes Vote now



Source link