While UFC 246 was a high-profile event headlined by the return of Conor McGregor to the Octagon, the overall implications on the CBS Sports UFC divisional rankings were minimal. McGregor defeated Donald Cerrone in just 40 seconds, but the fight took place within the welterweight division despite effectively serving as a fight with lightweight implications. Cerrone slipped a spot from No. 8 to No. 9 at lightweight while McGregor held steady in the rankings at No. 5.
Among the biggest movers this week were Askar Askarov, who entered the flyweight rankings at No. 9 on the strength of defeating Tim Elliott, who slipped from No. 9 to No. 10. Also, Maycee Barber suffered her first career loss to Roxanne Modafferi, who entered the fight as the biggest underdog on the UFC 246 card. Modafferi entered the rankings at No. 5 while Barber fell out of the No. 4 slot. Holly Holm’s win over Raquel Pennington held her at No. 5 while Pennington slipped from No. 7 to No. 9.
This weekend at UFC Fight Night 166, there are three fights featuring CBS Sports ranked fighters:
- Heavyweight: No. 4 Junior dos Santos vs. No. 5 Curtis Blaydes
- Welterweight: No. 10 Rafael dos Anjos vs. Michael Chiesa
- Women’s bantamweight: No. 10 Sara McMann vs. Lina Lansberg
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Rankings are compiled following the submission of ballots by Brent Brookhouse, Brian Campbell, Jack Crosby and Brandon Wise. Without further ado, here’s where things stand ahead of the monumental UFC 244 event on Saturday night.
For Brian Campbell’s updated Pound for Pound Rankings, click here.
Flyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Henry Cejudo (c) |
15-2 |
|
2. Joseph Benavidez |
28-5 |
|
3. Jussier Formiga |
23-6 |
|
4. Deivieson Figueiredo |
16-1 |
|
T5. Brandon Moreno |
16-5 |
|
T5. Alexandre Pantoja |
21-4 |
|
T7. Matt Schnell |
14-4 |
|
T7. Kai Kara-France |
20-8 |
|
9. Askar Askarov |
11-0-1 |
|
10. Tim Elliott |
15-10-1 |
Bantamweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Henry Cejudo (c) |
15-2 |
|
2. Petr Yan |
14-1 |
|
3. Aljamain Sterling |
18-3 |
|
T4. Marlon Moraes |
23-6-1 |
|
T4. Cory Sandhagen |
12-1 |
|
6. Pedro Munhoz |
18-4 |
|
7. Jimmie Rivera |
22-4 |
|
T8. Raphael Assuncao |
27-7 |
|
T8. TJ Dillashaw |
16-4 |
|
10. Song Yadong |
15-4-1 |
Featherweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Alexander Volkanovski (c) |
22-1 |
|
2. Max Holloway |
21-5 |
|
T3. Korean Zombie |
16-5 |
|
T3. Zabit Magomedsharipov |
18-1 |
|
5. Brian Ortega |
14-1 |
|
6. Yair Rodriguez |
12-2 |
|
7. Shane Burgos |
13-1 |
|
8. Chase Hooper |
9-0-1 |
|
9. Josh Emmett |
15-2 |
|
10. Jeremy Stephens |
28-17 |
Lightweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Khabib Nurmagomedov (c) |
28-0 |
|
2. Tony Ferguson |
25-3 |
|
3. Dustin Poirier |
25-6 |
|
4. Justin Gaethje |
21-2 |
|
5. Conor McGregor |
21-4 |
|
6. Dan Hooker |
19-8 |
|
7. Paul Felder |
17-4 |
|
8. Kevin Lee |
18-5 |
|
9. Donald Cerrone |
36-14 |
|
10. Al Iaquinta |
14-6-1 |
Welterweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Kamaru Usman (c) |
16-1 |
|
2. Jorge Masvidal |
35-13 |
|
3. Colby Covington |
15-2 |
|
4. Leon Edwards |
18-3 |
|
5. Tyron Woodley |
19-4-1 |
|
6. Nate Diaz |
20-12 |
|
7.Stephen Thompson |
15-4-1 |
|
T8. Santiago Ponzinibbio |
27-3 |
|
T8. Demian Maia |
28-9 |
|
10. Rafael dos Anjos |
29-12 |
Middleweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Israel Adesanya (c) |
18-0 |
|
2. Paulo Costa |
13-0 |
|
3. Robert Whittaker |
20-5 |
|
4. Yoel Romero |
13-4 |
|
5. Jared Cannonier |
13-4 |
|
6. Derek Brunson |
20-7 |
|
7. Kelvin Gastelum |
15-5 |
|
8. Jack Hermansson |
20-5 |
|
9. Darren Till |
18-2-1 |
|
10. Uriah Hall |
15-9 |
Light heavyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Jon Jones (c) |
25-1 |
|
2. Dominick Reyes |
12-0 |
|
3. Jan Blachowicz |
25-8 |
|
4. Thiago Santos |
21-7 |
|
5. Corey Anderson |
13-4 |
|
6. Anthony Smith |
32-14 |
|
7. Volkan Oezdemir |
17-4 |
|
8. Glover Teixeira |
30-7 |
|
9. Aleksandr Rakic |
12-2 |
|
10. Johnny Walker |
17-4 |
Heavyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Stipe Miocic (c) |
19-3 |
|
2. Daniel Cormier |
22-2 |
|
3. Francis Ngannou |
14-3 |
|
4. Junior dos Santos |
21-6 |
|
5. Curtis Blaydes |
12-2 |
|
6. Derrick Lewis |
21-7 |
|
T7. Alexander Volkov |
31-7 |
|
T7. Jairzinho Rozenstruik |
10-0 |
|
9. Walt Harris |
13-7 |
|
10. Alistair Overeem |
45-18 |
Women’s strawweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Weili Zhang (c) |
20-1 |
|
2. Jessica Andrade |
20-7 |
|
3. Tatiana Suarez |
8-0 |
|
4. Joanna Jedzejczyk |
16-3 |
|
5. Claudia Gadelha |
17-4 |
|
6. Nina Ansaroff |
10-6 |
|
7. Carla Esparza |
14-6 |
|
8. Michelle Waterson |
17-7 |
|
9. Cynthia Carvalho |
8-1 |
|
10. Rose Namajunas |
8-4 |
Women’s flyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Valentina Shevchenko (c) |
18-3 |
|
2. Katlyn Chookagin |
12-2 |
|
3. Joanne Calderwood |
14-4 |
|
4. Jessica Eye |
14-7 |
|
5. Roxanne Modafferi |
24-16 |
Women’s bantamweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Amanda Nunes (c) |
19-4 |
|
2. Aspen Ladd |
9-1 |
|
3. Germaine de Randamie |
9-4 |
|
4. Irene Aldana |
11-5 |
|
5. Holly Holm |
12-5 |
|
6. Julianna Pena |
9-3 |
|
7. Ketlen Vieira |
10-1 |
|
8. Yana Kunitskaya |
12-5 |
|
T9. Raquel Pennington |
10-8 |
|
T9. Sara McMann |
11-5 |
