Dan Hooker and Paul Felder threw down in one of the best fights of the short year this past Saturday at UFC Fight Night 168. Hooker got the win and proved he could overcome a violent back-and-forth battle over five rounds. Adding a special extra something, Hooker did it all in front of his hometown crowd in Auckland, New Zealand.
Unfortunately, in a stacked lightweight division, Hooker remains locked in at the No. 6 spot in the CBS Sports UFC divisional rankings. Hooker’s win did not jump him over the logjam at the top of the division, including champ Khabib Nurmagomedov and top contenders Tony Ferguson, Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje and Conor McGregor.
For Felder, who seemed to announce his retirement after the loss, he fell one spot from No. 7 to No. 8 with Kevin Lee benefiting from Hooker’s performance in moving up a slot.
This weekend, UFC Fight Night 169 is the rare fight where a new No. 1 fighter in a division is a guarantee. Henry Cejudo has vacated the flyweight championship, which becomes official the second the bell rings at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Virginia for the battle between Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo for the vacant championship
At the UFC Fight Night 169 event on Saturday, there is only one scheduled featuring CBS Sports ranked fighters:
- Flyweight: No. 2 Joseph Benavidez vs. No. 4 Deiveson Figueiredo
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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 |
21-8 |
|
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 |
20-8 |
|
7. Kevin Lee |
18-5 |
|
8. Paul Felder |
17-5 |
|
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 |
|
T6. Santiago Ponzinibbio |
27-3 |
|
T6.Stephen Thompson |
15-4-1 |
|
8. Geoff Neal |
13-2 |
|
9. Michael Chiesa |
17-4 |
|
10. Nate Diaz |
20-12 |
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) |
26-1 |
|
2. Jan Blachowicz |
26-8 |
|
3. Dominick Reyes |
12-1 |
|
4. Thiago Santos |
21-7 |
|
5. Anthony Smith |
32-14 |
|
6. Corey Anderson |
13-5 |
|
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. Curtis Blaydes |
13-2 |
|
5. Junior dos Santos |
21-7 |
|
6. Alexander Volkov |
31-7 |
|
7. Jairzinho Rozenstruil |
10-0 |
|
T8. Derrick Lewis |
23-7 |
|
T8. 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) |
19-3 |
|
2. Joanne Calderwood |
14-4 |
|
3. Katlyn Chookagian |
12-3 |
|
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 |
