Ilia Topuria debuts in UFC P4P rankings, once-homeless fighter talks being champion, Michael Chandler drops "contract" bombshell: MMA News Roundup
As the newly crowned UFC featherweight champion, Ilia Topuria entered the pound-for-pound rankings for the first time, while his opponent slid down the pecking order. Elsewhere, Michael Chandler cut a mean promo at Conor McGregor and hinted at a WWE stint.
Here is your daily dose of MMA news updates, presented by Sportskeeda's News Roundup.
Rankings update after UFC 298: Ilia Topuria debuts on P4P list
The latest rankings after UFC 298 were updated on Monday, and Ilia Topuria rightfully entered the pound-for-pound rankings at No.5. The list, still topped by Islam Makhachev, had Alexander Volkanovski drop down 4 spots and several others down by 1-2 spots, while Leon Edwards and Alex Pereira gained one spot each.
In the bantamweight rankings, Merab Dvalishvili surpassed Aljamain Sterling as the No.1 contender, while Henry Cejudo fell three places to No.6. Ian Machado Garry leaped up by four spots and is currently ranked at No.6. Mackenzie Dern dropped down to No.8 in strawweight and Miranda Maverick broke into the top 15 in flyweight at No.14.
Read the full UFC rankings update here.
Impa Kasanganay is thankful for his viral knockout loss
Impa Kasanganay is glad that he was on the receiving end of one of the most-watched MMA knockouts ever. After getting a contract on Dana White's Contender Series, the PFL fighter replaced Abu Azaitar in his second UFC fight to face Joaquin Buckley on October 11, 2020.
Buckley won the fight spectacularly, pulling off one of the greatest knockouts ever witnessed inside the octagon.
The reel of the KO amassed more than 17.8 million views, which was the most-viewed clip on UFC's Instagram account at the time. The record was eventually broken by a video of none other than Conor McGregor.
Kasanganay was soon cut from the roster after a win and another loss and ended up facing homelessness. He refused to return to his parents' house in North Carolina while in financial distress and lived in his car in Florida. Now, he is the promotional light heavyweight champion set to fight Johnny Eblen at PFL vs. Bellator.
Speaking with SunSport, Kasanganay recently shared how much the KO impacted his life and paved the way for where he is now.
"I think, 'Thank God that happened to me.' Because it really propelled me like a slingshot. I think you have to own those moments... If you own the failure, you own the success. I told my dad in the ambulance, 'Watch, I'll win my next fight.' And I did. I said I'd end up world champion, too."
He said that he could not quit on his dream and go back to work as an accountant, as it would have given his siblings an "excuse" to do the same.
Michael Chandler says, "contract signed"
Michael Chandler appeared on WWE Raw on Monday night and called out Conor McGregor, yet again, in a fiery promo on live TV. In the aftermath of the show, Chandler took to social media and shared pictures with WWE's Head of Creative, Paul Levesque a.k.a. 'Triple H'.
Chandler captioned the post "contract signed", which led many fans to believe he had signed with WWE.
Some even speculated that McGregor and Chandler would end up fighting each other at WrestleMania. With the recent merger, it would not be impossible for such a collaboration to go through, but it is certainly improbable.