UFC Rankings Update: Amanda Nunes back at P4P No.1, Derrick Lewis out of top 5 and Molly McCann enters flyweight rankings
The UFC rankings have seen major changes since July's London Fight Night and UFC 277 last week.
Starting with the queen of the organization, Amanda Nunes dominance against Julianna Pena returned her the women's bantamweight title and her place as the No.1 pound-for-pound women's fighter in the UFC. Women's flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko has fallen one place, down to No.2.
Elsewhere at women's bantamweight, fan favorite Miesha Tate climbed two places to No.11 despite losing to Lauren Murphy in her flyweight debut last month. Karol Rosa and Lina Lansberg both dropped one place to No.12 and No.13 respectively.
How it feels to have a number next to your name 👊
Molly McCann (@MeatballMolly) is now ranked at #15 in the women's flyweight division. https://t.co/c9XpEoNZEE
British fight fans will be happy to know that following her second finish in a row thanks to a spinning-back elbow, Molly McCann has entered the women's flyweight division UFC rankings for the first time.
The heavyweight division saw the biggest changes in the UFC rankings. Sergei Pavlovich's first-round TKO over Derrick Lewis catapulted the Russian six places, finding himself inside the division's top 5 for the first time. The loss for Lewis drops him two places to No.7. Alexander Volkov, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, Chris Daukaus and Marcin Tybura all fell one place due to the changes.
UFC rankings update per Aaron Bronsteter:
Rankings Update:
Amanda Nunes reclaims her spot as the #1 women's pound-for-pound fighter, Sergei Pavlovich enters the heavyweight top-5, Alexandre Pantoja now ranked right behind champs Figueiredo and Moreno, Ankalaev ranked #3 at light heavyweight. https://t.co/eIojzgVMCh
The 205lb division saw moves amongst the top 10 after an unfortunate injury and subsequent defeat for Anthony Smith at UFC 277. His opponent, Magomed Ankalaev, moved into the lightweight's top 3 for the first time in his career. Also at 205lbs, Volkan Oezdemir's unanimous decision victory over Paul Craig meant the two fighters have swapped places within the rankings.
In the men's flyweight division, Brandon Moreno's stunning win over Kai Kara-France for the interim title has dropped the New Zealander down two places, to No.3 in the division. Alexandre Pantoka also appeared on the card at UFC 277 and locked in an impressive neck-crank submission win in the first-round against Alex Perez. The victory for Pantoja moved him up to No.2 in the rankings. Askar Akarov falls one place to No.4.
The final changes in this week's UFC rankings sees Robert Whittaker swap places with Brandon Moreno in the men's P4P rankings to No.15, Paulo Costa falling to No.6 at middleweight and Nina Nunes dropping to No.9 in the women's strawweight division.
Amanda Nunes thanks Julianna Pena for relighting the fire as she moves back to No.1 in the P4P UFC rankings
Julianna Pena stunned the world at UFC 269 last year when she made the dominant Amanda Nunes tap out, leaving many fans questioning which Nunes would re-enter the octagon at UFC 277.
As it turns out, it may have been the best Nunes fans have ever seen. Returning with a clear new desire and passion, the 34-year-old put on the performance of her career, winning every single round according to the judges' scorecards and reclaiming her bantamweight title.
After the bout, Nunes thanked Pena for being the challenge she needed to reignite her love for the sport:
"I cannot be the champion if I don't have the challenge in front of me. So, Julianna was the challenge that I needed to be the lion, that I am back. So, I'm very happy right now and I can't wait to see my family, go to Brazil, relax a little bit. Three years without my family, so now I'm going to go there."
Watch Amanda Nunes' post-fight comments here:
#UFC277The competitive fire has been relit in @Amanda_Leoa 🔥 #UFC277 https://t.co/MNJJc4530n