UFC Rankings Update: Amanda Nunes still P4P champ after retirement, Charles Oliveira climbs a spot, flyweight sees shakeup
Amanda Nunes remains the women's pound-for-pound champion in the UFC's updated official fighter rankings after last weekend's UFC 289 event in Vancouver. The event was a massive success and treated Canadian fans to an exciting main event that featured Amanda Nunes vs. Irene Aldana for the women's bantamweight title.
Widely known as the greatest female fighter of all time, Nunes defeated Aldana via unanimous decision and used the post-fight octagon interview to announce her retirement. However, Nunes remains the women's pound-for-pound queen as well as the bantamweight and featherweight champion.
🏼Lar doce lar 🦁 Home sweet home. #gratidão #gratitude 🙏🏼 https://t.co/bGVbqoH8sb
Conversely, Charles Oliveira climbed the men's pound-for-pound ranking to claim the No.7 spot. The Brazilian made light work of the No.4-ranked lightweight Beneil Dariush and won their co-main contest via first-round TKO. He could potentially challenge Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title next.
Charles Oliveira (@CharlesDoBronxs) maintains his No. 1 contender status at lightweight following his brilliant #UFC289 victory, but he's also rewarded with a slight move up in the pound-for-pound ranks and is now tied with Kamaru Usman at No. 7.
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In the middleweight division, Chris Curtis slipped to the No.15 spot, with Andre Muniz taking the No.14 rank. Curtis suffered a nasty head clash during the second round of his bout against Nassourdine Imavov, rendering the fight a No Contest.
The flyweight division saw significant movements. Tim Elliot and Muhammad Mokaev climbed a spot each and now occupy the No.10 and No.11 rank, respectively. Meanwhile, Tagir Ulanbekov climbed two spots to sit at the No.12 rank. Steve Erceg entered the divisional rankings at No.14 following his win over David Dvorak, who fell five places down to No.15.
The incredible octagon debut of Stephen Erceg just keeps getting better. In addition to his #UFC289 victory and performance bonus, "Astroboy" debuts in the promotion's flyweight rankings at No. 14.
With the loss, David Dvorak drops to No. 15.
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Amanda Nunes UFC rankings: What happens to the women's featherweight division? Dana White weighs in
Two-division champion Amanda Nunes announced her retirement after defending her bantamweight title against Irene Aldana at UFC 289. After the fight, the legendary fighter set her women's bantamweight and featherweight belts down in the octagon along with her gloves and gave an emotional farewell speech.
Amanda Nunes has retired from MMA after her #UFC289 title defense. 🐐 https://t.co/MJPBLavXTm
With Nunes' career coming to an end, many pondered upon the future of the women's featherweight division. The division has often been the subject of debate among MMA fans, considering Amanda Nunes was the champion and its only fighter listed, with many calling for it to be scrapped.
UFC president Dana White recently weighed in on the topic and hinted at the women's featherweight belt retiring with Amanda Nunes. At the UFC 289 post-fight presser, White was asked if this was the end of the women's featherweight division, to which he replied:
"The answer is probably yes. I mean, I don't make these decisions right after a fight. She told me when she walked over to the side of the cage that she was retiring so, yeah, I don't know, but it makes sense."
Dana White on whether Amanda Nunes' retirement spells the end for the women's featherweight division: "The answer is probably yes." #UFC289 https://t.co/vRradxudCb