UFC Rankings Update: Sean O'Malley loses top bantamweight contender spot to Merab Dvalishvili, heavyweight division sees shuffle
The UFC has updated its official fighter rankings after last weekend's successful UFC Fight Night 221 event.
Merab Dvalishvili handed Petr Yan his third consecutive loss after winning all five rounds on the three judges' scorecards, resulting in 'The Machine' pipping Sean O'Malley and Yan as the No.1-ranked bantamweight. His two-spot upgrade saw 'No Mercy' fall to the No.4 spot, with Marlon Vera climbing to the No.3 spot.
Elsewhere in the bantamweight division, Pedro Munhoz traded places with Ricky Simon, going down to No.10 while Simon went up to the No.9 spot. Jonathan Martinez also debuted in the division's rankings after his impressive win over Said Nurmagomedov last Saturday.
Merab Dvalishvili moves to No. 1 in the bantamweight rankings.
Petr Yan falls to No. 4
Jonathan Martinez enters at No. 14 https://t.co/P1aTPsKfYr
In the light heavyweight division, Ryan Spann fell two spots to No.10, with his recent loss to Nikita Krylov doing him no favors. Elsewhere, Volkan Oezdemir and Paul Craig climbed to the No.8 and No.9 ranks, respectively.
Updated #UFC LHW Rankings. https://t.co/A643sreiSX
The heavyweight division saw Ciryl Gane replace Stipe Miocic as the No.1-ranked contender, with the 40-year-old American falling to the No.2 spot. Tom Aspinall and Alexander Volkov have also moved up to the No.5 and No.7 ranks at the expense of Tai Tuivasa and Serghei Spivac, who now occupy the No.6 and No.8 spots, respectively.
Alexander Romanov's recent loss to Volkov saw him slip down to No.15, giving Blagoy Ivanov a boost to No.14.
Updated #UFC HW Rankings. https://t.co/dK7IO6TYNZ
Merab Dvalishvili names billion-dollar price for the UFC to make him fight Aljamain Sterling
Merab Dvalishvili has no intentions of fighting his close friend and reigning bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. The Georgian convincingly defeated former bantamweight champion Petr Yan last Saturday, following which he claimed that he wouldn't fight 'Funk Master' for the belt. He added that he would call for a title shot once Sterling moved up to a new weight class.
Henry Cejudo, who will challenge Sterling for bantamweight gold at UFC 288, recently stated that he wants Dvalishvili to be the backup fighter in case the champion fails to show up.
In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Merab Dvalishvili responded to Cejudo's statements and named his price to fight Aljamain Sterling:
"It would be weird because Aljo will show up, and I'm not fighting Aljo. If they want to make me fight Aljo, maybe they'll have to pay $10 billion. Then yes, I'll be ready, but otherwise, I don't need to be a backup because Aljo will show up."
Merab would fight Aljo for $10B.
#TheMMAHour https://t.co/uqwp3CIUK7