UFC Rankings Update: Jose Aldo removed from bantamweight following retirement, Sean O'Malley moves up, Miesha Tate climbs at 135lbs

The latest UFC Rankings are in and Sean O'Malley and the bantamweight division see some heavy movement courtesy of Jose Aldo.

Aldo announced his retirement and called time on a legendary career that saw him compete in multiple weight classes, the latest of which was the bantamweight division. His omission from No.6 in the latest rankings update sees eight fighters move up a place.

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Rob Font, Dominick Cruz, Pedro Munhoz, Yadong Song, Ricky Simon, Frankie Edgar, Sean O'Malley, and Umar Nurmagomedov now make up positions No.6 to No.13. Adrian Yanez also made his first appearance at No.14.

Shamil Abdurakhimov's three-fight skid in the men's heavyweight division doesn't seem to have affected him negatively in the rankings. He has climbed up a further place to now share No.14 with Bulgarian fighter Blagoy Ivanov.

Former UFC women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate moved up a position to No.11 despite her last fight being at flyweight. The rest of the women's bantamweight division remains unchanged.

Meanwhile, Casey O'Neill continued her steady ascension as she climbed over Maycee Barber to No.10 in the women's flyweight division. Barber recently replaced O'Neill at UFC 276 against Jessica Eye, a fight she won via unanimous decision.

Check out all the ranking updates in a post from Fight HQ on Twitter:

UFC RANKINGS UPDATE

BW - Jose Aldo ❌ @RobSFont ⬆️ #6 @DominickCruz ⬆️ #7 @PedroMunhozmma ⬆️ #8 @SongYaDongMMA ⬆️ #9 @RickySimonUFC ⬆️ #10 @yanezmma ⬆️ #14

FLW - @kingcaseymma ⬆️ #10 Maycee Barber ⬇️ #11

BW - @MieshaTate ⬆️ #11

HW - @ShamilAbrek ⬆️ #14

#MMATwitter https://t.co/d7sBqqZyib

Sean O'Malley discusses Jose Aldo's retirement

While Jose Aldo's retirement was unprecedented for many MMA fans, Sean O'Malley reflected on why it took so long for the Brazilian to hang up his gloves.

O'Malley spoke on the matter on the latest edition of the TimboSugarShow:

"Just for the love of it, man. It's gonna be hard when you are that age and you're like, 'Well look, I could go, I'm at the age where I'm like, I could still fight but I am getting to the point where I can't fight. I am gonna get a couple more in.' Just that competitor mindset. He's been playing sports his entire life... I don't know if it's ego boost. I think he is a little bit older than people think."

'Sugar' aired out reasons why Aldo may have continued to fight well into his mid-30s. He suggested the former featherweight champion's competitive nature as a potential reason. O'Malley also celebrated his own climb up in the rankings:

Read here about: Champions & Rankings from Different Weight Classes in the UFC

"Jose Aldo's supposedly retired, everyone. He's out of the rankings, so I'm ranked No.12 now. Moving on up! Moving on up. Yeah, Aldo's out of the rankings."

Sean O'Malley next faces former bantamweight champion Petr Yan at UFC 280 in his toughest fight yet. His improved ranking will mean little against the No.1-ranked contender and 'Sugar' will have to bring his best game to the octagon.

Check out the full episode of TimboSugarShow: