UFC Rankings Update Ahead Of UFC 201: Rousey Moves Up Without Fighting
The last two weeks have been filled with events, USADA violations and suspensions. As a result, the official UFC rankings have underwent a major makeover.
Chad Mendes’ two-year suspension had major ramifications on the featherweight division, causing Dooho Choi to enter the top-12, Hacran Dias to the top 10, Cub Swanson to the top 5, and virtually everyone besides Frankie Edgar, Jose Aldo and Max Holloway to move up a spot.
Edson Barboza was a big winner at UFC on Fox 20. While his opponent Gilbert Melendez was unranked due to a USADA violation last year, it was Barboza’s second top-10 caliber win in a row. The win launched Barboza ahead of Donald Cerrone and into the top- 5. Melendez reappeared at #14.
Eddie Wineland got a big jump, swapping spots with his UFC on Fox 20 opponent Frankie Saenz, taking #12. Saenz fell to #15.
Undefeated Katlyn Chookagian cracked the top 15 women’s bantamweight rankings at #14 after beating Lauren Murphy, but that weight class is a proverbial show, with the top 7 women (outside of Julianna Pena) trading wins and losses. The big winner was Valentina Shevchenko, who not only moved up 4 spots to #3, but launched Ronda Rousey up to #2, while Holly Holm tumbled to #4.
You can see UFC’s full rankings at this link.
