UFC divisional rankings: Justin Gaethje ticks up after dominant interim championship victory
Justin Gaethje entered UFC 249 as an underdog for his interim lightweight championship fight with Tony Ferguson. He emerged from the night with a dominant win — despite taking the fight on short notice — and an interim title that puts him in line to face No. 1-ranked Khabib Nurmagomedov later this year for the undisputed championship at 155 pounds.
With the win, Gaethje jumped from a tie for the No. 3 ranking to No. 2 at lightweight in the CBS Sports UFC divisional rankings. He wasn’t the only mover coming out of the stacked card as Calvin Kattar went from unranked to No. 8 at featherweight after beating Jeremy Stephens.
At heavyweight, Jairzinho Rozenstruik dropped from No. 7 to No. 9 after a 20-second knockout loss against Francis Ngannou, who held on to his No. 3 ranking with the victory. Also of note, Carla Esparza’s win over Michelle Waterson held both women steady at their respective No. 7 and 8 rankings at women’s strawweight.
This coming week features a pair of UFC events. First, UFC Fight Night takes place Wednesday from VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, before UFC on ESPN 9 takes place on Saturday from the same venue.
There are four fights featuring CBS Sports ranked fighters scheduled for the two upcoming events:
- Light Heavyweight: No. 5 Anthony Smith vs. No. 8 Glover Teixeira
- Heavyweight: No. 8 Walt Harris vs. No. 10 Alistair Overeem
- Women’s Strawweight: No. 5 Claudia Gadelha vs. Angela Hill
- Bantamweight: No. 10 Song Yadong vs. Marlon Vera
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Rankings are compiled following the submission of ballots by Brent Brookhouse, Brian Campbell, Jack Crosby and Brandon Wise. Without further ado, here’s where things stand ahead a pair of events this week.
For Brian Campbell’s updated Pound for Pound Rankings, click here.
Flyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Deivieson Figueiredo |
17-1 |
|
2. Joseph Benavidez |
28-6 |
|
3. Brandon Moreno |
17-5 |
|
4. Alexandre Pantoja |
21-4 |
|
5. Jussier Formiga |
23-7 |
|
6. Matt Schnell |
14-4 |
|
7. Kai Kara-France |
21-8 |
|
8. Askar Askarov |
11-0-1 |
|
9. Raulian Paiva |
19-3 |
|
10. Alex Perez |
23-5 |
Bantamweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Henry Cejudo (c) |
16-2 |
|
2. Petr Yan |
14-1 |
|
3. Aljamain Sterling |
18-3 |
|
T4. Marlon Moraes |
23-6-1 |
|
T4. Cory Sandhagen |
12-1 |
|
6. Pedro Munhoz |
18-4 |
|
7. Jimmie Rivera |
22-4 |
|
T8. Raphael Assuncao |
27-7 |
|
T8. TJ Dillashaw |
16-4 |
|
10. Song Yadong |
15-4-1 |
Featherweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Alexander Volkanovski (c) |
22-1 |
|
2. Max Holloway |
21-5 |
|
T3. Korean Zombie |
16-5 |
|
T3. Zabit Magomedsharipov |
18-1 |
|
5. Brian Ortega |
14-1 |
|
6. Yair Rodriguez |
12-2 |
|
7. Shane Burgos |
13-1 |
|
8. Calvin Kattar |
21-4 |
|
9. Josh Emmett |
15-2 |
|
10. Chase Hooper |
9-0-1 |
Lightweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Khabib Nurmagomedov (c) |
28-0 |
|
2. Justin Gaethje |
22-2 |
|
3. Tony Ferguson |
25-4 |
|
4. Dustin Poirier |
25-6 |
|
5. Dan Hooker |
20-8 |
|
6. Conor McGregor |
21-4 |
|
7. Charles Oliveira |
29-8 |
|
8. Paul Felder |
17-5 |
|
9. Al Iaquinta |
14-6-1 |
|
10. Islam Makhachev |
18-1 |
Welterweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Kamaru Usman (c) |
16-1 |
|
2. Jorge Masvidal |
35-13 |
|
3. Colby Covington |
15-2 |
|
4. Leon Edwards |
18-3 |
|
5. Tyron Woodley |
19-4-1 |
|
T6. Santiago Ponzinibbio |
27-3 |
|
T6.Stephen Thompson |
15-4-1 |
|
8. Geoff Neal |
13-2 |
|
9. Michael Chiesa |
17-4 |
|
10. Nate Diaz |
20-12 |
Middleweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Israel Adesanya (c) |
19-0 |
|
2. Paulo Costa |
13-0 |
|
3. Robert Whittaker |
20-5 |
|
4. Jared Cannonier |
13-4 |
|
5. Yoel Romero |
13-5 |
|
6. Derek Brunson |
20-7 |
|
7. Kelvin Gastelum |
15-5 |
|
8. Jack Hermansson |
20-5 |
|
9. Darren Till |
18-2-1 |
|
10. Uriah Hall |
15-9 |
Light heavyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Jon Jones (c) |
26-1 |
|
2. Jan Blachowicz |
26-8 |
|
3. Dominick Reyes |
12-1 |
|
4. Thiago Santos |
21-7 |
|
5. Anthony Smith |
32-14 |
|
6. Corey Anderson |
13-5 |
|
7. Volkan Oezdemir |
17-4 |
|
8. Glover Teixeira |
30-7 |
|
9. Aleksandr Rakic |
12-2 |
|
10. Nikita Krylov |
26-7 |
Heavyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Stipe Miocic (c) |
19-3 |
|
2. Daniel Cormier |
22-2 |
|
3. Francis Ngannou |
15-3 |
|
4. Curtis Blaydes |
13-2 |
|
5. Junior dos Santos |
21-7 |
|
6. Alexander Volkov |
31-7 |
|
7. Derrick Lewis |
23-7 |
|
8. Walt Harris |
13-7 |
|
9. Jairzinho Rozenstruik |
10-1 |
|
10. Alistair Overeem |
45-18 |
Women’s strawweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Weili Zhang (c) |
21-1 |
|
T2. Jessica Andrade |
20-7 |
|
T2. Tatiana Suarez |
8-0 |
|
T2. Joanna Jedzejczyk |
16-4 |
|
5. Claudia Gadelha |
17-4 |
|
6. Nina Ansaroff |
10-6 |
|
7. Carla Esparza |
15-6 |
|
8. Michelle Waterson |
17-8 |
|
9. Cynthia Carvalho |
8-1 |
|
10. Rose Namajunas |
8-4 |
Women’s flyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Valentina Shevchenko (c) |
19-3 |
|
2. Joanne Calderwood |
14-4 |
|
3. Katlyn Chookagian |
12-3 |
|
4. Jessica Eye |
14-7 |
|
5. Roxanne Modafferi |
24-16 |
Women’s bantamweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Amanda Nunes (c) |
19-4 |
|
2. Aspen Ladd |
9-1 |
|
3. Germaine de Randamie |
9-4 |
|
4. Irene Aldana |
11-5 |
|
5. Holly Holm |
12-5 |
|
6. Julianna Pena |
9-3 |
|
7. Ketlen Vieira |
10-1 |
|
8. Yana Kunitskaya |
12-5 |
|
T9. Raquel Pennington |
10-8 |
|
T9. Sara McMann |
11-5 |