Curtis Blaydes made a very strong case for the heavyweight title shot he has demanded with a knockout of former champ Junior dos Santos in the main event of UFC Fight Night 166 this past Saturday. The victory moved Blaydes up a spot in the CBS Sports UFC Divisional Rankings to No. 4 at heavyweight, leapfrogging dos Santos in the process. The other big move this week was Michael Chiesa’s win over Rafael Dos Anjos vaulting him to the No. 9 spot at welterweight after being previously unranked.
With a weekend break, the UFC Octagon will bring us more action with the stacked UFC 247 event coming up in Houston. That card has significant ramifications for the rankings, with a pair of title fights headlining the event.
At UFC 247 on Saturday, Feb. 8, there are four fights featuring CBS Sports ranked fighters:
- Light heavyweight: No. 1 Jon Jones vs. No. 2 Dominick Reyes
- Women’s flyweight: No. 1 Valentina Shevchenko vs. No. 2 Katlyn Chookagian
- Heavyweight: No. 8 Derrick Lewis vs. Ilir Latifi
- Bantamweight: No. 7 Jimmie Rivera vs. Marlon Vera
Can’t get enough UFC? Subscribe to our podcast State of Combat with Brian Campbell where we break down everything you need to know in the Octagon.
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 of the monumental UFC 244 event on Saturday night.
For Brian Campbell’s updated Pound for Pound Rankings, click here.
Flyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Henry Cejudo (c) |
15-2 |
|
2. Joseph Benavidez |
28-5 |
|
3. Jussier Formiga |
23-6 |
|
4. Deivieson Figueiredo |
16-1 |
|
T5. Brandon Moreno |
16-5 |
|
T5. Alexandre Pantoja |
21-4 |
|
T7. Matt Schnell |
14-4 |
|
T7. Kai Kara-France |
20-8 |
|
9. Askar Askarov |
11-0-1 |
|
10. Tim Elliott |
15-10-1 |
Bantamweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Henry Cejudo (c) |
15-2 |
|
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. Chase Hooper |
9-0-1 |
|
9. Josh Emmett |
15-2 |
|
10. Jeremy Stephens |
28-17 |
Lightweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Khabib Nurmagomedov (c) |
28-0 |
|
2. Tony Ferguson |
25-3 |
|
3. Dustin Poirier |
25-6 |
|
4. Justin Gaethje |
21-2 |
|
5. Conor McGregor |
21-4 |
|
6. Dan Hooker |
19-8 |
|
7. Paul Felder |
17-4 |
|
8. Kevin Lee |
18-5 |
|
9. Donald Cerrone |
36-14 |
|
10. Al Iaquinta |
14-6-1 |
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) |
18-0 |
|
2. Paulo Costa |
13-0 |
|
3. Robert Whittaker |
20-5 |
|
4. Yoel Romero |
13-4 |
|
5. Jared Cannonier |
13-4 |
|
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) |
25-1 |
|
2. Dominick Reyes |
12-0 |
|
3. Jan Blachowicz |
25-8 |
|
4. Thiago Santos |
21-7 |
|
5. Corey Anderson |
13-4 |
|
6. Anthony Smith |
32-14 |
|
7. Volkan Oezdemir |
17-4 |
|
8. Glover Teixeira |
30-7 |
|
9. Aleksandr Rakic |
12-2 |
|
10. Johnny Walker |
17-4 |
Heavyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Stipe Miocic (c) |
19-3 |
|
2. Daniel Cormier |
22-2 |
|
3. Francis Ngannou |
14-3 |
|
4. Curtis Blaydes |
13-2 |
|
5. Junior dos Santos |
21-7 |
|
6. Alexander Volkov |
31-7 |
|
7. Jairzinho Rozenstruil |
10-0 |
|
T8. Derrick Lewis |
22-7 |
|
T8. Walt Harris |
13-7 |
|
10. Alistair Overeem |
45-18 |
Women’s strawweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Weili Zhang (c) |
20-1 |
|
2. Jessica Andrade |
20-7 |
|
3. Tatiana Suarez |
8-0 |
|
4. Joanna Jedzejczyk |
16-3 |
|
5. Claudia Gadelha |
17-4 |
|
6. Nina Ansaroff |
10-6 |
|
7. Carla Esparza |
14-6 |
|
8. Michelle Waterson |
17-7 |
|
9. Cynthia Carvalho |
8-1 |
|
10. Rose Namajunas |
8-4 |
Women’s flyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Valentina Shevchenko (c) |
18-3 |
|
2. Katlyn Chookagin |
12-2 |
|
3. Joanne Calderwood |
14-4 |
|
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 |
