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UFC divisional rankings: Korean Zombie makes big leap as 2019 fight schedule comes to a close

With his dominant victory over Frankie Edgar at UFC Fight Night 165, Chan Sung Jung picked up a statement win of the sort that can put a man in line for a shot at a world championship. The victory was good enough to launch “The Korean Zombie” from the No. 7 slot to No. 3 in the featherweight division of the CBS Sports UFC Divisional Rankings. Edgar, meanwhile, fell completely out of the top 10, a move which seems hard to imagine given how long the former lightweight champ has occupied top 10 lists across the sport. While a rematch between newly crowned featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski and the man he defeated to take the title, Max Holloway, seems inevitable as the next step for the division, a fight with Jung may be waiting for the winner.

The event was the last of the 2019 calendar for UFC, meaning this is the final ranking list for the year and provides a snapshot of where things stand as the UFC heads into the next decade.

Here’s a quick look at the state of each division as 2019 ends:

  • Flyweight will get a shakeup in 2020 with current No. 1 Henry Cejudo vacating the championship at 125 pounds, leading to a new era for the always-at-risk division. No. 2 Joseph Benavidez and No. 4 Deivieson Figueiredo will battle for the vacant strap.
  • Cejudo still holds the bantamweight title, however, and No. 2-ranked Petr Yan represents a significant test for the champ. Cejudo has also expressed interest in fighting unranked Jose Aldo, who made an unsuccessful debut at 135 pounds.
  • Featherweight is the Volkanovski and Holloway show with No. 3 Jung waiting in the wings, as mentioned above.
  • Lightweight will hopefully see Khabib Nurmagomedov defend his championship against No. 2 Tony Ferguson as they’ve been booked to fight after four previously unsuccessful attempts to make the clash. With Conor McGregor’s return to UFC and Dana White making it clear a win in his welterweight clash with Donald Cerrone would lead to a lightweight title bout, there’s a clear roadmap at 155.
  • After vanquishing rival Colby Covington, welterweight champ Kamaru Usman could be looking at a fight with red-hot No. 2 Jorge Masvidal. The winner of the March 21 bout between No. 4 Leon Edwards and former champ No. 5 Tyron Woodley could set up the next challenger.
  • At middleweight, Israel Adesanya’s championship reign has just started, but potential fights with No. 2 Paulo Costa and No. 4 Yoel Romero have fans drooling, while former champ No. 3 Robert Whittaker squaring off against No. 5 Jared Cannonier has potentially massive impact.
  • Light heavyweight remains the Jon Jones show, though he continues to tease a potential jump to heavyweight. Undefeated No. 2 Dominick Reyes gets the next crack at the champ while No. 4 Thiago Santos will return to the cage in 2020 after battling Jones to a split decision loss.
  • Heavyweight has plenty of big hitters, but No. 2 Daniel Cormier’s attempt to regain the title from Stipe Miocic in their rubber match headlines the division’s activities.
  • Weili Zhang has yet to defend her women’s strawweight title, but her first defense will come against the ultra-tough former champ No. 4 Joanna Jedzejczyk.
  • On Feb. 8, Valentina Shevchenko will put the women’s flyweight belt on the line against No. 2 Katlyn Chookagin. Challenges are starting to run out for Shevchenko within her dominant run.
  • Amanda Nunes recently defended her women’s bantamweight title with a win over No. 3 Germaine de Randamie, and now it looks as though No. 2 Aspen Ladd may be the next woman up.

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

5. Brandon Moreno

16-5

6. Alexandre Pantoja

21-4

7. Matt Schnell

14-4

8. Matt Schnell

14-4

9. Kai Kara-France

20-8

10. Rogerio Bontorin

16-1

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. Donald Cerrone

36-13

9. Kevin Lee

18-5

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

6. Nate Diaz

20-12

7.Stephen Thompson

15-4-1

T8. Santiago Ponzinibbio

27-3

T8. Demian Maia

28-9

10. Rafael dos Anjos

29-12

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. Junior dos Santos

21-6

5. Curtis Blaydes

12-2

6. Derrick Lewis

21-7

T7. Alexander Volkov

31-7

T7. Jairzinho Rozenstruik

10-0

9. 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. Maycee Barber

8-0

5. Jessica Eye

14-7

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. Raquel Pennington

10-5

8. Ketlen Vieira

10-1

9. Yana Kunitskaya

12-5

10. Sara McMann

11-5

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