UFC 328 was one of the most noteworthy fight cards of the year so far, and with all of the action that took place in Newark, New Jersey, there has been some movement in the UFC rankings, particularly in the men’s pound-for-pound list.
Sean Strickland’s dramatic victory over Khamzat Chimaev via split decision to become the new UFC Middleweight Champion has naturally led to Strickland jumping into the top ten men’s pound-for-pound rankings, landing at number seven alongside former UFC Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili. Strickland is, of course, the highest ranked middleweight in the company right now, while Chimaev falls down to number ten on the list after sitting in the top three for some time. With Strickland’s addition to the top 15, someone had to drop out, and that someone ended up being Magomed Ankalaev.
Strickland and Chimaev’s fight has also caused some movement in the middleweight rankings as Chimaev is now ranked number one behind the new champion. This has caused Dricus Du Plessis and Nassourdine Imavov to move down to second and third respectively, while both Caio Borralho and Anthony Hernandez both move up to fourth and sixth as a result.
Back up in the pound-for-pound rankings, UFC Flyweight Champion Joshua Van made his first defense of his crown against Tatsuro Taira in a clash that ended up winning the Fight of the Night bonus. The performance from Van sees him move up to ninth in the pound-for-pound rankings, with the top contender in the flyweight division, the man Van took the title from in Alexandre Pantoja, drops down to 11th. However, given the strength of his own performance, Taira has kept his number three ranking in the flyweight division behind Pantoja and Manel Kape.
The other big movement in the rankings came in the welterweight division as Yaroslav Amasov earned himself a Performance of the Night bonus by defeating Joel Alvarez with an Arm Triangle. Amasov jumps up four spaces to finally crack the top ten at 170 pounds, sitting in tenth place and forcing those who were above him heading into UFC 328 to all move down a spot.
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