UFC Rankings Update: RDA Rises, Darkhorse Contender Makes Huge Jump

Rafael dos Anjos

Although it may not have gotten the best – or even good – TV ratings, last Saturday night’s (December 16, 2017) UFC on FOX 26 from Winnipeg featured a decent number of bouts containing pivotal rankings implications.

The most obvious move up the lists was made by surging welterweight contender Rafael dos Anjos, who rose two spots up to number two for his five-round dismantling of former champion Robbie Lawler in the main event. “Ruthless” fell two spots to number four for the loss.

But the most shocking and sudden move up the official ranks was made by featherweight Josh Emmett, who made a remarkable debut at number five on the 145-pound ranks after knocking out former No. 3-ranked Ricardo Lamas despite missing weight for the short-notice bout. Emmett could be headed for a huge fight at featherweight, with names like Cub Swanson or Yair Rodriguez perhaps next for him. Lamas dropped three spots to number six.

In other action, rising welterweight Santiago Ponzinibbio rose one spot to number nine following his impressive win over touted knockout slugger Mike Perry in a great fight. The Brazilian contender has quietly racked a strong six-fight win streak in a talented 170-pound arena.

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Check out the rest of the fully updated rankings from UFC.com right here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Georges St-Pierre
3 Conor McGregor
4 Max Holloway
5 Daniel Cormier
6 TJ Dillashaw
7 Stipe Miocic
8 Tyron Woodley
9 Tony Ferguson
10 Cris Cyborg
11 Cody Garbrandt
12 Robert Whittaker
13 Amanda Nunes
14 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
15 Dominick Cruz

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Ray Borg
4 Jussier Formiga
5 Sergio Pettis
6 Wilson Reis
7 Brandon Moreno
8 Ben Nguyen
9 John Moraga
10 Dustin Ortiz
11 Tim Elliott
12 Alexandre Pantoja
13 Louis Smolka
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Magomed Bibulatov

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Jimmie Rivera
5 Marlon Moraes
6 John Lineker
7 Bryan Caraway
8 John Dodson
9 Aljamain Sterling
10 Thomas Almeida
11 Pedro Munhoz
12 Eddie Wineland
13 Brett Johns
14 Rob Font
15 Matthew Lopez

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Jose Aldo
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Brian Ortega +1
4 Cub Swanson +1
5 Josh Emmett *NR
6 Ricardo Lamas -3
7 Chan Sung Jung -1
8 Yair Rodriguez -1
9 Jeremy Stephens -1
10 Darren Elkins -1
11 Renato Moicano -1
12 Dennis Bermudez -1
13 Dooho Choi -1
14 Mirsad Bektic -1
15 Myles Jury -1

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LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Conor McGregor
1 Tony Ferguson (Interim Champion)
2 Khabib Nurmagomedov
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Edson Barboza
5 Justin Gaethje
6 Dustin Poirier +1
7 Kevin Lee +1
8 Nate Diaz -2
9 Michael Chiesa
10 Michael Johnson
11 Al Iaquinta
12 Beneil Dariush
13 Anthony Pettis
14 Francisco Trinaldo
14 James Vick +1

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Stephen Thompson
2 Rafael Dos Anjos +2
3 Colby Covington
4 Robbie Lawler -2
5 Demian Maia
6 Jorge Masvidal
7 Darren Till
8 Carlos Condit
9 Santiago Ponzinibbio +1
10 Donald Cerrone -1
11 Kamaru Usman
12 Neil Magny
13 Gunnar Nelson
14 Dong Hyun Kim
15 Yancy Medeiros

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Georges St-Pierre
4 Jacare Souza
5 Chris Weidman
6 Kelvin Gastelum
7 Michael Bisping
8 Derek Brunson
9 Anderson Silva
10 David Branch
11 Uriah Hall
12 Vitor Belfort
13 Krzysztof Jotko
14 Lyoto Machida
15 Paulo Costa

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Volkan Oezdemir
3 Glover Teixeira
4 Jimi Manuwa
5 Ovince Saint Preux
6 Mauricio Rua
7 Misha Cirkunov
8 Ilir Latifi +1
8 Corey Anderson
10 Patrick Cummins
11 Rogerio Nogueira
12 Jan Blachowicz +3
13 Gadzhimurad Antigulov -1
14 Tyson Pedro -1
15 Jared Cannonier -1

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HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Stipe Miocic
1 Francis Ngannou
2 Alistair Overeem
3 Fabricio Werdum
4 Cain Velasquez
5 Mark Hunt
6 Derrick Lewis
7 Alexander Volkov
8 Marcin Tybura
9 Curtis Blaydes
10 Stefan Struve
11 Aleksei Oleinik
12 Andrei Arlovski
13 Junior Albini
14 Travis Browne
15 Tim Johnson

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Cynthia Calvillo
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Felice Herrig
9 Carla Esparza
10 Alexa Grasso
11 Cortney Casey
12 Paige VanZant
13 Joanne Calderwood
14 Randa Markos
15 Maryna Moroz

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Sijara Eubanks
2 Lauren Murphy
3 Alexis Davis
4 Roxanne Modafferi
5 Barb Honchak
6 Liz Carmouche +4
7 Montana De La Rosa -1
8 Rachael Ostovich
9 Mara Romero Borella
10 Jessica-Rose Clark +1
11 Shana Dobson +1
12 Gillian Robertson +1
13 Kalindra Faria +1
14 Bec Rawlings *NR
15 Melinda Fabian

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Holly Holm
3 Julianna Pena
4 Raquel Pennington
5 Germaine de Randamie
6 Cat Zingano
7 Ketlen Vieira
8 Sara McMann
9 Ronda Rousey -1
10 Marion Reneau
11 Katlyn Chookagian
12 Bethe Correia
13 Leslie Smith
14 Sarah Moras
14 Aspen Ladd