UFC Rankings Update: “Lil’ Heathen” Soars After Controversial Win

Surging UFC featherweight Jeremy Stephens picked up a third straight win with a brutal knockout finish of Josh Emmett (watch the highlights) in the main event of last weekend’s (Sat., February 24, 2018) UFC on FOX 28 from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, but the victory didn’t come without a heap of controversy.

After rocking Emmett with a pinpoint left hand in the second round, ‘Lil’ Heathen’ followed him to the ground with what appeared to be a possibly illegal knee and two elbows that hit him in the back of the head. Emmett and his team were irate after the fight and revealed plans to appeal the defeat.

The results of that appeal, although appeals are rarely successful, remains to be seen, but for now, Stephens has earned a significant boost up the official UFC rankings. For the win over Emmett, he rose three spots to No. 5 on the 145-pound ranks, sending Emmett down two spots to No. 6.

The Orlando event also saw some movement at 205 pounds, where Ilir Latifi also rose up three spots to No. 5 for his impressive submission win over Ovince Saint Preux, who dropped one spot to No. 6.

Marion Reneau also continued to inch up the women’s bantamweight rankings after a shocking comeback submission over Sara McMann following a first round where she was controlled on the ground, rising up a spot to No. 7 and sending McMann to No. 8.

Here are the full updated rankings courtesy of UFC.com:

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

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 Dustin Ortiz
10 John Moraga
11 Matheus Nicolau
12 Tim Elliott
13 Alexandre Pantoja
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 Pedro Munhoz
11 Rob Font
12 Thomas Almeida
13 Brett Johns +1
14 Eddie Wineland -1
15 Brian Kelleher *NR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Sijara Eubanks
3 Lauren Murphy
4 Alexis Davis
5 Roxanne Modafferi
6 Barb Honchak
7 Liz Carmouche
8 Katlyn Chookagian
9 Jessica-Rose Clark
10 Jessica Eye
11 Montana De La Rosa
12 Rachael Ostovich
13 Mara Romero Borella
14 Paige VanZant
15 Shana Dobson

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