Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings
Two New Lucky No. 7s
Our latest rankings shake-up comes courtesy from dual sites in
Europe, on either side of the Baltic Sea.
At KSW 39 “Colosseum” in Warsaw, Poland, Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki put an estimated 58,000 fans inside of PGE Narodowy Stadium for a truly historic MMA card, one that reportedly topped the Ultimate Fighting Championship's all-time attendance record of 56,214 for UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia. More importantly, hot Brazilian prospect Ariane Lipski became the first-ever KSW women's flyweight champion, as she slapped an armbar on Romania's Diane Belbita in the first round. With her win, the dynamic Lipski has another stoppage on her resume, a piece of hardware and the attention of promoters like the UFC and Bellator MMA that are looking to bolster their 125-pound women's rosters. Plus, Lipski moves from ninth to the seven slot in our rankings.
A day later on the other side of Baltic, UFC Fight Night 109 hit the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm with a headlining focus on 205 pounds. In the main event, our No. 2 light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson handled business, knocking out sixth-ranked Glover Texieira in scintillating style, dominating him for 21 minutes before putting away the Brazilian with a brilliant trio of uppercuts and a right hook. However, in the co-feature, Volkan Oezdemir earned a breakout win more impactful than his split decision over Ovince St. Preux in February, knocking out Misha Cirkunov in just 28 seconds and rising from our contenders list to that lucky No. 7.
Less thrilling in this update, we have a correction of sorts. On May 26, it was reported that our previously ninth-ranked strawweight woman Cortney Casey had tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone following her win over Jessica Aguilar at UFC 211 and has had the result changed to a no-contest. As a result of forfeiting the victory, Casey drops from the No. 9 spot back to her previous position on the 115-pound contenders list.
Continue Reading » Heavyweight
At KSW 39 “Colosseum” in Warsaw, Poland, Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki put an estimated 58,000 fans inside of PGE Narodowy Stadium for a truly historic MMA card, one that reportedly topped the Ultimate Fighting Championship's all-time attendance record of 56,214 for UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia. More importantly, hot Brazilian prospect Ariane Lipski became the first-ever KSW women's flyweight champion, as she slapped an armbar on Romania's Diane Belbita in the first round. With her win, the dynamic Lipski has another stoppage on her resume, a piece of hardware and the attention of promoters like the UFC and Bellator MMA that are looking to bolster their 125-pound women's rosters. Plus, Lipski moves from ninth to the seven slot in our rankings.
A day later on the other side of Baltic, UFC Fight Night 109 hit the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm with a headlining focus on 205 pounds. In the main event, our No. 2 light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson handled business, knocking out sixth-ranked Glover Texieira in scintillating style, dominating him for 21 minutes before putting away the Brazilian with a brilliant trio of uppercuts and a right hook. However, in the co-feature, Volkan Oezdemir earned a breakout win more impactful than his split decision over Ovince St. Preux in February, knocking out Misha Cirkunov in just 28 seconds and rising from our contenders list to that lucky No. 7.
Less thrilling in this update, we have a correction of sorts. On May 26, it was reported that our previously ninth-ranked strawweight woman Cortney Casey had tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone following her win over Jessica Aguilar at UFC 211 and has had the result changed to a no-contest. As a result of forfeiting the victory, Casey drops from the No. 9 spot back to her previous position on the 115-pound contenders list.
Continue Reading » Heavyweight
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