Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Israel Adesanya just turned the tables on his rivalry with Alex Pereira.

While “The Last Stylebender” still trails Pereira by a 3-to-1 count in their combat sports series, his second-round knockout of the Brazilian in the UFC 287 headliner will likely be talked about for years to come. Not only is the victory a “Knockout of the Year” candidate for 2023, but it allows Adesanya to assume the No. 1 position at middleweight he held for the past few years until an upset loss to “Poatan” at UFC 281 this past November.

Meanwhile, Gilbert Burns held serve at welterweight with a clear-cut three-round verdict over Jorge Masvidal in the UFC 287 co-main event. While “Gamebred” presumably rides off into the sunset — and out of the 170-pound rankings — in retirement, Burns maintains his footing in a division now clearly ruled by Leon Edwards. As an aside, we welcome Jack Della Maddalena in Masvidal’s place at No. 15.

In other action at UFC 287, 11th-ranked bantamweight Rob Font halted the rise (and potential rankings debut) of Adrian Yanez with an impressive first-round technical knockout victory, and the previously slumping Kelvin Gastelum returned to the middleweight poll at No. 14 with a hard-fought victory over Chris Curtis.

Elsewhere, Professional Fighters League officially unveiled its women’s featherweight division on Friday night, and the end result is a shakeup in the back half of the 145-pound rankings. Most notable is the debut of defending lightweight queen Larissa Pacheco, who outpointed former Bellator MMA champ Julia Budd to enter the poll at No. 9. The PFL figures to have the most consistent female featherweight action for the remainder of 2023, so look for more movement as the league’s season progresses.

Note: Previous rankings listed in brackets.

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