Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

---

Rumors of Petr Yan’s demise might have been greatly exaggerated.

While a three-fight losing streak from 2022 to 2023 knocked “No Mercy” from the top rung of the bantamweight division, it’s important to remember that two of those were contentious split decisions against top-tier talent. Since then, Yan has rebounded to post back-to-back victories over Deiveson Figueiredo and Yadong Song. His most recent work against Figueiredo, a former flyweight champ on a three-bout winning streak at 135 pounds, saw him outstrike a game foe for the better part of five rounds to win a clear-cut unanimous decision in the UFC Macau headliner. While that isn’t enough for Yan to advance beyond his No. 5 ranking, it’s a clear message that the Russian is still very much a factor in a division where he once reigned.

Elsewhere, Xiaonan Yan rebounded from a championship loss against Weili Zhang in April to cruise to a unanimous verdict over Tabatha Ricci in the UFC Macau co-main event. Despite her call for a rematch with Zhang, Yan’s performance wasn’t enough for her to surpass current No. 2 Virna Jandiroba in the strawweight rankings.

Meanwhile, Carlos Ulberg won his seventh consecutive light heavyweight bout, as he outpointed former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir to earn the most significant triumph of his career to date. That allows the hard-hitting Kiwi to make his debut in the Top 10, as he surpasses the previously 10th-ranked Azamat Murzakanov on the strength of a victory over the No. 12 Oezdemir.

In housekeeping news, it doesn’t appear that Chan Sung Jung is coming out of retirement, so he exits the featherweight rankings as a result. That clears the way for the debut of Timur Khizriev, who has a date with Brendan Loughnane at the PFL Championships on Friday in Saudi Arabia.

Note: Previous rankings listed in brackets.

Jump To »
HEAVYWEIGHT
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
MIDDLEWEIGHT
WELTERWEIGHT
LIGHTWEIGHT
FEATHERWEIGHT
BANTAMWEIGHT
FLYWEIGHT
WOMEN'S FEATHERWEIGHT
WOMEN'S BANTAMWEIGHT
WOMEN'S FLYWEIGHT
WOMEN'S STRAWWEIGHT
WOMEN'S ATOMWEIGHT