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Stock Up, Stock Down: Pound-for-Pound Rankings After UFC 275

Tom Taylor

UFC 275 went down last weekend in sunny Singapore, which means it's time for an update to B/R's pound-for-pound UFC rankings.

The event was highlighted by appearances from two of the best female fighters on the planet: former strawweight champion Zhang Weili and reigning flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko, ranked No. 5 and 1, respectively, on our women's pound-for-pound list.

Zhang was in action in the middle bout of the main card, knocking out former pound-for-pound star Joanna Jedrzejczyk with a spinning back-fist in Round 2. Shevchenko handled co-headlining honors, defending her strap with a hard-fought split-decision win over underdog in Taila Santos.

The card also saw Jiri Prochazka capture the UFC light heavyweight title by submitting Glover Teixeira in the fifth round of one of the year's best fights. Neither man appeared on our pound-for-pound list before UFC 275, but after the card, it's arguable Prochazka deserves a spot.

Keep scrolling to see where everybody landed after this action-packed event in "The Little Red Dot."

Men: Nos. 10-6

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10. Aljamain Sterling

9. Deiveson Figueiredo

8. Dustin Poirier

7. Stipe Miocic

6. Charles Oliveira

Nobody on our men's pound-for-pound list was in action at UFC 275, but Jiri Prochazka is certainly worthy of consideration after the event.

The Czech knockout artist was back in action in the card's headlining attraction, challenging Brazilian grappling specialist Glover Teixeira for the light heavyweight title. After four of the most entertaining rounds in recent memory, he captured the title by submitting his foe in the waning moments of the fifth. It was a truly shocking end to an incredible fight.

It was Prochazka's 13th victory in a row. That streak also includes vicious knockouts of Dominick Reyes and Volkan Oezdemir in his first two UFC bouts, and an impressive light heavyweight title reign in Japan's Rizin Fighting Federation, where he beat UFC and Bellator veterans like C.B. Dollaway, Fabio Maldonado, and Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal, as well as reigning PFL heavyweight king Bruno Cappelozza.

At this point, he is irrefutably one of the best fighters in the world.

For the moment, however, we've decided to hold off on adding him to our men's top 10, because he is still a little short on marquee wins and his defeat of Teixeira was extremely competitive. He was nearly finished himself at multiple points in the fight.

Rest assured, another win or two will earn him a place on the list. He could also debut on the list by default, as former heavyweight king Stipe Miocic is at risk of being ejected for inactivity, having not fought since a March 2021 knockout loss to Francis Ngannou.

Men: Nos. 5-1

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5. Francis Ngannou

4. Max Holloway

3. Israel Adesanya

2. Alexander Volkanovski

1. Kamaru Usman

None of the fighters in our men's top five were in action at UFC 275, so we were never going to see any changes in the wake of the card.

That being said, we could see some massive changes in the coming months, as every one on the list but Francis Ngannou is set to return to the Octagon before the summer is out.

Max Holloway, our No. 4 fighter, will challenger Alexander Volkanovski, our No. 2 fighter, for the featherweight title at UFC 276 on July 6 in Las Vegas. Israel Adesanya, our No. 3 fighter, will defend his middleweight strap against Jared Cannonier on the same card. Last but not least, our current pound-for-pound king, Kamaru Usman, is slated to defend the welterweight title against Leon Edwards at UFC 278 on August 20.

Ngannou, the heavyweight champ and our No. 5 fighter, is currently locked in a contract dispute with the UFC and could leave the promotion when his contract expires at the end of this year. If that happens, we'll have to cut him from this list, which would also create a need for updates.

Women: Nos. 10-6

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10. Ketlen Vieira

9. Marina Rodriguez

8. Germaine de Randamie

7. Jessica Andrade

6. Carla Esparza

The only changes to the back half of our women's pound-for-pound rankings are unrelated to UFC 275.

Former bantamweight queen Holly Holm has dropped off the list after a split decision loss to Ketlen Vieira at May Fight Night. It was Vieira's second successive win after a decision triumph over another former bantamweight champ in Miesha Tate, whereas Holm is now 2-2 dating back to July 2019.

Holm's exit also cleared a path for streaking strawweight contender Marina Rodriguez to climb to No. 9. Our No. 8 spot is still held by former featherweight queen Germaine de Randamie, but she's at risk of getting bounced if she doesn't fight again soon.

Former strawweight queen Jessica Andrade remains perched at No. 7, having reaffirmed her status as one of the sport's best female fighters with a first-round submission of Amanda Lemos in April.

Carla Esparza, who captured the UFC strawweight title with a win over Rose Namajunas last month, is still sitting at No. 6.

Women: Nos. 5-1

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5. Zhang Weili

4. Rose Namajunas

3. Julianna Pena

2. Amanda Nunes

1. Valentina Shevchenko

UFC 275 had the potential to blow our women's top five to smithereens...and it almost did.

In the main event, our pound-for-pound queen Valentina Shevchenko defended her flyweight title with a narrow split-decision win over Brazil's Taila Santos. Had she lost—many onlookers felt she should have—she would have slipped from the No. 1 spot on this list, and Santos, who even in defeat proved she's worthy of pound-for-pound consideration, probably would have landed somewhere in the top five.

That would have made things pretty messy, considering we're still trying to sort out where everyone belongs after Julianna Pena shocked the world by defeating former pound-for-pound queen Amanda Nunes last year.

Former strawweight queen Zhang Weili was also back in action at UFC 275, taking on the great Joanna Jedrzejczyk in a rematch of a 2020 classic Zhang won by decision. The second time around, Zhang won by vicious second-round knockout. Unfortunately for her, that stunning KO of a living legend wasn't enough to push her past No. 4 fighter Rose Namajunas, who she has lost two twice recently.

In the end, UFC 275 didn't cause any changes to our women's rankings, but there could be some big shake-ups afoot, as Pena and Nunes are set to run it back at UFC 277 on July 30.

   

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