Rankings: Miocic rises in p-4-p; Faber falls and Andrade moves up
UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic defended his title for the first time on Saturday night and his stock is on the rise.
Miocic jumped up two spots in the pound-for-pound rankings to No. 6 behind featherweights Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo in the latest official UFC rankings release.
Miocic represented his hometown at UFC 203 fighting in front of a raucous Cleveland crowd against Alistair Overeem. Miocic made it three-straight first-round knockouts and is now just one title defense away from tying the heavyweight record of two successful defenses.
In other movement, strawweight Jessica Andrade enters the top 5 of her division after a win over Joanne Calderwood. Andrade made the move down to 115 pounds in June and debuted with a TKO win against Jessica Penne.
Now ranked No. 5, Andrade has established herself as a contender in the division and now is likely set to take on a top-five opponent in what could end up being a title eliminator fight.
Not many fighters have had the success or durability that Urijah Faber has had in the UFC and WEC the past decade. “The California Kid” suffered a second-straight loss at UFC 203 marking the first time in his career he dropped two in a row.
Faber falls four spots to No. 6 in the bantamweight division, while Jimmie Rivera moved up five spots to No. 7 after taking out the legend in Cleveland. Eleven fighters at 135 pounds moved a spot, either up or down, in the wake of the big jumps by Faber and Rivera. Top contender Cody Garbrandt, rumored to be next in line for a title shot against Dominick Cruz, entered the top five for the first time.
Fabricio Werdum beat Travis Browne again, dropping “Hapa” three spots at heavyweight down to No. 9 in the division. In the women’s bantamweight division, Bethe Correia moves up a spot to No. 10 after taking out Jessica Eye, who falls three spots to No. 13 after suffering her fourth-straight loss.
