John Brannigan/Sherdog.com illustration
Nearly a decade after he appeared on “The Ultimate Fighter 19,” Anderson captured championship gold in a major promotion, as he took a unanimous decision over Karl Moore to capture the vacant light heavyweight strap in the Bellator Belfast headliner this past Friday. While it certainly is a milestone accomplishment for “Overtime,” the performance itself wasn’t enough for him to do anything other than maintain his No. 7 ranking in the latest 205-pound poll.
Meanwhile, Rose Namajunas earned her first flyweight triumph with a five-round verdict against Amanda Ribas in the UFC on ESPN 53 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday night. After falling to Manon Fiorot in her 125-pound debut, “Thug” Rose joins the divisional rankings at No. 12 after vanquishing her game Brazilian adversary.
Elsewhere, Patricio Freire restored order in Bellator’s featherweight division, defending his belt with a third-round technical knockout victory over Jeremy Kennedy in the co-main event at Bellator Champions Series Belfast. It was a much-needed win for “Pitbull,” who was coming off back-to-back losses for the first time in his career in 2023. As a result, he keeps his fifth ranking at 145 pounds.
Fabian Edwards maintained relevance in the middleweight division by taking a three-round verdict against Aaron Jeffery in another featured bout at Bellator Belfast. Leon Edwards’ younger brother didn’t score many style points in victory, but he does stay put in the latest 185-pound rankings at No. 13.
Finally, there was some significant action at atomweight over the weekend. Most notably, top-ranked Seika Izawa claimed her third championship belt with a second-round submission of Si Yoon Park in the Deep Jewels 44 main event on Sunday. Meanwhile, No. 10 Rena Kubota returned to the win column with a unanimous decision triumph over Yu Ri Shim at Rizin “Landmark Vol. 9” on Saturday.
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