Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Image: John Brannigan/Sherdog.com illustration

For Mackenzie Dern, five-plus years made all the difference.

The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt played to her strengths in the UFC Vegas 101 headliner, submitting Amanda Ribas with an armbar 4:56 into Round 3 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. After two competitive frames, Dern methodically worked to isolate her opponent’s limb in the third stanza before securing the decisive maneuver. With that, Dern avenged a unanimous decision defeat to her Brazilian rival in October 2019. With consecutive wins over ranked foes in Ribas and Lupita Godinez, Dern is able to climb one spot to No. 8 in Sherdog’s latest strawweight poll. She moves ahead of Marina Rodriguez despite a head-to-head loss to the muay thai stylist four years ago, as Rodriguez has lost four of her last five outings in UFC competition.

Elsewhere, Roman Kopylov has been sneaky good since 2022, winning six of his seven Octagon appearances — with his only loss coming to current No. 13 middleweight Anthony Hernandez. While the ending of Saturday’s clash against Chris Curtis might have been controversial, the overall result was not, as the Russian appeared to be on his way to earning a decision triumph had referee Mark Smith not intervened with one second remaining in the fight. His recent run of success allows Kopylov to enter the 185-pound rankings at No. 14.

In housekeeping news, as Norma Dumont marches toward title contention in the UFC at 135 pounds, her rankings eligibility at featherweight has reached its end. It’s not a pretty picture in this shallow weight class, but someone has to fill the void left by her exit. That person is Jaeleen Robledo, who is coming off a 145-pound win over Zurina Turrey last August.

Note: Previous rankings listed in brackets.

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