Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Yair Rodriguez produced a highlight for the ages at UFC Fight Night 139.

After more than a year away from the Octagon, the Mexican featherweight star rebounded from his first career promotional defeat in a big way on the UFC’s 25 anniversary card, knocking out Chan Sung Jung with a no-look elbow at the 4:59 mark of round five of the evening’s headliner at the Pepsi Center in Denver. “Pantera,” who has won seven of his eight promotional appearances, displaces Josh Emmett to enter the featherweight rankings at No. 10. Jung’s stock didn’t fall far in defeat, either. “The Korean Zombie” gets a spot on the 145-pound bubble for his part in a “Fight of the Year” contender.

Rodriguez and Jung weren’t the only fighters at UFC Denver to return from a lengthy hiatus. After a more than a year-and-a half absence, ex-featherweight queen Germaine de Randamie scored a clear-cut decision win over former No. 1 contender Raquel Pennington in a bantamweight affair. Couple that victory with a previous triumph against Holly Holm at 145 pounds, and “The Iron Lady” is a solid choice to climb to No. 2 in our bantamweight poll. Pennington, after looking underwhelming in back-to-back defeats, falls to the seventh spot.

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