John Brannigan/Sherdog.com illustration
The 24-year-old Team Alpha Male product earned the biggest win of his career to date, scoring an emphatic first-round knockout of Marlon Moraes in the UFC Fight Night 203 co-main event on Saturday. The surging bantamweight has lost just one of 10 Octagon appearances, and his latest triumph allows him to debut at No. 10 in Sherdog’s divisional rankings. Moraes, previously ranked No. 8, falls out of the poll entirely following his fourth consecutive KO/TKO defeat.
There was some noteworthy action at light heavyweight as well, but chalk reigned supreme, as Magomed Ankalaev vanquished Thiago Santos in the UFC Fight Night 203 headliner, while Phil Davis outpointed Julius Anglickas at Bellator 276. Those victories allow Ankalaev and Davis to hold serve at No. 6 and No. 11 respectively. Santos, however falls to the fringe of the light heavyweight bubble at No. 15.
Elsewhere, the unheralded Namiko Kawabata authored a significant upset, taking a unanimous decision against third-ranked Saori Oshima in a super atomweight bout at Deep Jewels 36 over the weekend. That performance allows Kawabata to debut in the rankings at No. 4. Oshima falls to fifth, while Invicta atomweight champ Jessica Correa Delboni takes over the third spot.
Note: Previous rankings listed in brackets.
Continue Reading » Heavyweight