It was not the rock-'em-sock-'em thriller that fans were hoping for when they saw that Jorge Masvidal was challenging for the UFC welterweight championship, but that was the whole point for Kamaru Usman.<\/p>\n
Making his second defense of the 170-pound belt in the UFC 251 main event on July 11, Usman relentlessly crowded Masvidal, taking his explosiveness out of the equation and rolling to a dominant, unanimous-decision victory.<\/p>\n
That victory boosted Usman a couple of spots in the ESPN men's pound-for-pound rankings.<\/p>\n
The rest of the men's and women's top 10s remained intact, though Daniel Cormier and Israel Adesanya each dropped one spot to make room for the ascent of Usman.<\/p>\n
Deiveson Figueiredo garnered a vote on the strength of his July 19 victory, which earned him the vacant UFC men's flyweight championship. But one vote was not enough to put him in the top 10, which is still topped by lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov.<\/p>\n
Cormier and heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic will put their rankings on the line when they meet Aug. 15 to complete their championship trilogy.<\/p>\n
The women's top 10 remained intact, with featherweight and bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes still No. 1.<\/p>\n
(You can find Brett Okamoto's division-by-division rankings here.)<\/p>\n
Note: Rankings were previously updated July 29.<\/p>\n
1. Khabib Nurmagomedov <\/p>\n
Record: 28-0Weight class: LightweightLast: W (SUB3) Dustin Poirier, Sept. 7Next: Oct. 24 vs. Justin Gaethje<\/p>\n
2. Jon Jones <\/p>\n
Record: 26-1, 1 NCWeight class: Light heavyweightLast: W (UD) Dominick Reyes, Feb. 8Next: TBD<\/p>\n
3. Henry Cejudo <\/p>\n
Record: 16-2Weight class: BantamweightLast: W (TKO2) Dominick Cruz, May 9Next: TBD<\/p>\n
4. Stipe Miocic <\/p>\n
Record: 19-3Weight class: HeavyweightLast: W (TKO4) Daniel Cormier, Aug. 17Next: Aug. 15 vs. Daniel Cormier<\/p>\n
5. Kamaru Usman <\/p>\n
Previous ranking: T-6Record: 17-1Weight class: WelterweightLast: W (UD) Jorge Masvidal, July 11Next: TBD<\/p>\n
6. Daniel Cormier <\/p>\n
Previous ranking: 5Record: 22-2, 1 NCWeight class: HeavyweightLast: L (TKO4) Stipe Miocic, Aug. 17Next: Aug. 15 vs. Stipe Miocic<\/p>\n
7. Israel Adesanya <\/p>\n
Previous ranking: T-6Record: 19-0Weight class: MiddleweightLast: W (UD) Yoel Romero, March 7Next: Sept. 19 vs. Paulo Costa<\/p>\n
8. Demetrious Johnson <\/p>\n
Record: 30-3-1Weight class: FlyweightLast: W (UD) Danny Kingad, Oct. 12Next: TBD vs. Adriano Moraes<\/p>\n
9. Alexander Volkanovski <\/p>\n
Record: 22-1Weight class: FeatherweightLast: W (SD) Max Holloway, July 11Next: TBD<\/p>\n
10. Justin Gaethje <\/p>\n
Record: 22-2Weight class: LightweightLast: W (TKO5) Tony Ferguson, May 9Next: Oct. 24 vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov<\/p>\n
Other fighters receiving votes: Deiveson Figueiredo and Dustin Poirier.<\/p>\n
Brett Okamoto1. Khabib Nurmagomedov2. Henry Cejudo3. Jon Jones4. Israel Adesanya5. Stipe Miocic6. Kamaru Usman7. Daniel Cormier8. Alexander Volkanovski9. Justin Gaethje10. Deiveson Figueiredo<\/p>\n
Marc Raimondi1. Khabib Nurmagomedov2. Jon Jones3. Henry Cejudo4. Kamaru Usman5. Daniel Cormier6. Stipe Miocic7. Demetrious Johnson8. Israel Adesanya9. Alexander Volkanovski10. Justin Gaethje<\/p>\n
Ariel Helwani1. Jon Jones2. Khabib Nurmagomedov3. Henry Cejudo4. Stipe Miocic5. Daniel Cormier6. Israel Adesanya7. Kamaru Usman8. Justin Gaethje9. Alexander Volkanovski10. Dustin Poirier<\/p>\n
Jeff Wagenheim1. Khabib Nurmagomedov2. Jon Jones3. Henry Cejudo4. Stipe Miocic5. Demetrious Johnson6. Kamaru Usman7. Daniel Cormier8. Israel Adesanya9. Alexander Volkanovski10. Justin Gaethje<\/p>\n
1. Amanda Nunes <\/p>\n
Record: 20-4Weight class: Bantamweight\/featherweightLast: W (UD) Felicia Spencer, June 6Next: TBD<\/p>\n
2. Valentina Shevchenko <\/p>\n
Record: 19-3Weight class: FlyweightLast: W (TKO3) Katlyn Chookagian, Feb. 8Next: TBD<\/p>\n
3. Cris Cyborg <\/p>\n
Record: 21-2, 1 NCWeight class: FeatherweightLast: W (UD) Julia Budd, Jan. 25Next: TBD<\/p>\n
4. Zhang Weili <\/p>\n
Record: 21-1Weight class: StrawweightLast: W (SD) Joanna Jedrzejczyk, March 7Next: TBD<\/p>\n
5. Rose Namajunas <\/p>\n
Record: 9-4Weight class: StrawweightLast: W (SD) Jessica Andrade, July 11Next: TBD<\/p>\n
6. Joanna Jedrzejczyk <\/p>\n
Record: 16-4Weight class: StrawweightLast: L (SD) Zhang Weili, March 7Next: TBD<\/p>\n
7. Jessica Andrade <\/p>\n
Record: 20-8Weight class: StrawweightLast: L (SD) Rose Namajunas, July 11Next: TBD<\/p>\n
8. Tatiana Suarez <\/p>\n
Record: 8-0Weight class: StrawweightLast: W (UD) Nina Ansaroff, June 8, 2019Next: TBD<\/p>\n
9. Germaine de Randamie <\/p>\n
Record: 9-4Weight class: BantamweightLast: L (UD) Amanda Nunes, Dec. 14Next: TBD<\/p>\n
T-10. Katlyn Chookagian <\/p>\n
Record: 14-3Weight class: FlyweightLast: W (UD) Antonina Shevchenko, May 30Next: TBD<\/p>\n
T-10. Holly Holm <\/p>\n
Record: 13-5Weight class: BantamweightLast: W (UD) Raquel Pennington, Jan. 18Next: TBD<\/p>\n
Brett Okamoto1. Amanda Nunes2. Valentina Shevchenko3. Zhang Weili4. Rose Namajunas5. Cris Cyborg6. Joanna Jedrzejczyk7. Jessica Andrade8. Tatiana Suarez9. Germaine de Randamie10. Katlyn Chookagian<\/p>\n
Marc Raimondi1. Amanda Nunes2. Valentina Shevchenko3. Cris Cyborg4. Zhang Weili5. Rose Namajunas6. Joanna Jedrzejczyk7. Jessica Andrade8. Tatiana Suarez9. Germaine de Randamie10. Holly Holm<\/p>\n
Ariel Helwani1. Amanda Nunes2. Valentina Shevchenko3. Cris Cyborg4. Zhang Weili5. Rose Namajunas6. Joanna Jedrzejczyk7. Jessica Andrade8. Tatiana Suarez9. Germaine de Randamie10. Holly Holm<\/p>\n
Jeff Wagenheim1. Amanda Nunes2. Valentina Shevchenko3. Cris Cyborg4. Zhang Weili5. Rose Namajunas6. Joanna Jedrzejczyk7. Jessica Andrade8. Tatiana Suarez9. Germaine de Randamie10. Katlyn Chookagian<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Read the original post: <\/p>\n
The relentless Kamaru Usman makes his move in pound-for-pound rankings - ESPN.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was not the rock-'em-sock-'em thriller that fans were hoping for when they saw that Jorge Masvidal was challenging for the UFC welterweight championship, but that was the whole point for Kamaru Usman. Making his second defense of the 170-pound belt in the UFC 251 main event on July 11, Usman relentlessly crowded Masvidal, taking his explosiveness out of the equation and rolling to a dominant, unanimous-decision victory. That victory boosted Usman a couple of spots in the ESPN men's pound-for-pound rankings Continue reading