Pound For Pound Rankings
Already considered one of the greatest fighters of all-time, Jones is now going to turn his attention to heavyweight in hopes of building an even more impressive legacy.
After fulfilling his dream of adding a global belt to his collection of championships, ‘Mighty Mouse’ now looks to add ONE’s flyweight belt to the grand prix title he already earned.
Usman may not be the most popular figure on the UFC roster, but he’s certainly effective and is starting to put his name in the history books with his dominant run.
With his trilogy win over Daniel Cormier secured, Miocic is widely considered the greatest heavyweight in UFC history – and perhaps even all of MMA.
Bader was certainly disappointed to lose his Bellator champ-champ status, but he does still have one belt and promises to return in top form.
It wasn’t as convincing as the first time around, but Volkanovski picked up a second win over Max Holloway and says he wants to continue taking out top contenders.
Poirier continues to be one of the most exciting fighters in the game, and his grit is immeasurable – qualities he hopes will net him another UFC title shot in the near future.
Holloway was all-class following a razor-thin loss to Alexander Volkanoski and now must decide what to do next.
Costa has made clear his disdain for UFC champ Israel Adesanya, and the two are set to meet at UFC 254 to work out their differences.
Honorable Mentions
USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Sept. 15: Shakeout from a big fight weekend
A big weekend of fight events had implications for the latest edition of the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings.
Bellator 245 on Friday night was followed by Bellator 246 the following evening. The latter event went head-to-head with UFC on ESPN+ 36 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
A new champion was crowned along the way, as Bellator 246 was headlined by Juan Archuleta’s stirring victory over Patchy Mix to claim the vacant bantamweight title. “The Spaniard” started slow, then won the last three rounds to claim a unanimous decision.
There was also consequential fights such as Michelle Waterson’s controversial decision over Angela Hill, and wins for the likes of Phil Davis, Neiman Gracie, Ottman Azaitar, Sijara Eubanks, and Leslie Smith.
Archuleta, for his part, is making his way through a stacked division, so he finds himself in the honorable mentions at 135 pounds. To find out where the rest place, or where your favorite or least favorite fighters rank, click on the drop-down menu above for all the latest division rankings.
Ranking Criteria
The rankings take into account a fighter’s wins/losses, quality of competition, finishing rate/dominance and frequency of fights.
Fighters are no longer eligible to be ranked after they’ve been inactive for 24 months, either due to injuries, drug/conduct suspensions, contract disputes or self-imposed hiatuses.
Fighters serving drug/conduct suspensions are eligible to be ranked, so long as they’re not inactive for more than 24 months.
To the best of our ability, fighters will be ranked in their primary weight class. Catchweight fights and bouts outside the fighter’s primary weight class can have a positive or negative impact on the ranking. However, non-titleholders can be ranked in only one weight class at a given time, and in most cases, they won’t be ranked in a new weight class until they’ve had their first fight at that weight.
Original article: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2020/09/usa-today-sports-mma-junkie-rankings-sept-15-shakeout-from-a-big-fight-weekend