UFC Vegas 43 rankings update: Taila Santos jumps into top-five in women’s flyweight division

By Adam D Martin - November 29, 2021

Following her latest win, Taila Santos has jumped into the top-five in the women’s flyweight division in the latest set of the UFC rankings.

Taila Santos, UFC Vegas 43, Joanne Wood

Santos obliterated Joanne Wood at UFC Vegas 43 when she knocked her down twice and then choked her out for the biggest win of her MMA career to date. Santos, who is now 4-1 overall in the UFC, made a huge leap up the latest set of UFC rankings, jumping all the way to No. 5 in the promotion at her weight class. As for Wood, she dropped down to No. 6, and everyone else who was above Santos originally but below Wood also fell by one spot.

Santos was the biggest winner of the night when it comes to the rankings, but there were some other big movers and shakers too. Welterweight Sean Brady, who defeated Michael Chiesa by decision for the biggest win of his own MMA career, moved all the way up to No. 8 at 170lbs. Chiesa dropped down to No. 9, with Jorge Masvidal and Neil Magny each moving up one spot, and then a string of other fights being dropped down by one position.

Aside from Santos and Brady, the other big mover was women’s bantamweight Ketlen Vieira, who moved up to No. 6 at 135lbs, one spot ahead of Yana Kunitskaya, following her big win over Miesha Tate. Vieira looked good in the fight and deserved to move up the rankings, but it is kind of strange to see her ranked about Kunitskaya when she lost to her earlier this year. Still, that was a controversial judges’ decision, so it’s not completely crazy, and Kunitskaya did recently get knocked out by Irene Aldana, so it is understandable.

What do you think of the latest UFC rankings update, including Taila Santos making a big jump at women’s 125lbs?