UFC rankings update: Valentina Shevchenko surges up women’s flyweight list

In the wake of last weekend’s UFC Belem card, the UFC has updated its official rankings. The biggest shakeups in this latest iteration of the rankings can all be attributed to Valentina Shevchenko.

Having left the UFC women’s bantamweight division (where she was formerly ranked number one), and officially announced herself in the UFC’s new women’s flyweight division, Shevchenko has caused tectonic shifts in both divisions.

Another shakeup to occur in the wake of the UFC Belem card is Thiago Santos’ rise up the middleweight ranks. Previously ranked at 15th, he’s now ranked at 11th, and has been rewarded with a scrap with David Branch as a result.

Here are the updated UFC rankings (h/t MMAMania.com).

Note: +/- = movement in rankings, *NR = Not previously ranked.

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson 
2 Conor McGregor 
3 Daniel Cormier 
4 Stipe Miocic 
5 Max Holloway -1
6 Georges St-Pierre 
7 TJ Dillashaw 
8 Tyron Woodley 
9 Cris Cyborg 
10 Tony Ferguson 
11 Cody Garbrandt 
12 Robert Whittaker 
13 Amanda Nunes 
14 Khabib Nurmagomedov 
15 Joanna Jedrzejczyk 

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez 
2 Henry Cejudo 
3 Ray Borg 
4 Jussier Formiga 
5 Sergio Pettis 
6 Wilson Reis 
7 Brandon Moreno 
8 Ben Nguyen 
9 Dustin Ortiz 
10 John Moraga 
11 Matheus Nicolau 
12 Tim Elliott 
13 Alexandre Pantoja 
14 Deiveson Figueiredo 
15 Magomed Bibulatov 

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt 
2 Dominick Cruz 
3 Raphael Assuncao 
4 Jimmie Rivera 
5 Marlon Moraes 
6 John Lineker 
7 Bryan Caraway 
8 John Dodson 
9 Aljamain Sterling 
10 Pedro Munhoz 
11 Rob Font 
12 Thomas Almeida 
13 Eddie Wineland 
14 Brett Johns 
15 Matthew Lopez

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Jose Aldo 
2 Frankie Edgar 
3 Brian Ortega 
4 Josh Emmett 
5 Cub Swanson 
6 Ricardo Lamas 
7 Chan Sung Jung 
8 Jeremy Stephens 
9 Darren Elkins 
10 Yair Rodriguez 
11 Renato Moicano 
12 Mirsad Bektic 
13 Dooho Choi 
14 Myles Jury 
15 Calvin Kattar 

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Conor McGregor
1 Tony Ferguson (Interim Champion)
2 Khabib Nurmagomedov 
3 Eddie Alvarez 
4 Edson Barboza 
5 Dustin Poirier 
6 Justin Gaethje 
7 Kevin Lee 
8 Nate Diaz 
9 Michael Chiesa 
10 Al Iaquinta 
11 Beneil Dariush 
12 James Vick 
13 Anthony Pettis 
14 Francisco Trinaldo 
15 Evan Dunham 

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Stephen Thompson 
2 Rafael Dos Anjos 
3 Colby Covington 
4 Robbie Lawler 
5 Demian Maia 
6 Jorge Masvidal 
7 Darren Till 
8 Neil Magny 
9 Kamaru Usman 
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio 
11 Donald Cerrone 
12 Carlos Condit 
13 Gunnar Nelson 
14 Dong Hyun Kim 
15 Yancy Medeiros

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero 
2 Luke Rockhold 
3 Jacare Souza 
4 Chris Weidman 
5 Kelvin Gastelum 
6 Michael Bisping 
7 Derek Brunson 
8 David Branch 
9 Uriah Hall 
10 Vitor Belfort 
11 Thiago Santos +4
12 Lyoto Machida +1
13 Krzysztof Jotko -1
14 Paulo Costa 
15 Brad Tavares -4

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson 
2 Glover Teixeira 
2 Volkan Oezdemir 
4 Jimi Manuwa 
5 Ovince Saint Preux 
6 Mauricio Rua 
7 Misha Cirkunov 
8 Corey Anderson 
8 Ilir Latifi 
10 Patrick Cummins 
11 Jan Blachowicz 
12 Gadzhimurad Antigulov 
13 Tyson Pedro 
14 Gian Villante 
15 Jared Cannonier 

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Stipe Miocic
1 Francis Ngannou 
2 Alistair Overeem 
3 Fabricio Werdum 
4 Cain Velasquez 
5 Mark Hunt 
6 Derrick Lewis 
7 Alexander Volkov 
8 Marcin Tybura 
9 Curtis Blaydes 
10 Stefan Struve 
11 Aleksei Oleinik 
12 Andrei Arlovski 
13 Tim Johnson +2
14 Junior Albini -1
15 Shamil Abdurakhimov *NR

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk 
2 Jessica Andrade 
3 Claudia Gadelha 
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz 
5 Tecia Torres 
6 Carla Esparza 
7 Michelle Waterson 
8 Felice Herrig 
9 Cynthia Calvillo 
10 Alexa Grasso 
11 Randa Markos 
12 Cortney Casey 
13 Joanne Calderwood 
14 Maryna Moroz 
15 Tatiana Suarez 

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Valentina Shevchenko *NR
2 Sijara Eubanks -1
3 Lauren Murphy -1
4 Alexis Davis -1
5 Roxanne Modafferi -1
6 Barb Honchak -1
7 Liz Carmouche -1
8 Katlyn Chookagian -1
9 Jessica-Rose Clark -1
10 Jessica Eye -1
11 Montana De La Rosa -1
12 Rachael Ostovich 
13 Mara Romero Borella -2
14 Paige VanZant -1
15 Shana Dobson -1

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Holly Holm +1
2 Julianna Pena +1
3 Raquel Pennington +1
4 Germaine de Randamie +1
5 Ketlen Vieira +1
6 Cat Zingano +1
7 Sara McMann +1
8 Ronda Rousey +1
9 Marion Reneau +1
10 Leslie Smith +1
11 Bethe Correia +1
12 Aspen Ladd +1
13 Sarah Moras +1
14 Irene Aldana +1
15 Ashlee Evans-Smith *NR

What do you think of these new rankings? Who do you want to see Valentina Shevchenko fight next?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/8/2018.