The relentless Kamaru Usman makes his move in pound-for-pound rankings – ESPN.co.uk

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.

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.

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.

Cormier and heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic will put their rankings on the line when they meet Aug. 15 to complete their championship trilogy.

The women's top 10 remained intact, with featherweight and bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes still No. 1.

(You can find Brett Okamoto's division-by-division rankings here.)

Note: Rankings were previously updated July 29.

1. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Record: 28-0Weight class: LightweightLast: W (SUB3) Dustin Poirier, Sept. 7Next: Oct. 24 vs. Justin Gaethje

2. Jon Jones

Record: 26-1, 1 NCWeight class: Light heavyweightLast: W (UD) Dominick Reyes, Feb. 8Next: TBD

3. Henry Cejudo

Record: 16-2Weight class: BantamweightLast: W (TKO2) Dominick Cruz, May 9Next: TBD

4. Stipe Miocic

Record: 19-3Weight class: HeavyweightLast: W (TKO4) Daniel Cormier, Aug. 17Next: Aug. 15 vs. Daniel Cormier

5. Kamaru Usman

Previous ranking: T-6Record: 17-1Weight class: WelterweightLast: W (UD) Jorge Masvidal, July 11Next: TBD

6. Daniel Cormier

Previous ranking: 5Record: 22-2, 1 NCWeight class: HeavyweightLast: L (TKO4) Stipe Miocic, Aug. 17Next: Aug. 15 vs. Stipe Miocic

7. Israel Adesanya

Previous ranking: T-6Record: 19-0Weight class: MiddleweightLast: W (UD) Yoel Romero, March 7Next: Sept. 19 vs. Paulo Costa

8. Demetrious Johnson

Record: 30-3-1Weight class: FlyweightLast: W (UD) Danny Kingad, Oct. 12Next: TBD vs. Adriano Moraes

9. Alexander Volkanovski

Record: 22-1Weight class: FeatherweightLast: W (SD) Max Holloway, July 11Next: TBD

10. Justin Gaethje

Record: 22-2Weight class: LightweightLast: W (TKO5) Tony Ferguson, May 9Next: Oct. 24 vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov

Other fighters receiving votes: Deiveson Figueiredo and Dustin Poirier.

Brett Okamoto1. Khabib Nurmagomedov2. Henry Cejudo3. Jon Jones4. Israel Adesanya5. Stipe Miocic6. Kamaru Usman7. Daniel Cormier8. Alexander Volkanovski9. Justin Gaethje10. Deiveson Figueiredo

Marc Raimondi1. Khabib Nurmagomedov2. Jon Jones3. Henry Cejudo4. Kamaru Usman5. Daniel Cormier6. Stipe Miocic7. Demetrious Johnson8. Israel Adesanya9. Alexander Volkanovski10. Justin Gaethje

Ariel Helwani1. Jon Jones2. Khabib Nurmagomedov3. Henry Cejudo4. Stipe Miocic5. Daniel Cormier6. Israel Adesanya7. Kamaru Usman8. Justin Gaethje9. Alexander Volkanovski10. Dustin Poirier

Jeff Wagenheim1. Khabib Nurmagomedov2. Jon Jones3. Henry Cejudo4. Stipe Miocic5. Demetrious Johnson6. Kamaru Usman7. Daniel Cormier8. Israel Adesanya9. Alexander Volkanovski10. Justin Gaethje

1. Amanda Nunes

Record: 20-4Weight class: Bantamweight/featherweightLast: W (UD) Felicia Spencer, June 6Next: TBD

2. Valentina Shevchenko

Record: 19-3Weight class: FlyweightLast: W (TKO3) Katlyn Chookagian, Feb. 8Next: TBD

3. Cris Cyborg

Record: 21-2, 1 NCWeight class: FeatherweightLast: W (UD) Julia Budd, Jan. 25Next: TBD

4. Zhang Weili

Record: 21-1Weight class: StrawweightLast: W (SD) Joanna Jedrzejczyk, March 7Next: TBD

5. Rose Namajunas

Record: 9-4Weight class: StrawweightLast: W (SD) Jessica Andrade, July 11Next: TBD

6. Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Record: 16-4Weight class: StrawweightLast: L (SD) Zhang Weili, March 7Next: TBD

7. Jessica Andrade

Record: 20-8Weight class: StrawweightLast: L (SD) Rose Namajunas, July 11Next: TBD

8. Tatiana Suarez

Record: 8-0Weight class: StrawweightLast: W (UD) Nina Ansaroff, June 8, 2019Next: TBD

9. Germaine de Randamie

Record: 9-4Weight class: BantamweightLast: L (UD) Amanda Nunes, Dec. 14Next: TBD

T-10. Katlyn Chookagian

Record: 14-3Weight class: FlyweightLast: W (UD) Antonina Shevchenko, May 30Next: TBD

T-10. Holly Holm

Record: 13-5Weight class: BantamweightLast: W (UD) Raquel Pennington, Jan. 18Next: TBD

Brett Okamoto1. Amanda Nunes2. Valentina Shevchenko3. Zhang Weili4. Rose Namajunas5. Cris Cyborg6. Joanna Jedrzejczyk7. Jessica Andrade8. Tatiana Suarez9. Germaine de Randamie10. Katlyn Chookagian

Marc Raimondi1. Amanda Nunes2. Valentina Shevchenko3. Cris Cyborg4. Zhang Weili5. Rose Namajunas6. Joanna Jedrzejczyk7. Jessica Andrade8. Tatiana Suarez9. Germaine de Randamie10. Holly Holm

Ariel Helwani1. Amanda Nunes2. Valentina Shevchenko3. Cris Cyborg4. Zhang Weili5. Rose Namajunas6. Joanna Jedrzejczyk7. Jessica Andrade8. Tatiana Suarez9. Germaine de Randamie10. Holly Holm

Jeff Wagenheim1. Amanda Nunes2. Valentina Shevchenko3. Cris Cyborg4. Zhang Weili5. Rose Namajunas6. Joanna Jedrzejczyk7. Jessica Andrade8. Tatiana Suarez9. Germaine de Randamie10. Katlyn Chookagian

Read the original post:

The relentless Kamaru Usman makes his move in pound-for-pound rankings - ESPN.co.uk

Related Posts

Comments are closed.