Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings
Lightweight Spotlight
One week after the UFC featherweight and middleweight divisions were on display in Las Vegas, the lightweights took center stage in Orlando, Florida, for UFC on Fox 17.
Rafael dos Anjos capitalized on his moment in the spotlight, as the 155-pound champion needed only 66 seconds to beat the title dreams out of Donald Cerrone before a national audience. Dos Anjos, who took the belt from Anthony Pettis in a March upset, has looked unstoppable in his last five fights and is quickly making a name for himself as one of the finest pound-for-pound fighters in the world. The champ retains his No. 1 ranking in the lightweight division with this update, while Cerrone remains at No. 3 thanks to the sensational eight-fight winning streak which earned him the title shot.
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The biggest rankings jump of the week came from Alistair Overeem, who ended his tepid heavyweight bout against Junior dos Santos in the blink of an eye with a left hook late in the second round. “The ‘Reem” vaults six places to the No. 3 spot previously held by dos Santos, who falls one place to No. 4.
In other activity: Unbeaten strawweight Karolina Kowalkiewicz bested Randa Markos across three rounds, moving Kowalkiewicz up to No. 4 in the 115-pound rankings, above the inactive Carla Esparza; the women’s bantamweight division has a new threat in Valentina Shevchenko, who joins the rankings at No. 8 after a decision win against Sarah Kaufman; and Mirsad Bektic joins the list of featherweight contenders, replacing Nik Lentz, who has moved to lightweight.
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