Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

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The ordering process for Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-views has changed: UFC 248 is only available on ESPN+ in the U.S.

The featured bouts at UFC 248 were a study in contrasts.

The middleweight championship headliner was largely a disappointment, as Israel Adesanya adopted a risk averse approach against a mostly inactive Yoel Romero en route to a lackluster unanimous decision triumph. While Adesanya’s star power dimmed somewhat, he remains atop our latest middleweight rankings with his undefeated record intact. Romero, despite losses in four of his last five outings, stays put at fifth for now.

On the opposite end of the spectrum was the strawweight championship clash between Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the UFC 248 co-main event. For five rounds, the two combatants gave it their all in a battle that could very well go down as the greatest women’s fight of all time and is an early front runner for 2020 “Fight of the Year.” Like it’s counterpart, the contest produced no change in the rankings: Zhang, the reigning champion, is still No. 1, while Jedrzejcyzk, valiant in defeat, holds steady at fourth.

There is one housekeeping matter to attend to, however. Darren Till, inactive at welterweight since March 2019, exits the 170-pound bubble. That clears the way for the debut of Fortis MMA product Geoff Neal, who joins the poll at No. 15 on the strength of a seven-bout winning streak.

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