Anthony Smith is still very much alive as a contender in the UFC’s light heavyweight division. Smith proved that this past Saturday when he submitted Ryan Spann in the first round of their UFC Fight Night main event.
Smith made easy work of Spann, rocking him on the feet repeatedly before finishing the fight on the ground with a rear-naked choke. The victory ran Smith’s current winning streak to three and moved him up one spot to No. 5 in the CBS Sports UFC Divisional Rankings.
The UFC’s attention now turns to Saturday’s UFC 266 pay-per-view event, which features a stacked card and two championship bouts.
Saturday’s UFC 266 features six fights featuring CBS Sports ranked fighters.
- Featherweight: No. 1 Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. No. 3 Brian Ortega
- Women’s flyweight: No. 1 Valentina Shevchenko (c) vs. No. 2 Lauren Murphy
- Heavyweight: No. 5 Curtis Blaydes vs. No. 7 Jairzinho Rozenstruik
- Women’s flyweight: No. 5 Cynthia Calvillo vs. Jessica Andrade
- Bantamweight: No. 7 Merab Dvalishvili vs. No. 9 Marlon Moraes
- Lightweight: No. 8 Dan Hooker vs. Nasrat Haqparast
Rankings are compiled following the submission of ballots by Brent Brookhouse, Brian Campbell and Brandon Wise. Without further ado, here’s where things stand ahead of Saturday’s card.
For Brian Campbell’s updated Pound for Pound Rankings, click here.
Flyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Brandon Moreno (c) |
19-5-2 |
|
2. Deiveson Figueiredo |
20-2-1 |
|
3. Askar Askarov |
12-0-1 |
|
4. Matt Schnell |
15-5 |
|
5. Alexandre Pantoja |
23-5 |
|
6. Kai Kara-France |
22-9 |
|
7. Joseph Benavidez |
28-8- |
|
8. Alex Perez |
24-6 |
|
9. Brandon Royval |
12-5 |
|
10. Jussier Formiga |
23-8 |
Bantamweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Petr Yan |
15-1 |
|
2. Aljamain Sterling (c) |
19-3 |
|
3. Cory Sandhagen |
14-3 |
|
4. TJ Dillashaw |
17-4 |
|
5. Rob Font |
19-4 |
|
6. Jose Aldo |
30-7 |
|
7. Merab Dvalishvili |
13-4 |
|
8. Pedro Munhoz |
19-6 |
|
9. Marlon Moraes |
23-8-1 |
|
10. Jimmie Rivera |
23-5 |
Featherweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Alexander Volkanovski (c) |
22-1 |
|
2. Max Holloway |
22-6 |
|
3. Brian Ortega |
15-1 |
|
4. Zabit Magomedsharipov |
18-1 |
|
5. Yair Rodriguez |
12-2 |
|
6. Korean Zombie |
17-6 |
|
7. Giga Chikadze |
14-2 |
|
8. Calvin Kattar |
22-5 |
|
9. Josh Emmett |
16-2 |
|
10. Edson Barboza |
22-10 |
Lightweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Dustin Poirier |
28-6 |
|
2. Charles Oliveira (c) |
31-8 |
|
3. Justin Gaethje |
22-3 |
|
4. Michael Chandler |
22-6 |
|
5. Islam Makhachev |
20-1 |
|
6. Rafael dos Anjos |
30-13 |
|
7. Beneil Dariush |
21-4-1 |
|
8. Dan Hooker |
20-10 |
|
9. Gregor Gillespie |
14-1 |
|
10. Tony Ferguson |
25-6 |
Welterweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Kamaru Usman (c) |
19-1 |
|
2. Colby Covington |
16-2 |
|
3. Leon Edwards |
19-3 |
|
4. Gilbert Burns |
20-4 |
|
5. Stephen Thompson |
16-5-1 |
|
6. Vicente Luque |
21-7-1 |
|
7. Jorge Masvidal |
35-15 |
|
8. Michael Chiesa |
18-5 |
|
9. Neil Magny |
25-8 |
|
10. Santiago Ponzinibbio |
28-4 |
Middleweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Israel Adesanya (c) |
21-1 |
|
2. Robert Whittaker |
23-5 |
|
T3. Paulo Costa |
13-1 |
|
T3. Derek Brunson |
23-7 |
|
5. Jared Cannonier |
14-5 |
|
6. Marvin Vettori |
17-5-1 |
|
7. Jack Hermansson |
22-6 |
|
8. Sean Strickland |
24-3 |
|
9. Kelvin Gastelum |
17-8 |
|
10. Darren Till |
18-4-1 |
Light heavyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Jan Blachowicz (c) |
28-8 |
|
2. Glover Teixeira |
32-7 |
|
3. Jiri Prochazka |
28-3-1 |
|
4. Aleksandar Rakic |
14-2 |
|
5. Anthony Smith |
36-16 |
|
6. Dominik Reyes |
12-3 |
|
7. Thiago Santos |
21-9 |
|
8. Magomed Ankalaev |
15-1 |
|
9. Johnny Walker |
18-5 |
|
10. Nikita Krylov |
26-8 |
Heavyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Francis Ngannou (c) |
16-3 |
|
2. Stipe Miocic |
20-4 |
|
3. Ciryl Gane |
10-0 |
|
4. Derrick Lewis |
25-8 |
|
5. Curtis Blaydes |
14-3 |
|
6. Alexander Volkov |
33-9 |
|
7. Jairzinho Rozenstruik |
12-2 |
|
8. Marcin Tybura |
22-6 |
|
9. Chris Daukaus |
11-3 |
|
10. Tai Tuivasa |
13-3 |
Women’s strawweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Rose Namajunas (c) |
10-4 |
|
2. Weili Zhang |
21-1 |
|
3. Carla Esparza |
18-6 |
|
4. Joanna Jedrzejczyk |
16-4 |
|
5. Mackenzie Dern |
11-1 |
|
6. Marina Rodriguez |
14-1-2 |
|
7. Yan Xiaonan |
13-2 |
|
8. Tatiana Suarez |
8-0 |
|
9. Michelle Waterson |
18-9 |
|
10. Jessica Andrade |
21-9 |
Women’s flyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Valentina Shevchenko (c) |
21-3 |
|
2. Lauren Murphy |
15-4 |
|
3. Jennifer Maia |
19-7-1 |
|
4. Katlyn Chookagian |
16-4 |
|
5. Cynthia Calvillo |
9-2-1 |
Women’s bantamweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Amanda Nunes (c) |
21-4 |
|
2. Germaine de Randamie |
10-4 |
|
3. Holly Holm |
14-5 |
|
4. Aspen Ladd |
9-1 |
|
5. Irene Aldana |
13-6 |
|
6. Julianna Pena |
10-4 |
|
7. Yana Kunitskaya |
14-6 |
|
8. Julia Avila |
8-2 |
|
9. Ketlen Vieira |
11-2 |
|
10. Miesha Tate |
19-7 |
