Thiago Santos faced something near a must-win fight in the main event of this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night. Santos entered his light heavyweight fight with Johnny Walker on a three-fight losing skid and far from having earned a second opportunity at a title shot.
Santos managed to edge out a narrow decision, scoring his first win since February 2019, when he defeated Jan Blachowicz, the man who now holds the 205-pound title. With the win, Santos moves up one spot to No. 9 in the CBS Sports UFC Divisional Rankings.
Walker is now 1-3 in his four most recent fights and is winless in the UFC in fights that go past the three-minute mark of the first round. He remains at the No. 9 spot in the rankings.
Saturday’s UFC Fight Night features just one fight featuring CBS Sports ranked fighters.
- Women’s strawweight: No. 5 Mackenzie Dern vs. No. 6 Marina Rodriguez
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 |
14-0-1 |
|
4. Matt Schnell |
15-6 |
|
5. Alexandre Pantoja |
23-5 |
|
6. Kai Kara-France |
22-9 |
|
7. Joseph Benavidez |
28-8 |
|
8. Alex Perez |
24-6 |
|
9. Brandon Royval |
12-6 |
|
10. Jussier Formiga |
23-8 |
Bantamweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Petr Yan |
15-2 |
|
2. Aljamain Sterling (c) |
19-4 |
|
3. Cory Sandhagen |
14-3 |
|
4. TJ Dillashaw |
17-4 |
|
5. Rob Font |
19-4 |
|
6. Jose Aldo |
30-7 |
|
7. Merab Dvalishvili |
14-4 |
|
T8. Cody Garbrandt |
12-4 |
|
T8. Marlon Moraes |
23-9-1 |
|
T8. Jimmie Rivera |
23-5 |
Featherweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Alexander Volkanovski (c) |
22-1 |
|
2. Max Holloway |
22-6 |
|
3. Zabit Magomedsharipov |
18-1 |
|
4. Brian Ortega |
15-2 |
|
5. Yair Rodriguez |
13-2 |
|
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 |
16-8 |
|
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. Thiago Santos |
22-9 |
|
7. Dominick Reyes |
12-3 |
|
8. Magomed Ankalaev |
15-1 |
|
9. Johnny Walker |
18-6 |
|
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. Curtis Blaydes |
15-3 |
|
5. Derrick Lewis |
25-8 |
|
6. Alexander Volkov |
33-9 |
|
7. Marcin Tybura |
22-6 |
|
8. Chris Daukaus |
12-3 |
|
9. Jairzinho Rozenstruik |
12-3 |
|
10. Tai Tuivasa |
12-3 |
Women’s strawweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Rose Namajunas (c) |
10-4 |
|
2. Weili Zhang |
21-2 |
|
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 |
22-9 |
Women’s flyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Valentina Shevchenko (c) |
22-3 |
|
2. Jessica Andrade |
22-9 |
|
3. Jennifer Maia |
19-7-1 |
|
4. Lauren Murphy |
15-5 |
|
5. Maycee Barber |
9-2 |
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 |
9-2 |
|
9. Ketlen Vieira |
11-2 |
|
10. Miesha Tate |
19-7 |
