This past Saturday night, Glover Teixeira finally reached the mountaintop, winning the UFC light heavyweight championship by submitting Jan Blachowicz in the main event of UFC 267. It was an incredible moment for the 42-year-old as he completed an unlikely late-career run to become world champion.
Teixeira moved up to No. 1 in the CBS Sports UFC Divisional Rankings with the win. Blachowicz dropped from No. 1 to No. 3, sitting behind Teixeira and top contender Jiri Prochazka.
Also at the event, Petr Yan retained his No. 1 spot in the bantamweight rankings with a unanimous decision win over Cory Sandhagen. The win also gained Yan the interim bantamweight championship. Sandhagen dropped from No. 3 to No. 5 in defeat.
Saturday’s UFC 268 features three fights featuring CBS Sports ranked fighters.
- Welterweight: No. 1 Kamaru Usman (c) vs. No. 2 Colby Covington
- Women’s strawweight: No. 1 Rose Namajunas (c) vs. No. 2 Weili Zhang
- Lightweight: No. 3 Justin Gaethje vs. No. 5 Michael Chandler
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 |
16-2 |
|
2. Aljamain Sterling (c) |
19-4 |
|
3. TJ Dillashaw |
17-4 |
|
4. Rob Font |
19-4 |
|
5. Cory Sandhagen |
14-4 |
|
6. Jose Aldo |
30-7 |
|
7. Merab Dvalishvili |
14-4 |
|
8. Pedro Munhoz |
19-6 |
|
T9. Cody Garbrandt |
12-4 |
|
T9. 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. Islam Makhachev |
21-1 |
|
5. Michael Chandler |
22-6 |
|
6. Rafael dos Anjos |
30-13 |
|
7. Beneil Dariush |
21-4-1 |
|
8. Dan Hooker |
20-11 |
|
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 |
|
3. Marvin Vettori |
18-5-1 |
|
4. Derek Brunson |
23-7 |
|
5. Jared Cannonier |
14-5 |
|
6. Paulo Costa |
13-2 |
|
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. Glover Teixeira (c) |
33-7 |
|
2. Jiri Prochazka |
28-3-1 |
|
3. Jan Blachowicz |
28-9 |
|
4. Aleksandar Rakic |
14-2 |
|
5. Anthony Smith |
36-16 |
|
6. Thiago Santos |
22-9 |
|
7. Magomed Ankalaev |
15-1 |
|
8. Dominick Reyes |
12-3 |
|
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 |
34-9 |
|
7. Marcin Tybura |
22-7 |
|
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. Julianna Pena |
10-4 |
|
5. Irene Aldana |
13-6 |
|
6. Aspen Ladd |
9-2 |
|
7. Yana Kunitskaya |
14-6 |
|
8. Julia Avila |
9-2 |
|
9. Ketlen Vieira |
11-2 |
|
10. Miesha Tate |
19-7 |
