UFC divisional rankings: Carla Esparza takes No. 1 strawweight title with a win over Rose Namajunas
At UFC 274, the women’s strawweight title fight between Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza was a fight that many expected to be among the best of the night. Unfortunately, the fight turned out to be a dull affair that ranks among the least thrilling championship fights in UFC history. Despite the lack of excitement, the fight ended with Esparza raising her hand as she began her second reign as champion.
Esparza first won the title in December 2014 when he defeated Namajunas in the finale of The Ultimate Fighter. She would lose the belt on her next outing before embarking on a journey of more than seven years to win UFC gold again, culminating in her win over Namajunas on Saturday night. Esparza also climbed from No. 3 to No. 1 in the CBS Sports UFC divisional rankings, while Namajunas fell from No. 1 to No. 2.
In the night’s main event, Charles Oliveira managed a dramatic submission from Justin Gaethje in the first round to secure his first-place finish in the lightweight division. Strange circumstances surrounding the weigh-in resulted in Oliveira leaving the event without his lightweight championship after missing the weight by half a pound, amid controversy that the scales the fighters used before the official weigh-in had been changed was causing problems with weight loss.
Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card features just one fight involving CBS Sports ranked fighters.
- Light heavyweight: No.3 Jan Blachowicz vs. No.4 Aleksandar Rakic
- Flyweight women: #2 Katlyn Chookagian vs. Amanda Ribas
The ranking is established after Brent Brookhouse, Brian Campbell, Brandon Wise and Shakiel Mahjouri have cast their ballots. Without further ado, here are things ahead of the Saturday card.
For Brian Campbell’s updated pound-for-pound rankings, Click here.
flyweight
| fighter | recording |
| 1. Deiveson Figueiredo (c) | 21-2-1 |
| 2.Brandon Moreno | 19-6-2 |
| 3. Kai Kara-France | 24-9 |
| 4. Askar Askarov | 14-1-1 |
| 5. Alexandre Pantoja | 24-5 |
| 6.Brandon Royval | 13-6 |
| 7. Alex Perez | 24-6 |
| 8. Matt Swift | 15-7 |
| 9.Rogerio Bontorin | 17-3 |
| 10. Matheus Nicholas | 18-3-1 |
bantamweight
| fighter | recording |
| 1. Aljamain Sterling (c) | 21-3 |
| 2 Peter Jan | 16-3 |
| 3. TJ Dillashaw | 17-4 |
| 4. Cory Sandhagen | 14-4 |
| 5. Jose Aldo | 31-7 |
| 6. Merab Dvalishvili | 14-4 |
| 7. Marlon Vera | 21-7-1 |
| 8. Rob font | 19-6 |
| 9. Dominic Cruz | 24-3 |
| 10.Pedro Munhoz | 19-7 |
featherweight
| fighter | recording |
| 1. Alexander Volkanovsky (c) | 24-1 |
| 2. Max Holloway | 23-6 |
| 3.Brian Ortega | 15-2 |
| 4. Yair Rodriguez | 13-3 |
| 5. Calvin Kattar | 23-5 |
| 6. Josh Emmett | 17-2 |
| 7.Arnold Allen | 18-1 |
| 8. Korean zombie | 17-7 |
| 9. Giga Chikadze | 14-3 |
| 10.Bryce Mitchell | 15-0 |
Easy
| fighter | recording |
| 1. Karl Oliveira | 33-8 |
| 2.Dustin Poirier | 28-7 |
| 3. Islam Makhachev | 22-1 |
| 4. Justin Gaethje | 23-4 |
| 5. Beneil Dariush | 21-4-1 |
| 6.Michael Chandler | 23-6 |
| 7. Rafael Dos Anjos | 31-13 |
| 8. Rafael Fiziev | 11-1 |
| 9th Dan Hooker | 20-11 |
| 10.Gregor Gillespie | 14-1 |
welterweight
| fighter | recording |
| 1. Kamaru Usman (c) | 20-1 |
| 2. Colby Covington | 17-3 |
| 3.Leon Edwards | 19-3 |
| 4. Khamzat Chimaev | 11-0 |
| 5. Gilbert Burns | 20-5 |
| 6. Belal Muhammad | 21-3 |
| 7. Stephen Thompson | 16-5-1 |
| 8. Vicente Luque | 21-8-1 |
| 9.Jorge Masvidal | 35-16 |
| 10. Sean Brady | 15-0 |
medium weight
| fighter | recording |
| 1. Israel Adesanya (c) | 22-1 |
| 2. Robert Whittaker | 23-6 |
| 3. Jared Canonier | 15-5 |
| 4.Marvin Vettori | 18-5-1 |
| 5. Paulo Costa | 13-2 |
| 6. Derek Brunson | 23-8 |
| 7. Sean Strickland | 25-3 |
| 8. Jack Hermansson | 22-7 |
| 9.Darren Till | 18-4-1 |
| 10. Brendan Allen | 18-5 |
Light heavyweight
| fighter | recording |
| 1. Glover Teixeira (c) | 33-7 |
| 2. Jiri Prochazka | 28-3-1 |
| 3. Jan Blachowicz | 28-9 |
| 4. Aleksandar Rakic | 14-2 |
| 5. Magomed Ankalaev | 17-1 |
| 6.AnthonySmith | 36-16 |
| 7. Dominick Reyes | 12-3 |
| 8. Thiago Santos | 22-10 |
| 9.Paul Craig | 16-4-1 |
| 10. Jamahal Hill | 10-1 |
heavyweight
| fighter | recording |
| 1. Francis Ngannou (c) | 16-3 |
| 2. Stipe Miocic | 20-4 |
| 3. Ciryl Gane | 10-1 |
| 4. Curtis Blaydes | 16-3 |
| 5. Tai Tuivasa | 14-3 |
| 6. Tom Aspinall | 12-2 |
| 7.Derrick Lewis | 26-9 |
| 8. Alexander Volkov | 34-10 |
| 9. Jairzinho Rozenstruik | 12-3 |
| 10. Chris Daukaus | 12-4 |
women’s straw weight
| fighter | recording |
| 1. Carla Esparza (c) | 19-6 |
| 2. Rose Namajunas | 11-5 |
| 3. Weili Zhang | 21-3 |
| 4. Marina Rodriguez | 15-1-2 |
| 5. Yan Xiaonan | 13-2 |
| 6. Mackenzie Dern | 12-1 |
| 7.Jessica Andrade | 23-9 |
| 8. Amanda Ribas | 11-2 |
| 9. Tecia Torres | 13-6 |
| 10. Michelle Waterson | 18-9 |
Women’s Flyweight
| fighter | recording |
| 1. Valentina Shevchenko (c) | 22-3 |
| 2. Katlyn Chookagian | 16-4 |
| 3. Alexa Grasso | 14-3 |
| 4. Lauren Murphy | 15-5 |
| 5. Talia Santos | 19-1 |
Women’s Bantamweight
| fighter | recording |
| T1 Julianna Pena (c) | 11-4 |
| T1 Amanda Nunes | 21-5 |
| 3. Germaine de Randamie | 10-4 |
| 4. Holly Holm | 14-5 |
| 5. Irene Aldana | 13-6 |
| 6. Yana Kunitskaya | 14-6 |
| 7.Raquel Pennington | 14-9 |
| 8. KetleVieira | 12-2 |
| 9. Sara McMann | 12-6 |
| 10. Aspen Ladd | 9-3 |
https://www.cbssports.com/mma/news/ufc-divisional-rankings-carla-esparza-takes-over-no-1-spot-at-strawweight-with-win-over-rose-namajunas/ UFC divisional rankings: Carla Esparza takes No. 1 strawweight title with a win over Rose Namajunas
