Eventually, oddsmakers, fans and media may stop doubting Derrick Lewis’ ability to knock off all but the elite in the heavyweight division. Lewis delivered a big reminder of his skills at this past weekend’s UFC Fight Night when he brutally knocked out Curtis Blaydes in the night’s main event.
Blaydes entered the night thinking a win over Lewis would cement his spot as a sure-fire contender for the heavyweight championship. The first round played out nearly perfectly for him, with Lewis unable to keep up with Blaydes on the feet while worrying about potential takedowns. That all changed on a single punch in the second round with Lewis uncorking an uppercut takedown counter he’d had loaded since the opening bell. Blaydes went crashing to the canvas, and after Lewis landed two more bombs on the ground, the fight was over.
With the win, Lewis moved from No. 5 to No. 3 in the CBS Sports UFC Divisional Rankings. Blaydes fell from No. 3 to No. 5 in defeat, and will once again have to try to build himself up to a potential title shot in the future.
Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card features three fights involving CBS Sports ranked fighters:
- Heavyweight: No. 6 Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. No. 8 Cyril Gane
- Light heavyweight: No. 7 Nikita Krylov vs. Magomed Ankalaev
- Bantamweight: No. 6 Jimmie Rivera vs. No. 7 Pedro Munhoz
Rankings are compiled following the submission of ballots by Brent Brookhouse, Brian Campbell, Jack Crosby 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. Deivieson Figueiredo |
20-1-1 |
|
2. Brandon Moreno |
18-5-2 |
|
3. Askar Askarov |
12-0-1 |
|
4. Joseph Benavidez |
28-7 |
|
T5. Matt Schnell |
15-4 |
|
T5. Alexandre Pantoja |
21-5 |
|
7. Kai Kara-France |
21-8 |
|
8. Alex Perez |
24-6 |
|
9. Jussier Formiga |
23-8 |
|
10. Raulian Paiva |
19-3 |
Bantamweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Petr Yan (c) |
15-1 |
|
2. Aljamain Sterling |
19-3 |
|
3. Cory Sandhagen |
14-2 |
|
4. Cody Garbrandt |
12-3 |
|
5. Marlon Moraes |
23-7-1 |
|
6. Jimmie Rivera |
23-4 |
|
7. Pedro Munhoz |
18-5 |
|
8. Raphael Assuncao |
27-8 |
|
9. Merab Dvalishvili |
12-4 |
|
10. Jose Aldo |
29-7 |
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 |
16-6 |
|
7. Calvin Kattar |
22-5 |
|
8. Josh Emmett |
16-2 |
|
9. Dan Ige |
14-3 |
|
10. Shane Burgos |
13-2 |
Lightweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Dustin Poirier |
27-6 |
|
T2. Justin Gaethje |
22-3 |
|
T2. Charles Oliveira |
30-8 |
|
4. Michael Chandler |
22-5 |
|
5. Tony Ferguson |
25-5 |
|
6. Rafael dos Anjos |
30-13 |
|
7. Conor McGregor |
22-5 |
|
8. Drew Dober |
23-9 |
|
9. Dan Hooker |
20-10 |
|
10. Paul Felder |
17-6 |
Welterweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Kamaru Usman (c) |
18-1 |
|
2. Colby Covington |
16-2 |
|
3. Leon Edwards |
18-3 |
|
4. Gilbert Burns |
19-4 |
|
5. Jorge Masvidal |
35-14 |
|
6. Stephen Thompson |
16-4-1 |
|
7. Michael Chiesa |
18-4 |
|
8. Geoff Neal |
13-3 |
|
9. Neil Magny |
24-8 |
|
10. Vicente Luque |
19-7-1 |
Middleweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Israel Adesanya (c) |
20-0 |
|
2. Robert Whittaker |
22-5 |
|
3. Paulo Costa |
13-1 |
|
4. Jared Cannonier |
13-5 |
|
5. Derek Brunson |
21-7 |
|
6. Marvin Vettori |
16-4-1 |
|
7. Darren Till |
18-2-1 |
|
8. Kevin Holland |
21-5 |
|
9. Jack Hermansson |
21-6 |
|
10. Edmen Shahbayan |
11-1 |
Light heavyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Jan Blachowicz (c) |
27-8 |
|
2. Dominick Reyes |
12-2 |
|
3. Glover Teixeira |
32-7 |
|
4. Thiago Santos |
21-8 |
|
5. Aleksandar Rakic |
13-2 |
|
6. Anthony Smith |
34-16 |
|
7. Nikita Krylov |
26-7 |
|
8. Jiri Prochazka |
27-3-1 |
|
9. Johnny Walker |
18-5 |
|
10. Misha Cirkunov |
15-5 |
Heavyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Stipe Miocic (c) |
20-3 |
|
2. Francis Ngannou |
15-3 |
|
3. Derrick Lewis |
25-7 |
|
4. Alexander Volkov |
33-8 |
|
5. Curtis Blaydes |
14-3 |
|
6. Jairzinho Rozenstruik |
11-1 |
|
7. Alistair Overeem |
47-19 |
|
8. Cyril Gane |
7-0 |
|
9. Augusto Sakai |
15-2-1 |
|
10. Walt Harris |
13-9 |
Women’s strawweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Weili Zhang (c) |
21-1 |
|
2. Rose Namajunas |
9-4 |
|
3. Joanna Jedrzejczyk |
16-4 |
|
4. Tatiana Suarez |
8-0 |
|
5. Carla Esparza |
17-6 |
|
6. Yan Xiaonan |
13-1 |
|
7. Jessica Andrade |
21-8 |
|
8. Marina Rodriguez |
13-1-2 |
|
9. Michelle Waterson |
18-8 |
|
10. Amanda Ribas |
10-2 |
Women’s flyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Valentina Shevchenko (c) |
20-3 |
|
2. Jessica Andrade |
21-8 |
|
3. Lauren Murphy |
14-4 |
|
4. Katlyn Chookagian |
15-4 |
|
5. Jennifer Maia |
18-7-1 |
Women’s bantamweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Amanda Nunes (c) |
20-4 |
|
2. Germaine de Randamie |
10-4 |
|
3. Holly Holm |
14-5 |
|
4. Aspen Ladd |
9-1 |
|
5. Yana Kunitskaya |
14-5 |
|
6. Irene Aldana |
12-6 |
|
7. Julianna Pena |
10-4 |
|
8. Julia Avila |
8-2 |
|
9. Ketlen Vieira |
11-2 |
|
10. Sara McMann |
12-6 |