Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

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Lerone Murphy authored exactly the type of moment he needed on Saturday night.

While “The Iceman” entered UFC 319 on an eight-bout promotional winning streak, a statement victory was still lacking. Murphy changed all of that when he vanquished former Bellator star Aaron Pico with an exquisite spinning back elbow 3:21 into the opening stanza of the evening’s co-headliner at the United Center in Chicago. With his first finish in nearly four years comes the Englishman’s due respect: Reigning featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski acknowledged his callout, pointing to a potential December date between the two. And Murphy climbs higher in the 145-pound Top 10, moving ahead of Yair Rodriguez and Brian Ortega to the No. 7 position.

Elsewhere, it may have taken longer than initially expected when he burst upon the scene five years ago, but Khamzat Chimaev reached the UFC mountaintop — and he did so in dominant fashion. “Borz” grounded and controlled Dricus Du Plessis for the majority of five rounds in the UFC 319 headliner, cruising to a unanimous decision triumph that was surprising even by his lofty standards. After making his way through the likes of Robert Whittaker, Israel Adesanya and Sean Strickland (twice), Du Plessis looked out of his depth against the Chechen grappler. Chimaev and Du Plessis will swap positions in the latest middleweight poll, but the gap between No. 1 and No. 2 has never seemed wider than it does today.

In other middleweight action, Michael Page relied on his precise and dangerous striking to bank two rounds against Jared Cannonier before spending the majority of the final stanza on his back in a three-round verdict on the UFC 319 main card. While the final optics of the fight weren’t great, besting Cannonier — a man who had been in six consecutive main events prior to Saturday night — is no small feat. As a result, “Venom” makes his Top 10 debut at 185 pounds.

Earlier on the UFC 319 card, Lupita Godinez earned a hard-fought decision over former 115-pound title holder Jessica Andrade in a preliminary bout. It’s the most signficant victory to date for the Mexican standout, but it might say more about Andrade’s decline than anything else. The Brazilian falls from fifth to ninth in the latest poll, while Godinez moves to No. 8.

On Friday night, Liz Carmouche became a two-promotion champion with a third-round knockout of Jena Bishop in the Professional Fighters League women’s flyweight final. The ex-Bellator MMA queen has won 12 of her last 13 professional appearances and may have earned herself a future date with top PFL star Dakota Ditcheva. Meanwhile, No. 15 lightweight Gadzhi Rabadanov’s 12-fight winning streak was halted by Alfie Davis in the PFL lightweight final. As a result, Davis takes the Dagestani's place on the 155-pound bubble.

Note: Previous rankings listed in brackets.

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