Conor McGregor Jumps Up in Rankings in the Lightweight and Welterweight Divisions
The three-week drought of UFC cards is over and the return of Conor McGregor is now in the past. Now, what came as a result of Conor’s triumphant return at UFC 246? Well, the official UFC rankings took a major shift. And, McGregor managed to climb the rankings in two weight classes with his win over “Cowboy” Donald Cerrone. At Welterweight, McGregor jumped to #14 at welterweight and # 3 in the UFC’s lightweight division.
McGregor Moves Up in the Rankings
UFC 246 saw Conor McGregor completely dismantle Cowboy Cerrone in just 40 seconds. With a performance like that, it’s no wonder why Conor soared up the official UFC rankings. Noticing the movement in the rankings was MMA journalist Amy Kaplan. She posted some of the movements in the rankings to her Twitter account.
https://twitter.com/PhotoAmy33/status/1219719442734579713
As well as advancing in two separate weight classes, Conor also propelled himself up the pound for pound rankings. On the pound for pound list, McGregor is now #11, making him the 11th best fighter in the world.
How the Ranking System Works
Before anyone asks “How does the ranking system work anyway?” The criteria of the ranking system are listed on the UFC’s official website.
“Rankings were generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are inactive status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings,” via UFC.com
POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Jon Jones
2. Khabib Nurmagomedov
3. Henry Cejudo
4. Stipe Miocic
5. Amanda Nunes
6. Daniel Cormier
7. Israel Adesanya
8. Kamaru Usman
9. Alexander Volkanovski
10. Tony Ferguson
11. Conor McGregor +2
12. Valentina Shevchenko -1
13. Max Holloway -1
14. Dustin Poirier +1
15. Tyron Woodley -1
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV
1. Tony Ferguson
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Conor McGregor +1
4. Justin Gaethje -1
5. Donald Cerrone
6. Paul Felder
7. Dan Hooker
8. Kevin Lee
9. Al Iaquinta
10. Edson Barboza
11. Diego Ferreira *NR
12. Gregor Gillespie
13. Charles Oliveira
14. Islam Makhachev +1
15. Alexander Hernandez -1
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: KAMARU USMAN
1. Tyron Woodley
2. Colby Covington
3. Jorge Masvidal
4. Leon Edwards
5. Rafael dos Anjos
6. Demian Maia
7. Stephen Thompson
8. Nate Diaz
9. Robbie Lawler +1
10. Geoff Neal +1
11. Anthony Pettis -2
12. Gilbert Burns +1
13. Vicente Luque -1
14. Conor McGregor *NR
15. Neal Magny -1
With the UFC pressing on into their next event in just 4 days, expect the rankings to change once more. Especially in the heavyweight division after Curtis Blaydes takes on Junior Dos Santos at UFC Raleigh.
