Fight Matrix updates the Current MMA Rankings once a week. As the deepest and most inclusive ranking system in the sport, fights all over the globe can have a major impact on the rankings. Let’s take a look at the biggest risers in the divisional rankings. The number in parenthesis is the number of spots that the fighter moved up from the last issued rankings. For the purpose of this article, fighters who were unranked in the previous ranking iteration are excluded.
Heavyweight
Marcin Rozalski #115 (80)
With a victory over strongman Mariusz Pudzianowski in the co-main event of KSW 35, Rozalski moves up 80 spots in the rankings. After winning his first three fights under the KSW banner, Rozalski had dropped back-to-back fights to Peter Graham and James McSweeney before triumphing over Pudzianowski.
Light Heavyweight
Sergey Kalinin #165 (63)
Kalinin jumped up 63 spots after besting Pavel Katrunov at Eurasian Fight Nights 48. With the win, Kalinin improved his career record to 3-2. The bout and the entire event is available on UFC Fight Pass.
Middleweight
Khalid Murtazaliev #161 (160)
Murtazaliev is another fighter moving up in the rankings following a victory at EFN 48. The Russian fighter scored a first-round knockout over Edilson Franca at the event and bumped up 160 spots.
Welterweight
Tahar Hadbi #231 (228)
The most viewed highlight coming out of Abu Dhabi Warriors 4 was Paul Buentello‘s 64-second knockout over Eric Prindle. However, the biggest mover on the card, and the weekend for that matter, Hadbi. On the undercard, he scored a first-round knockout of his own over Yoichiro Sato. The French fighter is now 12-6 as a professional and has won seven out of his last eight.
Lightweight
Justin Jaynes #303 (152)
Jaynes jumps up 152 spots after receiving credit for his May 14 win over Troy Lamson. The one-time Bellator and World Series of Fighting veteran known as “Guitar Hero” has now won four fights in a row.
Featherweight
Shannon Wiratchai #318 (77)
The Thai fighter scored a quick submission over Kyal Linn Aung on ONE Championship’s debut in his home country. Wiratchai has now won three-straight fights after falling for the first time in his career against Bashir Ahmad in 2013. “One Shin” is still probably a few fights away from challenging the promotion’s featherweight champion Marat Gafurov who looked outstanding in the event’s co-main.
Bantamweight
Tony Gravely #238 (97)
The former Appalachian State wrestler improved his professional record to 5-1 with a victory over Dave Roberts at Cage Fury Fighting Championships 58. The 24-year-old has won five-straight contests since dropping his MMA debut last year.
Flyweight
Yunus Evloev #46 (21)
With a victory over Brazilian Rildeci Lima Dias, Evloev moves up 21 spots in the rankings. The Akhmat Fight Team member has won four-straight fights since joining World Fighting Championship Akhmat last year.
This week there was not any major movement in the strawweight, women’s featherweight, women’s bantamweight, women’s flyweight or women’s atomweight divisions.
Richard Mann currently runs the data-driven MMA blog StrikeScoreMMA.com