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.
Welterweight
Andreas Stahl #145 (278)
Stahl returned to action for the first time since a pair of losses to Gilbert Burns and Santiago Ponzinibbio chased him from the UFC. This past weekend, he scored a third-round knockout over Lewis Long at Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 76. The much needed victory bumped him up 278 spots in the rankings. However, he is still currently ranked below his quarterly peak of #125. Stahl’s fight and the rest of the event is available on UFC Fight Pass.
Heavyweight
Zaur Gadzhibabayev #154 (70)
The Azerbaijani heavyweight moved up 70 spots in the rankings after defeating Lazar Todev at M-1 Challenge 67. The victory improved his professional MMA record to 5-1. Gadzhibabayev has won three fights in a row since falling for the first time to Zaurbek Bashaev last year. The entire event is available via YouTube
Light Heavyweight
Luis Henrique da Silva #40 (19)
On the undercard of UFC 199, Da Silva scored an upset over fellow prospect Jonathan Wilson. With the victory, he moves up 19 spots and into the top 50. The 26-year-old Brazilian is now 11-0 with 11 knockout finishes.
Middleweight
Israel Adesanya #137 (175)
Not much is currently known about Adesanya. The Nigerian fighter got credit for his May 7 victory over Andrew Flores Smith in the main event of Wu Lin Feng “Glory of Heroes 2.” The win was good enough to move him up 175 spots in the middleweight rankings.
Lightweight
Mike Scarcello #293 (201)
Scarcello picked up a first-round submission over Spencer Rohovie at Unified MMA 27. The Canadian has won five bouts in a row since falling to World Series of Fighting veteran Spencer Jebb in 2013. With the victory, Scarcello’s record improved to 8-3.
Featherweight
Adlan Bataev #175 (181)
At last weekend’s Absolute Championship Berkut 40 event, Bataev took home a unanimous-decision over Peruvian David Cubas. The Russian fighter has built a 6-0 record since making his MMA debut in 2013. In the main event of ACB 40, UFC veteran Jesse Taylor fell to Aslambek Saidov. The entire event is available via YouTube.
Bantamweight
Malcolm Gordon #221 (100)
After receiving credit for his May 28 win over Andrew Cseh under the Prodigy MMA banner, Gordon moved up 100 spots in the bantamweight rankings. The 26-year-old Canadian is now 7-2. In 2014, he had a one-fight stint with Bellator where he defeated UFC veteran Chris Kelades via decision.
Flyweight
Zhifa Shang #137 (13)
Shang moved up 13 spots after receiving credit for his victory over Denis Bondar last January. The Chinese fighter now stands at 10-5 after starting his career with a 4-5 mark.
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