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
Jared Vanderaa #143 (35)
At BAMMA USA 20, Vanderaa scored a first-round knockout over Strikeforce and Bellator MMA veteran Mychal Clark. After beginning his professional career last June, the Team Quest product has already built a 4-0 record with all victories coming via stoppage. The entire event can be viewed, behind a paywall, at FloCombat.com.
Light Heavyweight
Armando Sixel #144 (64)
In the most recent rankings update, Sixel moved up 64 spots. In his last fight, he scored a first-round armbar submission over Daniel Brito at Jungle Fight 83. The Brazilian holds a 9-5 record and has picked up a pair of wins since falling to UFC heavyweight Luis Henrique Barbosa de Oliveira in 2014.
Middleweight
Vlad Popovskiy #271 (128)
After receiving credit for his May 27 victory over Maxim Sergeev, Popovskiy moved into the top 300 at middleweight. The 24-year-old Moldovan fighter is 11 and has 10 first-round finishes.
Welterweight
Kyle Kurtz #419 (153)
Shamrock FC regular Kurtz recently picked up a second victory over Adam Cella. Kurtz previously defeated Cella on the undercard of Bellator 138. The Missouri native holds a 6-2 record and has been competing professionally since 2015.
Lightweight
Genpei Hayashi #368 (169)
Hayashi defeated Shigeaki Kusayanagi at Pancrase 278. With the victory, the 26-year-old Japanese fighter moves into the top 300. In 2016, he is 2-0 after falling to Shunpei Ota at Pancrase 270 last fall.
Honorable Mention: Gesias Cavalcante #62
Cavalcante returned to MMA after a nearly two-year layoff. He picked up a first-round knockout over Pat Healy in the main event of Titan FC 39. Prior to the fight, Cavalcante was unranked due to inactivity. He was last ranked #122 last October.
Featherweight
Kyosuke Yokoyama #261 (188)
Yokoyama got back on track with a 26-second knockout over Takashi Matsuoka at Pancrase 278. In his previous fight, the Krazy Bee product had lost for the first time since 2014 against Hatsu Hioki in what was the former Sengoku champion’s return to Japan. Yokoyama holds a 6-4 record and a signature win over WEC veteran Akitoshi Tamura.
Bantamweight
Kenta Takizawa #217 (133)
Takizawa is the third and final fighter on this list who fought on the Pancrase 278 show, which is available on UFC Fight Pass. Takizawa defeated Tristar Gym prospect Ilias Sanoudakis and moved up 133 spots in the rankings.
Flyweight
Abdiel Velazquez #110 (50)
Velazquez took home a majority decision over Olympic bronze medalist wrestler Alexis Villa. The bout was on the undercard of Titan FC 39. With the victory Velazquez improved his professional record to 7-2.
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