The following chart shows the change in ranking following this past weekend’s Rizin event. Gabriel Oliveira was the biggest winner from the event. He moved up 69 spots in the bantamweight rankings thanks to his victory over veteran Tatsuya Kawajiri. The chart only includes fighters who were previously ranked in the same weight class.
Manchester native Jonno Mears recently stole the sporting headlines in his latest MMA outing by finishing a fight with a well-known wrestling move. With MMA being known more for its brutal one-punch finishes or choke-outs in the cage, the Englishman secured a stunning stoppage success in his last bout.
Mears’ original opponent, Jay Moogan, had to withdraw from their scheduled fight, leaving the eventual winner with a stand-in foe by the name of Aaron Jones, whom he knew he’d have a better chance of overcoming. It was against Jones that Mears produced the first-ever Walls of Jericho, or Boston Crab, wrestling finishing move to actually earn a proper professional MMA victory and take his record to 2-0.
| Friday, March 6th 2026: RIZIN 52 | |||
 [#5 W105] Saori Oshima | [#11 W105] Keito Oyama | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 11/02/2025 [Rizin Fighting Federation] Last Opponent: [#1 W105] Seika Izawa Last 5: W L L W L | Last Fight Date: 11/02/2025 [Rizin Fighting Federation] Last Opponent: [NR] Bo Mi Lee Last 5: L W W W W | ||
| Sunday, March 8th 2026: Deep Osaka Impact 2026 1st Round | |||
| [#7 W105] Moeri Suda | [#10 W105] Namiko Kawabata | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 9/15/2025 [DEEP] Last Opponent: [#5 W105] Saori Oshima Last 5: W W W W L | Last Fight Date: 5/25/2025 [DEEP] Last Opponent: [#36 W105] Honoka Shigeta Last 5: L L L W W | ||
| Friday, March 20th 2026: Professional Fighters League PFL Madrid - Van Steenis vs. Edwards 2 | |||
 [#8 MW] Costello Van Steenis |  [#13 MW] Fabian Edwards | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 7/19/2025 [PFL] Last Opponent: [#14 MW] Johnny Eblen Last 5: W L W W W | Last Fight Date: 8/21/2025 [PFL] Last Opponent: [#29 MW] Dalton Rosta Last 5: W L W W W | ||
| [#5 LW] |  Justin Gaethje | [#11 LW] | Paddy Pimblett | |
| [#1 LW] |  Ilia Topuria | [#1 WW] |  Islam Makhachev | |
| [#2 LW] |  Arman Tsarukyan | [NR] |  Conor McGregor | |
| [NR] | Khabib Nurmagomedov | [#174 MW] | Andrey Pulyaev | |
| [#3 BW] | Sean OMalley | [#1 MW] |  Khamzat Chimaev |
Notable Info
Rizin Fighting Federation returns on Sunday with their ninth event. The card features, among other things, three more first round bouts for the 2017 Rizin Bantamweight Grand Prix as well as a “wild card qualification bout.” There were three bouts on the April show with #41FW Kyoji Horiguchi, #83BW Khalid Taha and #74BW Takafumi Otsuka advancing to the second round. The follow chart shows the ranking points for all tournament competitors over the last two years.
As you can see the two standouts from a rankings perspective are Horiguchi and #18BW Shintaro Ishiwatari. Horiguchi’s ranking dipped recently due mostly to inactivity, but he is still the odds on favorite to take the tournament. Ishiwatari is currently riding a four-fight winning streak with wins over Ostuka, #55BW Victor Henry, #258 FW Jonathan Brookins and #35BW Rafael Silva. The reigning bantamweight King of Pancrase also has the highest Rankings Momentum of all the competitors at +8.04.
Lightweight Championship (155)
[#3] Tony Ferguson (22-3-0, -219) vs. [#7] Kevin Lee (16-2-0, +176)
Tony Ferguson is the All-Time #27 ranked Lightweight fighter.
Kevin Lee is the All-Time #42 ranked Lightweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Tony Ferguson (3-0-0)
2016-11-05: W vs. [#5WW] Rafael dos Anjos (27-9-0) via UD (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
2016-07-13: W vs. [#117LW] Lando Vannata (9-2-0) via Submission (Brabo Choke) in 2:22 of round 2
2015-12-11: W vs. [#4LW] Edson Barboza (19-4-0) via Submission (Brabo Choke) in 2:54 of round 2
Last 3 Fights: Kevin Lee (3-0-0)
2017-06-25: W vs. [#21LW] Michael Chiesa (14-3-0) via Technical Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 4:37 of round 1
2017-03-11: W vs. [#22LW] Francisco Trinaldo (21-5-0) via SUB in 3:12 of round 2
2016-11-19: W vs. [#80LW] Magomed Mustafaev (13-3-0) via SUB in 4:31 of round 2
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Tony Ferguson 336, Kevin Lee 104
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: No common opposition or both are winless against common opposition.
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Flyweight Championship (125)
[#1/#4DD/#1P4P] Demetrious Johnson (26-2-1, -1185) vs. [#4] Ray Borg (11-2-0, +720)
Demetrious Johnson is the All-Time #1 ranked Flyweight and #17 ranked Absolute fighter.
Ray Borg is the All-Time #16 ranked Flyweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Demetrious Johnson (3-0-0)
2017-04-15: W vs. [#11FLY] Wilson Reis (22-8-0) via Submission (Armbar) in 4:49 of round 3
2016-12-03: W vs. [#10FLY] Tim Elliott (14-8-1) via UD (49-45, 49-46, 49-46)
2016-04-23: W vs. [#3FLY] Henry Cejudo (11-2-0) via TKO in 2:49 of round 1
Last 3 Fights: Ray Borg (2-1-0)
2017-03-11: W vs. [#5FLY] Jussier da Silva (20-5-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
2016-12-30: W vs. [#22FLY] Louis Smolka (11-4-0) via UD (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
2016-02-06: L vs. [#42FLY] Justin Scoggins (11-4-0) via UD (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Demetrious Johnson 175, Ray Borg 210
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: No common opposition or both are winless against common opposition.
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Heavyweight (265)
[#3] Fabricio Werdum (21-7-1, -250) vs. [#10] Derrick Lewis (18-5-0, +201)
Fabricio Werdum is the All-Time #4 ranked Heavyweight and #16 ranked Absolute fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Fabricio Werdum (1-2-0)
2017-07-08: L vs. [#2HW+] Alistair Overeem (43-15-0) via MD (28-28, 29-28, 29-28)
2016-09-10: W vs. [#14HW+] Travis Browne (18-7-1) via UD (30-27, 29-27, 29-28)
2016-05-14: L vs. [#1HW+/#3DD/#3P4P] Stipe Miocic (17-2-0) via KO (Punch) in 2:47 of round 1
Last 3 Fights: Derrick Lewis (2-1-0)
2017-06-10: L vs. [#6HW+] Mark Hunt (13-11-1) via TKO (Punches) in 3:51 of round 4
2017-02-19: W vs. [#14HW+] Travis Browne (18-7-1) via KO (Punches) in 3:12 of round 2
2016-12-09: W vs. [#46HW+] Shamil Abdurakhimov (17-5-0) via TKO (Punches) in 3:42 of round 4
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Fabricio Werdum 91, Derrick Lewis 119
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Fabricio Werdum leads 6-3
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Notable Info
Notable Info
The 118-110 scorecard by Adelaide Byrd on behalf of Canelo Alvarez has circulated throughout the Internet and the media as an egregious disaster, but does she deserve as much controversy as she has received?
Perhaps, but another scorecard issue was overlooked….
Light Heavyweight (205)
[#15] Ovince St. Preux (20-10-0) vs. [#42WW] Yushin Okami (34-10-0)
Ovince St. Preux is the All-Time #47 ranked Light Heavyweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Ovince St. Preux (1-2-0)
2017-04-22: W vs. [#52LHW] Marcos Rogerio de Lima (15-5-1) via Submission (Shoulder Choke) in 2:11 of round 2
2017-02-04: L vs. [#6LHW] Volkan Oezdemir (15-1-0) via SD (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
2016-10-08: L vs. [#11LHW] Jimi Manuwa (17-3-0) via TKO in 2:38 of round 2
Last 3 Fights: Yushin Okami (3-0-0)
2017-07-29: W vs. [#409WW] Andre Luis Leal Lobato (24-7-0) via UD (30-25, 30-27, 30-27)
2016-12-31: W vs. [#48MW] Paul Bradley (23-8-0) via SD (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
2016-07-24: W vs. [#457LW] Shingo Suzuki (13-11-3) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 2:06 of round 1
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Ovince St. Preux 154, Yushin Okami 56
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: No common opposition or both are winless against common opposition.
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Women Strawweight (115)
[#2/#5DD/#4P4P] Claudia Gadelha (15-2-0) vs. [#4/#10DD] Jessica Andrade (16-6-0)
Claudia Gadelha is the All-Time #22 ranked Women’s fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Claudia Gadelha (2-1-0)
2017-06-03: W vs. [#9SW] Karolina Kowalkiewicz (10-2-0) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 3:03 of round 1
2016-11-19: W vs. [#11SW] Cortney Casey (7-4-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2016-07-08: L vs. [#1SW/#2DD/#1P4P] Joanna Jedrzejczyk (14-0-0) via UD (48-45, 48-46, 48-46)
Last 3 Fights: Jessica Andrade (2-1-0)
2017-05-13: L vs. [#1SW/#2DD/#1P4P] Joanna Jedrzejczyk (14-0-0) via UD (50-45, 50-44, 50-45)
2017-02-04: W vs. [#8SW] Angela Hill (7-3-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2016-09-10: W vs. [#13FLY] Joanne Calderwood (11-3-0) via SUB in 4:38 of round 1
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Claudia Gadelha 112, Jessica Andrade 133
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Even: Both have 1 win(s) against common opposition.
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Light Heavyweight (205)
[#78] Henrique da Silva (12-3-0) vs. [NA] Gokhan Saki (0-1-0)
Last 3 Fights: Henrique da Silva (0-3-0)
2017-06-10: L vs. [#58LHW] Ion Cutelaba (13-3-0) via KO (Punches) in 0:22 of round 1
2017-01-28: L vs. [#30LHW] Jordan Johnson (8-0-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2016-12-17: L vs. [#70LHW] Paul Craig (9-2-0) via Submission (Armbar) in 1:59 of round 2
Last 3 Fights: Gokhan Saki (0-1-0)
2004-07-11: L vs. [*] James Zikic (21-10-2) via TKO in 0:00 of round 0
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Henrique da Silva 105, Gokhan Saki 4822
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: No common opposition or both are winless against common opposition.
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Editor note: This is a guest editorial by Thomas Matthews of Oddschecker.
Oddschecker are the leading odds comparison site, comparing markets across all major bookmakers to find the best odds.
Gennady Golovkin vs. Canelo Alvarez has the potential to rival the Joshua/Klitschko bout in April for fight of the year. The heavy hitters from Kazakhstan and Mexico respectively will go at it and most are tipping it to be a thrilling fight as opposed to the “spectacle” that was Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor last month.
But given the nature of this contest, the betting and subsequent interest in the fight has been alarmingly non-existent compared to last month’s. Oddschecker have seen an incredible disparity in the number of total bets placed, with 3,500 so far on Canelo vs. GGG compared with over 130,000 on the Mayweather McGregor show.
The round-by-round betting comparisons also give an indication of how punters are expecting the fight to go. A total of 54.3% of bets on Saturday’s fight have been on the match to be decided in round eight or further, compared with just 18.9% in Mayweather McGregor.
