Notable Info
- Men’s Strawweight expanded to Top 20 from 15.
- Women’s Strawweight expanded to Top 40 from 35.
Fight Matrix Program: UFC Fight Night 88 – Almeida vs. Garbrandt (05-29-2015)
Bantamweight (135)
[#14] Thomas Almeida (20-0-0, -161) vs. [#35] Cody Garbrandt (8-0-0, +134)
Last 3 Fights: Thomas Almeida (3-0-0)
2015-11-07: W vs. [#68BW] Anthony Birchak (12-3-0) via KO (Punch) in 4:24 of round 1
2015-07-11: W vs. [#39BW] Brad Pickett (25-11-0) via KO (Knee) in 0:29 of round 2
2015-04-25: W vs. [#97BW] Yves Jabouin (20-11-0) via TKO (Punches) in 4:18 of round 1
Last 3 Fights: Cody Garbrandt (3-0-0)
2016-02-21: W vs. [#292BW] Augusto Mendes (5-1-0) via KO (Punches) in 4:18 of round 1
2015-07-11: W vs. [#212BW] Enrique Briones (16-5-1) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2015-01-03: W vs. [#96BW] Marcus Brimage (7-6-0) via TKO (Punches) in 4:50 of round 3
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Thomas Almeida 204, Cody Garbrandt 98
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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Featherweight (145)
[#12] Jeremy Stephens (24-12-0, +160) vs. [#4BW] Renan Barao (33-3-0, -192)
Last 3 Fights: Jeremy Stephens (1-2-0)
2015-12-12: L vs. [#4FW] Max Holloway (15-3-0) via UD (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
2015-07-11: W vs. [#17FW] Dennis Bermudez (15-5-0) via TKO (Knee and Punches) in 0:32 of round 3
2014-12-12: L vs. [#8FW] Charles Oliveira (21-5-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Last 3 Fights: Renan Barao (1-2-0)
2015-07-25: L vs. [#2BW/#9P4P] T.J. Dillashaw (12-3-0) via TKO (Punches) in 0:35 of round 4
2014-12-20: W vs. [*] Mitch Gagnon (12-3-0) via Submission (Arm Triangle Choke) in 3:53 of round 3
2014-05-24: L vs. [#2BW/#9P4P] T.J. Dillashaw (12-3-0) via TKO (Head Kick and Punches) in 2:26 of round 5
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Jeremy Stephens 169, Renan Barao 309
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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Welterweight (170)
[#22] Tarec Saffiedine (16-4-0, -129) vs. [*] Rick Story (18-8-0, +105)
Last 3 Fights: Tarec Saffiedine (2-1-0)
2016-01-30: W vs. [#29WW] Jake Ellenberger (30-11-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
2014-10-04: L vs. [#6WW] Rory MacDonald (18-3-0) via TKO (Punches) in 1:28 of round 3
2014-01-04: W vs. [#97WW] Hyun Gyu Lim (13-5-1) via UD (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)
Last 3 Fights: Rick Story (2-1-0)
2014-10-04: W vs. [#16WW] Gunnar Nelson (15-2-1) via SD (50-44, 47-48, 49-46)
2014-07-16: W vs. [#190LW] Leonardo Mafra Texeira (12-3-0) via Submission (Arm Triangle Choke) in 2:12 of round 2
2014-03-15: L vs. [#14WW] Kelvin Gastelum (11-2-0) via SD (30-27, 29-28, 28-29)
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Tarec Saffiedine 120, Rick Story 603
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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Featured Upcoming Bouts (Outside of UFC)
| Saturday, August 22nd 2026: Professional Fighters League PFL Tampa: Cyborg vs. Vieira | |||
 [#1 W145] Cristiane Justino | [#4 W135] Ketlen Vieira | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 12/13/2025 [PFL] Last Opponent: [#2 W145] Sara Collins Last 5: W W W W W | Last Fight Date: 5/16/2026 [UFC] Last Opponent: [#10 W135] Jacqueline Cavalcanti Last 5: W L W L W | ||
| Saturday, July 18th 2026: RIZIN LANDMARK 15 in HIROSHIMA | |||
 [#3 W105] Si Woo Park |  [#7 W105] Moeri Suda | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 11/23/2025 [DEEP] Last Opponent: [#34 W105] Saki Kitamura Last 5: W W W L W | Last Fight Date: 3/07/2026 [DEEP] Last Opponent: [#16 W105] Namiko Kawabata Last 5: W W W L W | ||
| Saturday, July 18th 2026: RIZIN LANDMARK 15 in HIROSHIMA | |||
| [#5 W105] Saori Oshima | [#13 W105] Ye Ji Lee | ||
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| Last Fight Date: 3/07/2026 [Rizin Fighting Federation] Last Opponent: [#11 W105] Keito Oyama Last 5: L L W L W | Last Fight Date: 5/24/2026 [DEEP] Last Opponent: [#32 W105] Eru Takebayashi Last 5: W L W L W | ||
Featured Fighters
| [#77 BW] |  Aleksandre Topuria | [#2 MW] |  Khamzat Chimaev | |
| [#5 LW] |  Max Holloway | [NR] |  Conor McGregor | |
| [#1 WW] |  Islam Makhachev | [#25 MW] | Sharabutdin Magomedov | |
| [#1 LW] | Justin Gaethje | [NR] | Dustin Poirier | |
| [#41 LHW] | Abdul-Rakhman Yakhyaev | [#2 LW] |  Ilia Topuria |
The New UFC Weigh-In Rules
The main idea behind weight classes is, of course, setting a level playing field for the different fighters. Another result of the weight classes is for fans to know how much the fighters weigh, making the sport a little more understandable and relatable. If I know that a fighter weighs approximately the same as me, I can compare myself to him.
Boxing, where weigh-ins started, was never a very institutionalized sport. It was always a sport in which fights were made ad-hoc, and in which the different promoters had to go through a lot of negotiations to be able to make these fights. There was never a very orderly, rank driven kind of management for matchmaking. So the treatment the weigh-ins always got was similarly not very professional. Fighters could do pretty much whatever they wanted, as long as they stand on that scale and make weight once, usually the day before the fight.
MMA adopted this amateurish attitude, because for a long time, MMA was also a sport without some central organization which could organize it all in a more professional, safe fashion. Now finally (and after ONE championship has declared its implementation of similar measures a few months ago) the UFC has announced new weigh-in rules, for the safety of the fighters.
I agree that the safety of the fighters is the most important thing. but there is another factor to consider, and that is the the effect on the fans.
Biggest Risers in Current MMA Rankings Update (05-22-2016)
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
Emil Weber Meek #9 (205)
In the most astounding upset of the weekend, Meek scored a first-round finish over Rousimar Palhares. Palhares came into the bout as the highest ranked fighter not signed to the UFC or Bellator. On the other hand, Meek was ranked 214th. With the victory, Meek moves all the way up to ninth, while Palhares fell to 11th.
Heavyweight
Adam Wieczorek #131 (74)
Wieczorek moved up 74 ranking spots with a victory over Zoumana Cisse under the Professional MMA League banner. With the victory, the Polish fighter’s record improved to 7-1. He has not lost since falling to recent UFC signee Marcin Tybura in his second professional fight in 2011.
Light Heavyweight
Przemyslaw Mysiala #96 (92)
You might remember Mysiala from his one-fight stint in Bellator back in 2013. He was Muhammed Lawal’s first opponent in the promotion and lost via knockout in the first round. Since then, Mysiala has gone 3-1-1 including back-to-back victories over Ryan White and Marcin Zontek. Following his victory over Zontek at last weekend’s Fight Exclusive Night 12 “Feel the Force” Mysiala moved up 92 spots and into the light heavyweight top 100.
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Vitor Belfort Vs. Ronaldo Souza
Very Strange!
That’s all I can say.
Before the fight between Ronaldo Souza and Vitor Belfort I pretty much accepted that unless the Belfort’s performance against Chris Weidman was a gigantic fluke, Belfort has very little chance against grappling master Ronaldo Souza.
Chris Weidman took Belfort down easily with a simple double leg take down pretty early in the fight, quickly moved to half-guard and proceeded to hammer Belfort to oblivion. Belfort didn’t seriously try to escape the position, didn’t hip-escape or try to hold Weidman down. Didn’t really show any grappling skills, as if he didn’t even train for that – and that’s when he was fighting a wrestler. He even tried to punch Weidman from the bottom – the kind of tactic you’d see in the early days of MMA employed by absolute novices to grappling, who thought they had a chance of doing damage this way.
Breakdown of “Common” W-L-D Records
Currently, we have record of 99,038 fighters with at least one win and/or one draw and/or one loss. No contests are ignored for this statistic.
60,747 of them haven’t fought in at least three years. Out of those:
| Win | Loss | Draw | Count | Perc |
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 24,007 | 39.52% |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 8,894 | 14.64% |
| 0 | 2 | 0 | 4,381 | 7.21% |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 4,169 | 6.86% |
| 1 | 2 | 0 | 1,742 | 2.87% |
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 1,430 | 2.35% |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 1,373 | 2.26% |
| 0 | 3 | 0 | 1,197 | 1.97% |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 836 | 1.38% |
Nearly 40% of professional MMA fighters, fight once, lose, then never fight again.
More to come..
The Unanswered Questions that Linger Around ‘Cyborg’ Justino’s UFC Debut
Saturday night turned into the biggest winning moment for Cris “Cyborg” Justino after many of her fans had patiently waited for her UFC debut. Her exceptional skills clearly reflected most online MMA betting odds as the favorite fighter between the two. Her hometown fans in Curitiba, Brazil cheered jubilantly as she delivered swift, powerful and dominant kicks and punches to demolish her opponent, Leslie Smith after 81 seconds of punishment. However, the victory over a former training partner at UFC 198 did not answer the most vital question of the bout: Can “Cyborg” lose more weight to make 135 lbs and qualify for the bantamweight division? With a win to loss ratio of 16-1, Justino is currently the 145-pound Invicta champion and the ex-Strikeforce champion.
Some of the big names in WMMA did not grace the occasion, including Ronda Rousey, the former UFC bantamweight titleholder; Miesha Tate, the current champion; or even the “Rousey conqueror” Holly Holm, who defeated the former champ in March to claim the belt which she lost to Tate in her first title defense. However, Justino showed her lack of interest in shifting to bantamweight. During her post-bout interview, she said that her mission is to defend her belt as the Invicta titleholder and eventually fight in UFC’s catch-weight category.
Biggest Risers in Current MMA Rankings Update (05-15-2016)
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
Daniil Arepyev #182 (38)
Lukasz Parobiec #203 (38)
Arepyev moved up 38 spots after earning credit for his April 30 victory over Denis Komkin. The Russian fighter is now 5-0 with five stoppage wins.
Parobiec earned his new ranking in somewhat unusual fashion. He earned a disqualification victory over Tom Aspinall on the BAMMA 25 undercard after receiving illegal downward elbows. The Berserkers Team representative is now 12-5 and 2-0 under the BAMMA banner.
Light Heavyweight
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira #15 (13)
There was not a lot of activity in the light heavyweight division. However, Nogueira made the most of his opportunity. On the same night that the promotion announced his brother’s entry into the UFC Hall of Fame, he scored a first-round knockout over Patrick Cummins. Per BestFightOdds.com, Nogueira had gotten as high as a +186 underdog in the lead up to the fight, and he had not tasted a victory in over three years.
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Silva to miss UFC 198 after having his gallbladder removed
Former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva recently underwent surgery and is currently resting comfortably as he recovers from the procedure. The surgery, which was to remove his gallbladder, forced Silva out of the upcoming UFC 198 in which he was supposed to fight Uriah Hall. Since the fight has been cancelled, online MMA betting odds for the fight have been removed. According to his doctors, Silva should be able to leave the hospital on Friday.
Leading up to his fight against Hall, Silva felt fine. But on Monday and Tuesday he started experiencing some abdominal pain, which forced him to go to the hospital. During his first trip to the hospital, the doctors could not detect anything out of the ordinary, after going back home and still being in pain, his physician recommended that he sees a specialist who eventually noticed he had an inflamed gallbladder.
The doctor recommended that Silva undergo surgery to relieve the pain, which he decided to do. Silva’s return to the octagon won’t be determined until after the doctors give him clearance to resume training. Having to pull out of UFC 198 was very disappointing for Silva, who had been hoping to get back to his winning ways in front of his fans in Brazil, where the Pay-Per-View event is being held.
Silva, who has been trying to mount a comeback since he lost his belt to Chris Weidman, has been unable to do so due to a series of setbacks. In his rematch with Weidman, Silva broke his leg when Weidman checked Anderson’s low kick, which forced him to miss an extended amount of time while he recovered from the gruesome injury. After a year off to heal his leg, Silva defeated Nick Diaz, but the decision was overturned because he tested positive for steroids after the fight. After the Diaz fight, Silva was suspended for a year, then attempted another comeback against Michael Bisping.
Examining ONE Championship’s Talent Pool
ONE Championship launched in 2011 with the goal of “featuring the best Asian fighters.” To date, the promotion has hosted 41 events in nine different countries and will make its debut in Thailand later this month. Despite impressive growth and expansion, at times the level of competition seems relatively stagnant. Is this the case?
To examine the talent level in ONE Championship, let’s review all 41 events in company history. For each event, let’s average the Quarterly Generated Historical Ranking of each participant and repeat the process with the fighters’ Highest Quarterly Ranking. These two composite event rankings will gives us an idea of the level of competition from both a contemporary and historical perspective. If a fighter was not ranked, they were assigned a rank of 600, which equals the lowest possible ranking in the current system.
Fight Matrix Program: UFC 198 (05-14-2016)
Heavyweight Championship (265)
[#1/#6DD/#6P4P] Fabricio Werdum (20-5-1, -158) vs. [#4] Stipe Miocic (14-2-0, +132)
Fabricio Werdum is the All-Time #3 ranked Heavyweight and #15 ranked Absolute fighter.
Stipe Miocic is the All-Time #21 ranked Heavyweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Fabricio Werdum (3-0-0)
2015-06-13: W vs. [#3HW+] Cain Velasquez (13-2-0) via Submission (Guillotine Choke) in 2:13 of round 3
2014-11-15: W vs. [#6HW+] Mark Hunt (12-10-1) via TKO (Knee and Punches) in 2:27 of round 2
2014-04-19: W vs. [#8HW+] Travis Browne (18-3-1) via UD (49-46, 50-45, 50-45)
Last 3 Fights: Stipe Miocic (2-1-0)
2016-01-02: W vs. [#7HW+] Andrei Arlovski (25-12-0) via TKO (Punches) in 0:54 of round 1
2015-05-10: W vs. [#6HW+] Mark Hunt (12-10-1) via TKO (Punches) in 2:47 of round 5
2014-12-13: L vs. [#5HW+] Junior dos Santos (18-4-0) via UD (48-47, 49-46, 49-46)
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Fabricio Werdum 336, Stipe Miocic 133
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Even: Both have 4 win(s) against common opposition.
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Middleweight (185)
[#4] Vitor Belfort (25-11-0, +249) vs. [#5] Ronaldo Souza (22-4-0, -312)
Ronaldo Souza is the All-Time #8 ranked Middleweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Vitor Belfort (2-1-0)
2015-11-07: W vs. [#12MW] Dan Henderson (31-14-0) via KO (Punches) in 2:07 of round 1
2015-05-23: L vs. [#2MW/#5DD/#10P4P] Chris Weidman (13-1-0) via TKO (Punches) in 2:53 of round 1
2013-11-09: W vs. [#12MW] Dan Henderson (31-14-0) via KO (Head Kick) in 1:17 of round 1
Last 3 Fights: Ronaldo Souza (2-1-0)
2015-12-12: L vs. [#3MW] Yoel Romero (11-1-0) via SD (29-28, 29-27, 28-29)
2015-04-18: W vs. [#27MW] Chris Camozzi (23-10-0) via Submission (Armbar) in 2:33 of round 1
2014-09-05: W vs. [#6MW] Gegard Mousasi (38-6-2) via Submission (Guillotine Choke) in 4:30 of round 3
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Vitor Belfort 189, Ronaldo Souza 154
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Vitor Belfort leads 2-1
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Women Featherweight (140)
[#1/#4DD/#2P4P] Cristiane Justino (15-1-0, -1527) vs. [#13BW] Leslie Smith (8-6-1, +815)
Cristiane Justino is the All-Time #2 ranked Women’s fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Cristiane Justino (3-0-0)
2016-01-16: W vs. [#12FW] Daria Ibragimova (9-2-0) via KO (Punches) in 4:58 of round 1
2015-07-09: W vs. [#8FW] Faith Van Duin (5-2-0) via TKO (Knee to the Body and Punches) in 0:45 of round 1
2015-02-27: W vs. [#4FW] Charmaine Tweet (9-5-0) via TKO (Punches) in 0:46 of round 1
Last 3 Fights: Leslie Smith (2-1-0)
2016-03-19: W vs. [#31BW] Rin Nakai (16-2-1) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
2014-11-15: L vs. [#11BW] Jessica Eye (11-4-0) via TKO (Doctor Stoppage) in 1:30 of round 2
2014-07-16: W vs. [#53BW] Jessamyn Duke (3-4-0) via TKO (Punches) in 2:24 of round 1
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Cristiane Justino 119, Leslie Smith 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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Fight Matrix Program: UFC Fight Night 87 – Overeem vs. Arlovski (05-08-2015)
Heavyweight (265)
[#4] Alistair Overeem (40-14-0, -223) vs. [#7] Andrei Arlovski (25-11-0, +182)
Alistair Overeem is the All-Time #15 ranked Heavyweight fighter.
Andrei Arlovski is the All-Time #10 ranked Heavyweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Alistair Overeem (3-0-0)
2015-12-19: W vs. [#5HW+] Junior dos Santos (18-4-0) via TKO (Punches) in 4:43 of round 2
2015-03-14: W vs. [#13HW+] Roy Nelson (21-12-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2014-12-13: W vs. [#32HW+] Stefan Struve (26-8-0) via KO (Punches) in 4:13 of round 1
Last 3 Fights: Andrei Arlovski (2-1-0)
2016-01-02: L vs. [#3HW+] Stipe Miocic (14-2-0) via TKO (Punches) in 0:54 of round 1
2015-09-05: W vs. [#10HW+] Frank Mir (18-11-0) via UD (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
2015-05-23: W vs. [#8HW+] Travis Browne (18-3-1) via TKO (Punches) in 4:41 of round 1
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Alistair Overeem 141, Andrei Arlovski 127
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Andrei Arlovski leads 9-8
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Heavyweight (265)
[#11] Antonio Silva (19-8-1, +163) vs. [#32] Stefan Struve (26-8-0, -195)
Antonio Silva is the All-Time #20 ranked Heavyweight fighter.
Last 3 Fights: Antonio Silva (1-2-0)
2015-11-14: L vs. [#6HW+] Mark Hunt (12-10-1) via TKO (Punches) in 3:41 of round 1
2015-08-01: W vs. [*] Soa Palelei (22-5-0) via TKO (Punches) in 0:41 of round 2
2015-02-22: L vs. [#10HW+] Frank Mir (18-11-0) via KO (Elbows) in 1:40 of round 1
Last 3 Fights: Stefan Struve (1-2-0)
2015-11-14: L vs. [#23HW+] Jared Rosholt (14-3-0) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2015-08-01: W vs. [*] Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (34-10-1) via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
2014-12-13: L vs. [#4HW+] Alistair Overeem (40-14-0) via KO (Punches) in 4:13 of round 1
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Antonio Silva 176, Stefan Struve 176
Previous Match-up Record: No previous match-ups.
Wins Against Common Opposition: Antonio Silva leads 2-0
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Welterweight (170)
[#21] Albert Tumenov (17-2-0, -177) vs. [#24] Gunnar Nelson (14-2-1, +149)
Last 3 Fights: Albert Tumenov (3-0-0)
2016-01-02: W vs. [#26WW] Lorenz Larkin (16-5-0) via SD (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
2015-10-03: W vs. [#76WW] Alan Jouban (13-4-0) via TKO (Head Kick and Punches) in 2:55 of round 1
2015-01-24: W vs. [*] Nicholas Musoke (13-4-0) via UD (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Last 3 Fights: Gunnar Nelson (1-2-0)
2015-12-12: L vs. [#7WW] Demian Maia (22-6-0) via UD (30-26, 30-25, 30-25)
2015-07-11: W vs. [#110WW] Brandon Thatch (11-4-0) via Submission (Rear Naked Choke) in 2:54 of round 1
2014-10-04: L vs. [*] Rick Story (18-8-0) via SD (50-44, 47-48, 49-46)
Days Since Last Pro Fight: Albert Tumenov 127, Gunnar Nelson 148
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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