With UFC Vegas 41 in the books, the ranking panelists went back to update their personal rankings (myself included). There were some divisions that saw major shake-ups, and others that saw virtually no movement. Let’s take a look at who moved and what the reason might be for it.
Featherweight
The Movement
| Fighter | Placement |
| Alex Caceres | #15 (NR) |
| Ilia Topuria | NR (11) |
The Breakdown
The change this week at featherweight is the easiest, at least when it comes to explaining. On one hand, both Caceres and Topuria could be seen as quite close. Caceres has now rattled off five straight wins and finished Seung Woo Choi this past weekend at UFC Vegas 41 in emphatic fashion. Topuria has only won three in a row since joining the organization. However, Topuria has wins over some more notable opponents, such as Ryan Hall.
Although this decision appears to be a straight forward one, it is helpful to remember that this does not mean that ever panelist sees Caceres as a better fit than Topuria – rather simply that his aggregate score is at the very least slightly higher.
Middleweight
The Movement
| Fighter | Placement |
| Marvin Vettori | #2 (+3) |
| Paulo Costa | #5 (-3) |
The Breakdown
The middleweight movement is pretty simple this week as well, especially when compared to last week’s craziness. Following their UFC Vegas 41 main event, the two middleweights changed places in the rankings from the #2 spot to the #5 spot (and vice versa). It’s worth noting that this not only moves Vettori ahead of Costa, but also Derek Brunson and Jared Cannonier, who have a fight scheduled with one another. This is most likely due to the fact that a win over Paulo Costa is a high quality win and one that weighs more heavily than either of the other two have. However, an impressive win for either side in that contest may get one of those two ahead of Vettori.
Women’s Strawweight
The Movement
| Fighter | Placement |
| Joanna Jedrzejczyk | NR (-14) |
| Carla Esparza | #2 (+1) |
| Marina Rodriguez | #3 (+1) |
| Yan Xiaonan | #4 (+1) |
| Mackenzie Dern | #5 (+1) |
| Nina Nunes | #6 (+1) |
| Claudia Gadelha | #7 (+1) |
| Tecia Torres | #8 (+1) |
| Michelle Waterson | #9 (+1) |
| Amanda Ribas | #10 (+1) |
| Amanda Lemos | #11 (+1) |
| Virna Jandiroba | #12 (+1) |
| Angela Hill | #13 (+1) |
| Felice Herrig | #14 (+1) |
| Brianna Van Buren | #15 (NR) |
The Breakdown
The first two division’s worth of movement were quite easy to understand, but this one certainly causes a bit more confusion. In the strawweight division, just about every woman moved up a single spot as a result of Joanna Jedrzejczyk falling out of the rankings. The former champion did not fight at UFC Vegas 41, but apparently this was the point of inactivity that the UFC decided she should be pulled from the ranking. This was not a choice by any panelist, as she was not even available for ranking in the system.
This appears to be a way to play hardball with Jedrzejczyk, who had stated she was going to wait for a title shot in the past. The UFC has stated that they be putting her back in when she competes again come early-2022.
The beneficiary of all of this is Brianna Van Buren, who off the heels of a Tecia Torres loss comes back into the rankings. Prior to that, she had beaten Livinha Souza, who Randa Markos topped this weekend.
