UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic defended his title for the first time on Saturday night and his stock is on the rise.
Miocic jumped up two spots in the pound-for-pound rankings to No. 6 behind featherweights Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo in the latest official UFC rankings release.
Miocic represented his hometown at UFC 203 fighting in front of a raucous Cleveland crowd against Alistair Overeem. Miocic made it three-straight first-round knockouts and is now just one title defense away from tying the heavyweight record of two successful defenses.
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In other movement, strawweight Jessica Andrade enters the top 5 of her division after a win over Joanne Calderwood. Andrade made the move down to 115 pounds in June and debuted with a TKO win against Jessica Penne.
Now ranked No. 5, Andrade has established herself as a contender in the division and now is likely set to take on a top-five opponent in what could end up being a title eliminator fight.
Not many fighters have had the success or durability that Urijah Faber has had in the UFC and WEC the past decade. “The California Kid” suffered a second-straight loss at UFC 203 marking the first time in his career he dropped two in a row.
Faber falls four spots to No. 6 in the bantamweight division, while Jimmie Rivera moved up five spots to No. 7 after taking out the legend in Cleveland. Eleven fighters at 135 pounds moved a spot, either up or down, in the wake of the big jumps by Faber and Rivera. Top contender Cody Garbrandt, rumored to be next in line for a title shot against Dominick Cruz, entered the top five for the first time.
Fabricio Werdum beat Travis Browne again, dropping “Hapa” three spots at heavyweight down to No. 9 in the division. In the women’s bantamweight division, Bethe Correia moves up a spot to No. 10 after taking out Jessica Eye, who falls three spots to No. 13 after suffering her fourth-straight loss.
Matt Parrino is a digital producer and writer for UFC.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MattParrinoUFC