Rankings: Masvidal vaults into top 5; Ngannou rises
Jorge Masvidal picked up the signature win of his career in Denver when he finished Donald Cerrone by TKO in the second round of their co-main event welterweight scrap.
In this week’s official UFC rankings release, Masvidal was rewarded for his performance with a seven-spot jump to No. 5 at 170 pounds. “Gamebred” is now positioned to get top-level fights in the division that he’s been seeking.
UFC president Dana White said on Tuesday’s episode of the UFC Unfiltered podcast that if Nick Diaz isn’t interested in a matchup with No. 3-ranked welterweight Demian Maia, Masvidal will get the fight.
Cerrone dropped three spots down to No. 8, stunting his charge up the rankings that was surging before the fight on the strength of a four-fight win streak.
In the heavyweight rankings, Francis Ngannou moves up four spots to No. 6 after knocking out Andrei Arlovski, who falls three spots to No. 10. Ngannou has won all five of his UFC fights and has finished his opponent in each.