Kamaru Usman falls to #4 on the pound-for-pound rankings following KO loss at UFC 278

Kamaru Usman has fallen to #4 in the pound-for-pound rankings following his loss to Leon Edwards last weekend.

At UFC 278 on Saturday night, Leon Edwards shocked the world when he knocked Kamaru Usman out to become the new UFC welterweight champion. Many fans and pundits believed he was down on the scorecards and was heading for a decision loss, only for ‘Rocky’ to pull a rabbit out of the hat by head-kicking ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ into the shadow realm.

Prior to the bout, a lot of critics were wondering how far away Usman was from being put in the greatest of all time discussion. Now, of course, the situation is pretty different.

Everyone knew he’d drop down in the pound-for-pound rankings and as per the UFC themselves, he’s fallen out of the top three and into fourth.

Alexander Volkanovski is the new #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC based on the updated rankings.

Usman falls to #4 behind Volkanovski, Adesanya and Oliveira. pic.twitter.com/X3sBsLgtPu

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) August 23, 2022

Alex Volkanovski has taken what many believe to be his rightful place at the top of the rankings thanks to his fantastic run of form since becoming UFC featherweight champion. In addition to that, Israel Adesanya and Charles Oliveira have bumped ahead of Kamaru into second and third respectively – although both have tricky bouts coming up in the next few months against Alex Pereira and Islam Makhachev respectively.

Leon Edwards, the man who put an end to Usman’s fantastic reign at the top, has moved all the way up into sixth. If he can beat Usman for a second time in their rumoured trilogy fight next year, you’d best believe he’ll enter the conversation for the top three.

What do you think about Kamaru Usman falling down to fourth place in the pound for pound rankings? Do you think Leon Edwards deserves to be higher, or does it make sense for him to be outside of the top five? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, BJPENN Nation!