UFC 263 rankings update: Israel Adesanya rockets back up P4P ranks

UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya rocketed back up the pound-for-pound rankings following his win over Marvin Vettori at UFC 263.

Following his unanimous decision win over Vettori, Adesanya moved up to No. 3 overall in the P4P rankings, bumping UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovskki down to No. 4. It is a bit surprising to see UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz down at No. 7 given he beat Adesanya at UFC 259 in March, but there’s no doubt that after beating Vettori for the second time that Adesanya has proven him to be among the sport’s elite.

Aside from Israel Adesanya moving up the P4P ranks, new UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno entered the P4P ranks at No. 12 following his third-round submission win over Deiveson Figueiredo in the co-main event of UFC 263. Figueiredo fell out of the P4P top-15, with Robert Whittaker and Charles Oliveira both moving up a spot in the rankings, as well.

After his loss to Adesanya, Vettori dropped one spot at middleweight, with Jared Cannonier moving one spot past him. At 205lbs, Paul Craig moved up to No. 12 following his crazy TKO win over Jamahal Hill at UFC 263. With Craig moving up two spots in the rankings, Misha Cirkunov and Jimmy Crute both fell a spot in the rankings. Crute does have a previous stoppage win over Craig, but Craig has been on a better winning streak lately.

At welterweight, Belal Muhammad moved into the top-10 after beating Demian Maia, who dropped down to No. 11, with Li Jingliang moving to No. 12. At lightweight, Brad Riddell is now the No. 13 ranked lightweight, with Drew Dober falling out of the rankings. At featherweight, Movsar Evloev and Shane Burgos both moved up a spot, with Alex Caceres entering the rankings at No. 15. Hakeem Dawodu fell out of the rankings.

There was also some small movement in the women’s divisions, with Pannie Kianzad moving up a spot at 135lbs after beating Alexis Davis, and minor changes at women’s P4P.

What do you think of the rankings changes following UFC 263?