The rankings have been updated following some big results at UFC Shanghai.
Umar Nurmagomedov’s coach was in shock watching his fighter suffer his first knockout loss this past weekend in Shanghai.
In the aftermath of this setback, Nurmagomedov has focused on coming back stronger and working on the mistakes he made.
Having worked his way back to the top before the second defeat of his career, the former title challenger has now learned his new rankings spot.
Do you still think Umar Nurmagomedov can become champion despite his KO loss at UFC Shanghai? 🤔
The Dagestani now has two defeats to Merab Dvalishvili and Song Yadong in his last four fights.
Umar Nurmagomedov drops down as Song Yadong surpasses him in bantamweight rankings
Umar Nurmagomedov made some bold comments about Song Yadong before their main event clash produced another sizable upset in 2026.
The former bantamweight title challenger was caught with an uppercut and knocked out in the second round on August 29.
At the start of September, the UFC rankings received an update to reflect the results of this past weekend’s event in Shanghai.
Both Nurmagomedov and Song moved three spots in the bantamweight pecking order, with the Russian falling as his opponent overtook him.
This now puts the Chinese fighter in a great position, with him only behind the two men scheduled to meet next month in a title fight rematch, as well as the last man to beat him, Sean O’Malley.
Nurmagomedov, on the other hand, now finds himself between two fighters that he’s already beaten inside the Octagon, as seen below:
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| UFC rankings | Bantamweight |
| Champion | Petr Yan |
| #1 | Merab Dvalishvili |
| #2 | Sean O’Malley |
| #3 | Song Yadong |
| #4 | Mario Bautista |
| #5 | Umar Nurmagomedov |
| #6 | Cory Sandhagen |
| #7 | David Martinez |
| #8 | Raoni Barcelos |
| #9 | Farid Basharat |
| #10 | Marcus McGhee |
The UFC strawweight division’s top five has also undergone changes
Michael Chiesa argued that Denise Gomes should get a title shot after the Brazilian stopped Yan Xiaonan in Saturday’s co-main event.
Earning the biggest win of her career to date has certainly seen the strawweight contender put her name in the mix, as reflected in the new rankings.
Similar to the outcome of the main event, both Gomes and Xiaonan have climbed/dropped the same amount of places.
As a result, Gomes now holds the #4 position at 115 pounds, while the former title challenger has fallen all the way to #9.
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