Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

On By Littum

Image: John Brannigan/Sherdog.com illustration


Shavkat Rakhmonov’s aura of invincibility may be gone, but his unbeaten record remains intact.

“Nomad” went the distance for the first time in 19 professional outings when he took a closely contested five-round decision against Ian Garry in the UFC 310 co-main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. While it wasn’t the typical dominant effort from third-ranked Rakhmonov, it’s important to note that he faced an unbeaten guy with dangerous skills of his own. Perhaps most importantly, the win appears to have secured a championship opportunity for Rakhmonov, who faced reigning 170-pound champion Belal Muhammad in the Octagon after the fight.

Elsewhere, Alexandre Pantoja maintained the flyweight status quo with a second-round submission of former Rizin bantamweight champion Kai Asakura in the UFC 310 headliner. “The Cannibal” continues to stack up wins at 125 pounds and is the clear no. 1 in an increasingly competitive division.

At heavyweight, Ciryl Gane improved to 2-0 against Alexander Volkov with a contested split-decision triumph. Although “Bon Gamin” was clearly unhappy with the performance, it allows him to retain his No. 4 position in the latest rankings, one place ahead of its Russian rival.

Meanwhile, Movsar Evloev added to his winning streak with a hard-fought unanimous decision triumph over former bantamweight king Aljamain Sterling on the preliminary UFC 310 card. The Russian has won nine straight outings — eight at 145 pounds — but has yet to finish an opponent inside the Octagon. Still, it will be hard to deny fourth-ranked Evloev his shot at featherweight champion Ilia Topuria in the near future. In other featherweight action, 14th-ranked Bryce Mitchell dispatched Kron Gracie via third-round knockout to maintain his footing in the 145-pound poll.

Note: Previous placements listed in parentheses.

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