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With his TKO win over John Salter in the main event of Bellator 264, Gegard Mousasi remains Bellator middleweight champion. He also remains atop the 185-pound division in the latest edition of the Bellator MMA Fighter Rankings.
Mousasi took a patient approach to the fight with Salter, allowing Salter to tire out as the challenger employed a grappling-based attack. Once Salter was tired, Mousasi took over the fight and scored the TKO victory in the third round, improving to 11-1 since 2015 and retaining his title.
Salter entered the fight as Bellator’s No. 1 ranked middleweight, falling to No. 2 in defeat. Undefeated Austin Vanderford jumped to the top spot and may be the next man up for Mousasi, who also holds the No. 4 spot in the men’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Below are the top-10 pound-for-pound rankings for both the men and women. The full top-10 rankings for each division within the promotion can be found here. The rankings are voted on by 17 members of the media.
Editor’s note: CBS Sports insider Brian Campbell is a member of the 17-person voting panel. Bellator and CBS Sports are both owned by ViacomCBS.
Bellator Rankings (Aug. 17)
Men’s pound-for-pound
| Fighter | Record |
|---|---|
|
1. AJ McKee |
18-0 |
|
2. Patricio Pitbull |
32-5 |
|
3. Vadim Nemkov |
12-2 |
|
4. Gegard Mousasi |
47-7-2 |
|
5. Ryan Bader |
27-6 |
|
6. Yaroslav Amosov |
26-0 |
|
7. Sergio Pettis |
21-5 |
|
8. Douglas Lima |
32-9 |
|
9. Corey Anderson |
15-5 |
|
10. Juan Archuleta |
25-3 |
Women’s pound-for-pound
| Fighter | Record |
|---|---|
|
1. Cris Cyborg |
23-2 |
|
2. Juliana Velasquez |
11-0 |
|
3. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane |
11-1 |
|
4. Julia Budd |
15-3 |
|
5. Liz Carmouche |
15-7 |
|
6. Denise Kielholtz |
13-8 6-3 |
|
7. Arlene Blencowe |
14-8 |
|
8. Cat Zingano |
12-4 |
|
9. Kana Watanabe |
10-0-1 |
|
10. Leslie Smith |
12-8-1 |
Other notable results
- Middleweight: Andrey Koreshkov enters the rankings at No. 8 after picking up a win over Sabah Homasi. Koreshkov took a decision by the lopsided scores of 30-27, 30-26 and 30-26. The former welterweight champion makes his debut after being inactive for two years within the promotion.
- Bantamweight: Raufeon Stots jumped two spots to No. 2 after picking up a big decision victory over Magomed Magomedov. Magomedov dropped one spot at 135 pounds to No. 4.
- Women’s featherweight: Pam Sorenson makes her debut in the rankings, locking down the No. 10 spot with a split decision over Roberta Samad.