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On Saturday, the UFC will hold an event with full capacity since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when UFC 261 comes to VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. It’s a big milestone for the promotion, and the UFC is delivering a big card to celebrate the occasion.
The card is headlined by a trio of championship fights and is littered with fighters ranked in the CBS Sports UFC Divisional Rankings. In the main event, welterweight champion Kamaru Usman will defend his title in a rematch with CBS Sports No. 5 ranked Jorge Masvidal. The other two championship fights see No. 2 ranked Rose Namajunas challenge for Weili Zhang’s women’s strawweight championship and Valentina Shevchenko defending the women’s flyweight title against No. 2 ranked flyweight Jessica Andrade.
UFC 261 features five fights with CBS Sports ranked fighters.
- Welterweight: No. 1 Kamaru Usman (c) vs. No. 5 Jorge Masvidal
- Women’s strawweight: No. 1 Weili Zhang (c) vs. No. 2 Rose Namajunas
- Women’s flyweight: No. 1 Valentina Shevchenko vs. No. 2 Jessica Andrade
- Middleweight: No. 9 Uriah Hall vs. Chris Weidman
- Light heavyweight: No. 6 Anthony Smith vs. Jimmy Crute
Rankings are compiled following the submission of ballots by Brent Brookhouse, Brian Campbell and Brandon Wise. Without further ado, here’s where things stand ahead of Saturday’s card.
For Brian Campbell’s updated Pound for Pound Rankings, click here.
Flyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Deivieson Figueiredo (c) |
20-1-1 |
|
2. Brandon Moreno |
18-5-2 |
|
3. Askar Askarov |
12-0-1 |
|
4. Matt Schnell |
15-5 |
|
5. Alexandre Pantoja |
23-5 |
|
6. Kai Kara-France |
22-9 |
|
7. Joseph Benavidez |
28-8 |
|
8. Alex Perez |
24-6 |
|
9. Brandon Royval |
12-5 |
|
10. Jussier Formiga |
23-8 |
Bantamweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Petr Yan |
15-1 |
|
2. Aljamain Sterling (c) |
19-3 |
|
3. Cory Sandhagen |
14-2 |
|
4. Cody Garbrandt |
12-3 |
|
5. Pedro Munhoz |
19-5 |
|
6. Marlon Moraes |
23-7-1 |
|
7. Jimmie Rivera |
23-5 |
|
8. Raphael Assuncao |
27-8 |
|
9. Merab Dvalishvili |
12-4 |
|
10. Jose Aldo |
29-7 |
Featherweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Alexander Volkanovski (c) |
22-1 |
|
2. Max Holloway |
22-6 |
|
3. Brian Ortega |
15-1 |
|
4. Zabit Magomedsharipov |
18-1 |
|
5. Yair Rodriguez |
12-2 |
|
6. Korean Zombie |
16-6 |
|
7. Calvin Kattar |
22-5 |
|
8. Josh Emmett |
16-2 |
|
9. Dan Ige |
15-3 |
|
10. Shane Burgos |
13-2 |
Lightweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Dustin Poirier |
27-6 |
|
T2. Justin Gaethje |
22-3 |
|
T2. Charles Oliveira |
30-8 |
|
4. Michael Chandler |
22-5 |
|
5. Tony Ferguson |
25-5 |
|
6. Rafael dos Anjos |
30-13 |
|
7. Conor McGregor |
22-5 |
|
8. Drew Dober |
23-9 |
|
9. Dan Hooker |
20-10 |
|
10. Paul Felder |
17-6 |
Welterweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Kamaru Usman (c) |
18-1 |
|
2. Colby Covington |
16-2 |
|
3. Leon Edwards |
18-3 |
|
4. Gilbert Burns |
19-4 |
|
5. Jorge Masvidal |
35-14 |
|
6. Stephen Thompson |
16-4-1 |
|
7. Michael Chiesa |
18-4 |
|
8. Vicente Luque |
20-7-1 |
|
9. Santiago Ponzinibbio |
27-4 |
|
10. Neil Magny |
24-8 |
Middleweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Israel Adesanya (c) |
20-1 |
|
2. Robert Whittaker |
23-5 |
|
3. Paulo Costa |
13-1 |
|
4. Jared Cannonier |
13-5 |
|
5. Derek Brunson |
21-7 |
|
6. Marvin Vettori |
16-4-1 |
|
7. Darren Till |
18-2-1 |
|
8. Jack Hermansson |
21-6 |
|
9. Uriah Hall |
16-9 |
|
10. Edmen Shahbayan |
11-1 |
Light heavyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Jan Blachowicz (c) |
28-8 |
|
2. Glover Teixeira |
32-7 |
|
3. Dominick Reyes |
12-2 |
|
4. Aleksandar Rakic |
14-2 |
|
5. Thiago Santos |
21-9 |
|
6. Anthony Smith |
34-16 |
|
7. Jiri Prochazka |
27-3-1 |
|
8. Magomed Ankalaev |
15-1 |
|
9. Johnny Walker |
18-5 |
|
10. Nikita Krylov |
26-8 |
Heavyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Francis Ngannou (c) |
16-3 |
|
2. Stipe Miocic |
20-4 |
|
3. Derrick Lewis |
25-7 |
|
4. Curtis Blaydes |
14-3 |
|
5. Alexander Volkov |
33-8 |
|
6. Ciryl Gane |
8-0 |
|
7. Alistair Overeem |
47-19 |
|
8. Jairzinho Rozenstruik |
11-2 |
|
9. Augusto Sakai |
15-2-1 |
|
10. Marcin Tybura |
21-6 |
Women’s strawweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Weili Zhang (c) |
21-1 |
|
2. Rose Namajunas |
9-4 |
|
3. Joanna Jedrzejczyk |
16-4 |
|
4. Carla Esparza |
17-6 |
|
5. Tatiana Suarez |
9-0 |
|
6. Marina Rodriguez |
13-1-2 |
|
7. Yan Xiaonan |
13-1 |
|
8. Jessica Andrade |
21-8 |
|
9. Mackenzie Dern |
11-1 |
|
10. Michelle Waterson |
18-8 |
Women’s flyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Valentina Shevchenko (c) |
20-3 |
|
2. Jessica Andrade |
21-8 |
|
3. Lauren Murphy |
14-4 |
|
4. Katlyn Chookagian |
15-4 |
|
5. Jennifer Maia |
18-7-1 |
Women’s bantamweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Amanda Nunes (c) |
21-4 |
|
2. Germaine de Randamie |
10-4 |
|
3. Holly Holm |
14-5 |
|
4. Aspen Ladd |
9-1 |
|
5. Yana Kunitskaya |
14-5 |
|
6. Irene Aldana |
12-6 |
|
7. Julianna Pena |
10-4 |
|
8. Julia Avila |
8-2 |
|
9. Ketlen Vieira |
11-2 |
|
10. Sara McMann |
12-6 |