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Considering the road he’s been on to the top, it’s hard to think that anybody could have envisioned Michael Bisping cracking the Top 15 of the pound-for-pound rankings.
But as Bisping proved at UFC 199, anything is possible.
In Monday’s official UFC rankings release, Bisping dropped a bomb on the rankings, completely reshaping the elite group by making his debut at No. 9 in the pound-for-pound listings.
More from UFC 199: Results | Postfight bonus recap | Bisping stuns Rockhold, wins UFC title | Cruz dominant in title defense vs Faber | Hendo scores emotional win; Poirier, Holloway also victorious | Ortega, Dariush, Andrade get TKO wins | Strickland, da Silva, Reyes score wins in early prelims | Backstage interviews: Max Holloway, Dustin Poirier, Brian Ortega, Beneil Dariush, Jessica Andrade | Octagon interviews: Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber, Sean Strickland | Watch the UFC 199 FIGHT PASS prelims on demand now | UFC fighters pay respect to Muhammad Ali | Best pictures from UFC 199 | Miss any of the action? Order the UFC 199 replay now!
“The Count” captured the middleweight title on Saturday night with a memorable knockout against former champ Luke Rockhold, who finished Bisping in their first meeting by submission. Rockhold felt the effects of the Brit’s power in Inglewood, Calif. and he’s likely still reeling as he finds himself 10 spots down in the rankings at No. 13.
Fighters Nos. 4-9 all moved up a spot in the aftermath of Rockhold’s fall. New UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic gained two spots to No. 11, while former middleweight champion Chris Weidman also subsequently dropped four spots in the wake of Rockhold’s loss – likely because of his demise at the hand of Rockhold back at UFC 194.
In other notable movement Dustin Poirier cracked the top 10 after knocking out Bobby Green in the first round of their main card tilt. Poirier passes Michael Chiesa and Beneil Dariush, who was also victorious in Cali in a KO win against James Vick.
The strawweight division has a new top contender as former bantamweight Jessica Andrade dropped down to 115 pound to make her debut against Jessica Penne. Andrade destroyed Penne and claimed the No. 7 spot in the rankings after just one bout in the division.
Penne, who fought for the title against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in 2015, dropped four spots all the way down to No. 10. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (No. 6) and Maryna Moroz (No. 8) each climbed one spot, while Andrade’s presence dropped Paige VanZant (No. 9) down a peg.