Carlos Ulberg will not be denied.
The owner of the longest active win streak at light heavyweight heading into UFC 327, Ulberg already deserved consideration for MMA Fighting’s Pound-for-Pound rankings, and on Saturday he made sure he’d have a P4P number next to his name as he scored an unreal comeback knockout of Jiri Prochazka. Ulberg snatched victory from the jaws of defeat after suffering a debilitating leg injury, one that might spoil his light heavyweight championship reign before it’s even
begun.
But we’re focusing on the positive here. Ulberg, new champion at 205 pounds. Riding a 10-fight win streak. And his past three victories include former titleholders Prochazka and Jan Blachowicz, as well as two-time title challenger Dominick Reyes. Ulberg’s run is as good any that we’ve recently seen in what was once one of the UFC’s marquee divisions and he’s more than worthy of the No. 12 spot (tied with Jack Della Maddalena and Arman Tsarukyan) in our rankings regardless of what the near future holds for him.
On a similar note, based on how long it took us to rate Ulberg, maybe we’re making the same mistake with Movsar Evloev? The undefeated featherweight creeps further up our charts to No. 18, but after his UFC London win over fellow top contender Lerone Murphy, should Evloev already be much closer to the top 10?
Let’s hope he gets that Alexander Volkanovski title fight so we can move on from the hypothetical.
Check out the post-UFC 327 Pound-for-Pound Rankings and let us know your thoughts in the poll and comments below.
MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 19 Movsar Evloev def. Lerone Murphy, Carlos Ulberg def. No. 17 Jiri Prochazka
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 2 Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje (UFC White House, June 14), No. 3 Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane (UFC White House, June 14), No. 4 Khamzat Chimaev vs. Sean Strickland (UFC 328, May 9), No. 12 (tied) Jack Della Maddalena vs. Carlos Prates (UFC Perth, May 2), No. 16 Joshua Van vs. Tatsuro Taira (UFC 328, May 9)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Justin Gaethje (2), Usman Nurmagomedov (2), Jiri Prochazka (2), Belal Muhammad (1), Aljamain Sterling (1)
Falling out of the rankings: No. 17 Jiri Prochazka
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 11 Alexa Grasso def. Maycee Barber, No. 12 Tatiana Suarez def. Loopy Godinez, No. 13 Virna Jandiroba def. Tabatha Ricci
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 20 Taila Santos vs. Yan Qihui (PFL Sioux Falls, May 2)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Jasmine Jasudavicius (3), Norma Dumont (2), Gillian Robertson (2)
A refresher on the ground rules:
- The five-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, Damon Martin, and Jed Meshew.
- Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout in a given weight class. Updates to the rankings are typically completed following each month’s UFC pay-per-view.
- Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice. (Let’s put it this way: We’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did.)
- Holding a promotion’s title does not guarantee that fighter will be viewed as the best in their promotion. Additionally, fighters who regularly compete or hold titles in multiple weight classes are eligible to be ranked in multiple lists.
Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.
