USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, April 16: Kayla Harrison makes quick bantamweight impact
Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings following UFC 300 in Las Vegas.
With arguably the most stacked lineup in the company’s history, UFC 300 offered all kinds of opportunities for movement in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie MMA rankings.
When it comes to our rankings, Kayla Harrison always has been in a bit of a rock and a hard place. Most of her fights have been at lightweight – and we don’t have women’s lightweight rankings because their fights are too few and far between. And only one featherweight fight in her career wasn’t enough to make a big impact there. So she’s been stuck on the women’s pound-for-pound list just to be represented.
But at UFC 300, Harrison (17-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) dropped all the way to bantamweight for her promotional debut and absolutely wiped the floor with former champion Holly Holm (15-7 MMA, 8-7 UFC) for a second-round submission. At long last, Harrison can debut in our rankings in a highly competitive division, and she soared all the way past Holm to No. 6.
In the main event in Las Vegas, Alex Pereira (10-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) defended his light heavyweight title for the first time with a stunning and dramatic first-round knockout of former champ Jamahal Hill (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC). The Brazilian can’t go any higher at 205 pounds, but he made a big jump on the pound-for-pound list. And that’s where we’ll find Max Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC), too, after his insane last-second (literally) KO of Justin Gaethje (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) in their “BMF” title five-rounder.
Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.