Elizabeth O.
UFC: Israel Adesanya loses Top spot in 2023 rankings
The Nigerian-born New Zealander lost his belt to his Brazilian rival at UFC 281 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, USA.
Up 3-1 on the judges’ scorecards in his title fight against Pereira, middleweight champ Adesanya (23-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC) was stopped in Round 5.
It was a standing TKO finish for Pereira (7-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC), who had Adesanya rocked and badly hurt three minutes into the final frame.
Here are the latest rankings of the 10 best middleweights on the UFC roster with Israel Adesanya now at number two.
- At number 10 stands Roman Dolidze, Andre Muniz at number nine,
- Sean Strickland in the number eight spot, number seven is Paulo Costa,
- Derek Brunson takes number six, Marvin Vettori in fifth,
- and Jared Cannonier in fourth.
Robert Whittaker takes the number three spot in the latest rankings after he recovered from a previous to end 2022 with a win.
Adesanya is now number two and for the first time since unifying the belt in 2019, Adesanya is no longer sitting atop the middleweight division and is now the No.1 contender.
Despite leading on all three scorecards in his UFC 281 title defense against long-time kickboxing rival Alex Pereira, Adesanya succumbed to a fifth-round stoppage for his first loss at middleweight inside the Octagon.
An immediate rematch is likely despite the fact that Pereira now owns three victories over Adesanya across two combat sports.
