UFC
Israel Adesanya Drops Out Of UFC Pound-For-Pound Rankings For First Time Since 2019
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Former UFC Middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, has dropped out of the pound-for-pound rankings for the first time since 2019.
Israel Adesanya Drops Out Of UFC Pound-For-Pound Rankings
In recent years, ‘The Last Stylebender’ has been an ever-present member of the UFC P4P rankings, achieving his highest rank of second.
However, after two straight defeats to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 and Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305, the Nigerian-New Zealand fighter has dropped out of the rankings.
Former Bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling, has taken his place in the P4P table after moving up to Featherweight and beating Calvin Kattar at UFC 300.
After winning his first nine fights in the UFC, Adesanya lost his 10th to Jan Blachowicz at UFC 259 – moving up from Middleweight to fight for Light Heavyweight gold.
During his time as UFC Middleweight champion, the 35-year-old defended the belt five times before losing to Alex Pereira at UFC 221.
He would get his revenge in the rematch, as Adesanya knocked the Brazilian fighter out in round two and handing Pereira his only loss in the UFC.
Since this victory, Adesanya has suffered two defeats to the previously mentioned Strickland and Du Plessis, meaning his last victory came in April 2023.
The former Middleweight champion hasn’t given an exact date for when he will return to the Octagon, but his time around the title appears to be over.
The P4P rankings are created by a voting panel which includes a variety of individuals from the MMA media industry.
Only active fighters can be selected for these rankings, with several fighters appearing in different weight classes and the champion is placed in first position.
UFC Men’s P4P Rankings
1. Islam Makhachev
2. Alex Pereira
3. Jon Jones
4. Ilia Topuria
5. Dricus Du Plessis
6. Belal Muhammad
6. Sean O’Malley
8. Tom Aspinall
9. Leon Edwards
10. Alexander Volkanovski
11. Max Holloway
12. Alexandre Pantoja
13. Sean Strickland
14. Charles Oliveira
15. Aljamain Sterling *NR