Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

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There was some upheaval in the middleweight division on Saturday.

While Johnny Eblen had displayed some chinks in his armor in recent bouts, he maintained his unbeaten record until the PFL Cape Town headliner, where Costello van Steenis rallied for a submission victory with just 10 seconds left in their middleweight title bout. At one time, Eblen had been considered one of the top 185-pound talents in the world, regardless of promotion. The aura faded in recent months with closer-than-expected fights against Fabian Edwards and Impa Kasanganay, and Van Steenis completely destroyed it with his gritty comeback. As a result, Eblen falls to 14th in the rankings on the heels of his first career defeat. Meanwhile, Van Steenis makes his debut in the poll at No. 13 — one spot ahead of Eblen.

There was also some significant 185-pound action at UFC 318. Brendan Allen settled the score with Marvin Vettori in a unanimous decision triumph on the preliminary card, while Paulo Costa ended a slump with a three-round verdict over Roman Kopylov in the evening’s co-main event. With that, both Vettori and Kopylov exit the middleweight bubble, and “Borrachinha” makes his return following a brief hiatus.

Elsewhere, Max Holloway showed that he’s found a home at 155 pounds, as he spoiled Dustin Poirier’s swan song in the UFC 318 main event. With recent victories over Poirier and Justin Gaethje under his belt, “Blessed” looks like someone to watch in the lightweight division going forward.

Corey Anderson made a statement in his first heavyweight bout since 2013, as he wore down 2024 PFL champ Denis Goltsov en route to a second-round technical knockout stoppage. “Overtime” seems to carry the weight well in his new division, and he is immediately positioned as an interesting challenge for Francis Ngannou or Vadim Nemkov at a future PFL event. For now, he makes his debut in the heavyweight rankings at No. 15 and exits the 205-pound poll.

Finally, Dakota Ditcheva cruised past Sumiko Inaba in the PFL Cape Town co-headliner, taking a lopsided unanimous decision over her game adversary. Ditcheva is the unquestioned queen at 125 pounds in the PFL, but going to the scorecards against Inaba isn’t enough to raise her profile in the latest flyweight rankings.

Note: Previous rankings listed in brackets.

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