USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, April 16: Kayla Harrison makes quick bantamweight impact
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.