USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, May 3: Marlon Vera vaults into top 10
The men’s bantamweight division saw the biggest move following the main event of UFC on ESPN 35.
Entering the week unranked at bantamweight, Marlon “Chito” Vera left quite the impression at Saturday’s event against Rob Font at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Vera took everything Font could offer throughout the fight, but remained strong and hurt his opponent on multiple occasions over the course of 25 minutes. It was an impressive performance for Vera in the first main event of his career, exiting with his hand raised as a winner via unanimous decision. The win propelled him into the top 10 in this week’s rankings update, settling in at No. 7.
Also on the move from Saturday’s event was heavyweight Alexandr Romanov who made quick work of Chase Sherman in a flawless performance. Romanov completely shut out his opponent before tapping him with an Americana just over two minutes into the first round. The undefeated fighter claims the No. 10 slot this week.
Take a look at the full rankings below ahead of a very busy week with UFC 274, Bellator 280, and 2022 PFL 3.