UFC Rankings Update: O'Malley Returns to Number Two After Baku Card
UFC Fight Night: Fiziev vs. Torres touched down in Baku, Azerbaijan on June 27, and the rankings update that followed three days later was focused and deliberate. Only bantamweight moved in Tuesday's update. Three fighters shifted positions within the division's top six, with the headline change being Sean O'Malley climbing back to number two and pushing Umar Nurmagomedov to third.
Eleven other weight classes held their positions.
Biggest Movers
| Fighter | Division | Old Rank | New Rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sean O'Malley | Bantamweight | #3 | #2 | +1 |
| Song Yadong | Bantamweight | #6 | #5 | +1 |
| Umar Nurmagomedov | Bantamweight | #2 | #3 | -1 |
Bantamweight: O'Malley Back at Two
The core story is the position swap at the top of bantamweight's contender tier. O'Malley goes from third to second. Umar Nurmagomedov, who had occupied that spot, drops one place. Both remain the primary candidates for a shot at champion Petr Yan. Merab Dvalishvili stays at number one — unchanged and unchallenged in that position. Cory Sandhagen holds fourth.
Neither O'Malley nor Umar competed at the Baku card. The committee's decision reflects an assessment of the broader title landscape rather than a direct fight result between the two. O'Malley's return to the second position restores an ordering that the rankings had before Umar's recent form briefly moved him ahead. At this level, both fighters are close enough in the committee's eyes that a single fight can shift the picture in either direction.
Song Yadong's move from sixth to fifth is the quieter adjustment. Yadong has maintained consistent activity over the past year without a significant stumble. The single-place gain puts him in the window for a potential top-five matchup that could sharpen his case for a bigger assignment.
The Baku Card
Rafael Fiziev's homecoming in Baku was the kind of performance that makes a city remember why it hosts fights. Fiziev stopped Manuel Torres in the second round, closing the distance with a spinning wheel kick that buckled Torres before following up with punches to secure the finish. Fiziev told reporters after the fight that he had been fighting partially blind — a jab from Torres in the first round had doubled his vision — and finished Torres anyway.
The supporting card gave the committee material to work with. Jean Matsumoto won the card's bantamweight bout over Bekzat Almakhan by unanimous decision — a fight that, while not directly involving ranked fighters, feeds the committee's view of where the division stands heading into the second half of the year.
Elsewhere on the card, Shara Magomedov took a unanimous decision over Michel Pereira in middleweight. Asu Almabayev submitted Charles Johnson with a Suloev stretch in the flyweight division. The card ran out of the National Gymnastics Arena in Baku.
What the Update Means
The bantamweight title picture now looks like this: Petr Yan is champion. Merab Dvalishvili is number one and has not yet received a title shot. O'Malley sits at two and Umar Nurmagomedov at three, and both are convincing arguments for whoever fights next for the belt.
The committee placing O'Malley at two suggests he has the edge in that conversation right now, but Umar remaining at three keeps him one fight away from reclaiming the spot. Song Yadong at five makes him the candidate if the top four all have fights booked and someone needs a ranked opponent quickly.
The Baku card closed with one of the more dramatic finishes of the year. The rankings update that followed is narrow in scope — only bantamweight — but the O'Malley-Umar ordering is meaningful for how the 135-pound title race unfolds over the next six months.