UFC Rankings Shake-Up After UFC Fight Night: Nurmagomedov vs. Song
Song Yadong's stunning upset in Shanghai turned the bantamweight division on its head. While the UFC's official rankings for September 1 had already locked in before Saturday's knockout finish, the reverberations will be felt across the division for weeks. This week's update delivered 81 rank changes across ten divisions — with Women's Bantamweight seeing the most dramatic reshuffling.
The Event That Started It All
UFC Fight Night: Nurmagomedov vs. Song landed at the Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China on August 29. Song Yadong handed once-lightly-beaten Umar Nurmagomedov his first stoppage loss, finishing the Dagestani contender with a TKO at 1:48 of round two. Song went in as a heavy underdog; Nurmagomedov had never been stopped in his professional career. The result leaves the bantamweight picture murkier than it has been in months and all but guarantees the September rankings cycle will look very different next Tuesday.
Biggest Movers
| Fighter | Division | Old Rank | New Rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raquel Pennington | Women's Bantamweight | 14 | 2 | +12 |
| Aiemann Zahabi | Bantamweight | 13 | 7 | +6 |
| Michael Page | Middleweight | 8 | 15 | -7 |
| Melissa Croden | Women's Bantamweight | 9 | 15 | -6 |
| Raoni Barcelos | Bantamweight | 8 | 13 | -5 |
| Farid Basharat | Bantamweight | 9 | 14 | -5 |
| Marcus McGhee | Bantamweight | 10 | 15 | -5 |
| Julianna Peña | Women's Bantamweight | 5 | 1 | +4 |
Women's Bantamweight: A Division in Flux
The biggest single-week jump in any division this cycle belongs to Raquel Pennington (16-9). Pennington vaulted from 14th all the way to 2nd — a 12-spot leap that reflects both her recent performances and a broad reshuffling at 135 pounds. Julianna Peña (12-6) is the other headline mover: the former champion climbs four spots to land at number one in the contender rankings, putting her directly in line for a shot at champion Kayla Harrison (19-1). Norma Dumont and Joselyne Edwards both slip two spots, while Melissa Croden drops six.
The Women's Bantamweight picture beneath Harrison is the most volatile it has been all year.
Bantamweight: The Shanghai Aftermath Begins
This week's bantamweight rankings were locked before Song Yadong's TKO reached the scorecards. Despite that, the division still saw meaningful movement. Aiemann Zahabi (14-3) surged six places from 13 to 7, one of the sharpest upward moves in the division this week. Champion Petr Yan (20-5) holds the belt. Nurmagomedov sits at number 3 in this snapshot — that will change when next week's poll processes Saturday's result. Song Yadong, currently at 6, won the fight to make the strongest case for a title shot.
Deiveson Figueiredo (25-7) climbs two spots to 9th. Cory Sandhagen (18-7) rises one spot to 5th. Farid Basharat (16-0), Raoni Barcelos (22-5), and Marcus McGhee (11-2) all fell five spots or more — a sign of how much the bantamweight landscape continues to turn over.
Middleweight and Light Heavyweight Churn
Michael Page (25-3) dropped seven spots in Middleweight, from 8th to 15th. That is a steep fall for a fighter who was considered a top-ten fixture. On the other side, Gregory Rodrigues (20-6) rose four spots to 7th. Sean Strickland (31-7) holds the Middleweight title, with Brendan Allen at 4th and Caio Borralho at 5th.
In Light Heavyweight, Magomed Ankalaev moved up one spot to number 1 among contenders, with Jiří Procházka at 2. Alex Pereira (13-4) — a former champion — slid two spots to 3. Carlos Ulberg (14-1) is the champion.
Welterweight: Garry Steps Forward
Ian Machado Garry (17-2) moved into the top contender spot in Welterweight, jumping from 2nd to 1st. Champion Islam Makhachev (29-1) holds the belt. Carlos Prates drops one spot to 2nd. Kamaru Usman (21-5) rose two spots to 9th — a quiet but significant move for a former champion building back toward title contention.
What to Watch Next Week
The bantamweight division will dominate the next cycle. Song Yadong's TKO of Nurmagomedov — in a fight where Nurmagomedov entered as a significant favorite — will force the media panel to recalibrate the 135-pound order. Expect Song to jump back into the top five and Nurmagomedov to slip from 3rd. Whether that opens a title shot conversation for Song against Petr Yan is the central question hanging over the division.
This cycle: 10 divisions updated, 81 individual rank changes, and one of the most dramatic Women's Bantamweight reshufflings in recent memory.