The UFC returned to Abu Dhabi for UFC 333 on October 24, and both title fights went the distance or ended with authority depending on which main card you watched. Alexander Volkanovski stopped Movsar Evloev in the second round to make history in the featherweight division, Petr Yan scraped past Merab Dvalishvili over five rounds to keep his bantamweight belt, and the October 27 rankings update absorbed the fallout from both UFC 333 and the prior week's UFC Fight Night in Edmonton.
The biggest ranking movements of the week did not come from the Abu Dhabi card. They came from Edmonton, where Mike Malott finished Joaquin Buckley, Chelsea Chandler submitted Melissa Croden, and Jasmine Jasudavicius outpointed Erin Blanchfield in a women's flyweight fight with title implications.
Biggest Movers
| Fighter | Division | Old Rank | New Rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chelsea Chandler | Women's Bantamweight | #15 | #9 | +6 |
| Melissa Croden | Women's Bantamweight | #9 | #15 | -6 |
| Joaquin Buckley | Welterweight | #8 | #12 | -4 |
| Mike Malott | Welterweight | #11 | #8 | +3 |
| Jasmine Jasudavicius | Women's Flyweight | #6 | #3 | +3 |
| Erin Blanchfield | Women's Flyweight | #3 | #5 | -2 |
| Tom Aspinall | P4P Men | #8 | #7 | +1 |
| Marcus McGhee | Bantamweight | #10 | #9 | +1 |
Women's Bantamweight: Chandler's Kimura Changes the Conversation
Chelsea Chandler submitted Melissa Croden with a kimura at 4:52 of round one at UFC Edmonton. The finish was clinical and fast, and the committee moved accordingly. Chandler jumped from #15 to #9, a six-spot climb. Croden drops an equal six places to #15.
Chandler was sitting outside the top ten on a mixed stretch. A first-round submission of a ranked opponent is the kind of result that resets expectations. She's now in a credible position in a division controlled by champion Kayla Harrison, who has defended without serious threat. A win over anyone in the #5 to #7 range would make Chandler's name relevant in title discussions.
Croden, who held the #9 slot for several months, will need a return win quickly to stop sliding further.
Welterweight: Malott Breaks Into the Top 10
Mike Malott needed two rounds to end Joaquin Buckley at the UFC Edmonton main event on October 17. A knee to the body dropped Buckley in round two and the fight was waved off. It was Malott's fifth consecutive win, his second straight knockout, and his eighth win in nine UFC appearances.
Buckley had been ranked #8. He falls four places to #12 after losing three in a row, a rapid fall for a fighter who was in interim title conversation in early 2025. Malott climbs from #11 to #8 and is now a legitimate top-ten welterweight.
Islam Makhachev is the welterweight champion with Carlos Prates at #1 and Ian Machado Garry at #2. Below the top four or five, the rankings are genuinely competitive, and Malott now sits in the middle of that group with momentum.
Women's Flyweight: Jasudavicius Upsets Blanchfield, Enters Top 3
Jasmine Jasudavicius defeated Erin Blanchfield by unanimous decision at UFC Edmonton in what became the women's flyweight fight with the most rankings implications in recent months. Jasudavicius moves from #6 to #3, jumping Blanchfield and everyone between them.
Blanchfield drops from #3 to #5 and falls further on the pound-for-pound women's list, slipping from #8 to #9. Manon Fiorot holds at #4. Zhang Weili slides one spot from #5 to #6.
At #3, Jasudavicius sits behind only Valentina Shevchenko at #1 and Alexa Grasso at #2 in a division where champion Natalia Silva is still relatively early in her title run. The argument for Jasudavicius as next challenger is now hard to dismiss.
Featherweight: Volkanovski Breaks the Record
In the UFC 333 main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, Alexander Volkanovski finished Movsar Evloev by TKO at 4:54 of round two. It was Volkanovski's ninth featherweight title defense, surpassing Jose Aldo's record of eight. Volkanovski stands at 29-4.
The featherweight rankings did not change. Evloev stays at #1 after the loss — a challenger does not automatically fall after a title shot. Diego Lopes at #2, Lerone Murphy at #3, and Aljamain Sterling at #4 all hold position.
Bantamweight: Yan Holds Off Dvalishvili
Petr Yan retained the bantamweight title with a unanimous decision over Merab Dvalishvili, 48-47 on all three cards in a close five-round fight. Dvalishvili holds at #1 despite coming up short. Yan is 21-5 overall.
The bantamweight rankings shifted slightly below the top. Marcus McGhee moved from #10 to #9. Payton Talbott, Montel Jackson, Aiemann Zahabi, Bryce Mitchell, and Marlon Vera each moved up one spot in the bubble behind him.
P4P: Aspinall Climbs to No. 7
Tom Aspinall moves from #8 to #7 on the men's pound-for-pound list, the only movement at the all-divisional level this week. His heavyweight run is gaining traction at the top of the rankings where it counts.
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This article was generated with AI and may contain errors.