Johnny Walker climbed from No. 12 to No. 8 in the UFC heavyweight rankings and Tatiana Suarez rose from No. 3 to No. 1 at women's strawweight in the update released on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026, after UFC Fight Night: Cortes-Acosta vs. Walker at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas on Nov. 7.
The two headline fights produced the biggest moves. Walker's third-round knockout of Waldo Cortes-Acosta swapped the two heavyweights' places, and Suarez's unanimous decision over Virna Jandiroba put her at the front of the strawweight contender queue. Further down the card, a few unranked winners made cases that will be harder to ignore next time.
Biggest movers
| Fighter | Division | Old rank | New rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Walker | Heavyweight | #12 | #8 | +4 |
| Waldo Cortes-Acosta | Heavyweight | #8 | #12 | -4 |
| Rizvan Kuniev | Heavyweight | #7 | #6 | +1 |
| Curtis Blaydes | Heavyweight | #6 | #7 | -1 |
| Tatiana Suarez | Women's Strawweight | #3 | #1 | +2 |
| Zhang Weili | Women's Strawweight | #1 | #2 | -1 |
| Virna Jandiroba | Women's Strawweight | #2 | #3 | -1 |
| Karine Silva | Women's Flyweight | #14 | #12 | +2 |
Walker jumps into the heavyweight top 10
Walker (24-10, 1 NC) took the main event on short notice after Sean Brady withdrew from his scheduled headliner with Gabriel Bonfim because of a staph infection in his knee. Cortes-Acosta kept pressing forward and appeared to be in control after the second round, according to UFC.com's recap, before Walker landed a question mark kick to the head in the third and chased down the finish. The fight was stopped at 2:27 of round three (TKO, punches) and earned Fight of the Night.
It was Walker's second stoppage win in two fights since he moved up from light heavyweight in October 2026, following a first-round TKO of Mick Parkin at UFC 332. The jump to No. 8 puts the 34-year-old Brazilian ahead of his brother Valter Walker (No. 11) and within reach of the top five.
Cortes-Acosta (17-5) suffered the first stoppage loss of his career and his third straight defeat, after decision losses to Alexander Volkov and Curtis Blaydes. He has not won since knocking out Derrick Lewis in January 2026, and he drops from No. 8 to No. 12.
Suarez takes the No. 1 spot at strawweight
Suarez (13-1) beat Jandiroba by unanimous decision, 30-27, 30-27, 29-28. She chased takedowns from the start and spent more than half the fight in top position, according to UFC.com, although MMA Junkie notes she failed to complete a takedown for the first time in her UFC career. Jandiroba's best moment came at the end of the second round, when she dove on a kneebar that looked deep but came too late.
It was Suarez's third win in a row. Her only professional loss came in her title fight with Zhang Weili at UFC 312 in February 2025, and with Zhang now behind her at No. 2, a shot at champion Mackenzie Dern looks like the logical next step. Jandiroba (23-5), who lost a title fight to Dern at UFC 321, slips from No. 2 to No. 3. All five of her career losses have come by decision.
Petroski snaps his losing streak
Andre Petroski (14-6) stopped Mantas Kondratavičius with elbows and punches at 4:39 of the second round on the prelims, ending a three-fight losing streak and earning his first win since February 2025. Kondratavičius (9-2) suffered the first knockout loss of his career. Neither man is ranked at middleweight.
Smith makes a statement at bantamweight
Elijah Smith (11-1) needed one minute to knock out veteran Davey Grant on the main card and earned a $100,000 Performance of the Night bonus. It was Grant's first knockout loss. Smith's four-fight UFC winning streak is tied for the third-longest active run at bantamweight, behind Raul Rosas Jr. and champion Petr Yan, according to MMA Junkie. He is still outside the top 15, but another win like this should change that.
Other results
- Lucas Fernando beat Billy Elekana by unanimous decision (29-28 on all three cards) at light heavyweight.
- Nina Nikolija Milošević (10-1) stopped Priscila Cachoeira with elbows and punches at 3:40 of round two at women's bantamweight. Cachoeira has now lost four in a row.
- Thomas Petersen earned the night's other Performance of the Night bonus with a third-round TKO of Gabriel Lorenço at heavyweight.
- Karine Silva's unanimous decision over Gabriella Fernandes moved her from No. 14 to No. 12 at women's flyweight.
See every division in the current UFC rankings. Next up is UFC 334 on Saturday, Nov. 14, headlined by Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit. Make your picks in the free Pugna MMA app, with live round-by-round MMA results and a free no-money prediction game in eight languages.
Sources
This article was generated with AI and may contain errors.