Former welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, has dropped yet again in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings after he first relinquished his position at the top, following a knockout loss to Leon Edwards in their title fight, The PUNCH reports.
Usman was on the way to securing another decision victory, but with just a minute remaining in the fight, Edwards caught his opponent with a head kick, which knocked him out.
The Nigerian Nightmare’s reign as the UFC’s welterweight champion came to an end after five successful title defences. He was demoted in the organisation’s pound-for-pound list to No.3.
However, Islam Makhachev moved to the No.3 spot in the latest UFC pound-for-pound rankings after securing a dominating victory over Charles Oliveira last weekend, which saw him become the UFC’s lightweight champion.
Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski retains his hold at the top of the pound-for-pound rankings as a result, while Israel Adesanya is second, Makhachev moves up to third, while Usman drops to fourth.
Usman does remain above Edwards in the pound-for-pound list, with the Jamaican-British fighter moving up into fifth place in the rankings, thanks to his victory over the Nigerian.
Edwards hadn’t been ranked in the pound-for-pound list before his win against Usman, with the fighters now ranked seventh through to 15th all dropping one spot.
Usman has already stated his interest in fighting Edwards for a third time, in an attempt to win back the UFC welterweight title he first got his hands on back in 2019.
The first fight between the pair took place back in December 2015, with Usman winning by a unanimous decision on that occasion.
Edwards hasn’t lost since then, as he has won 10 of his last 11 fights, with his bout against Belal Muhammad last year being ruled as a no-contest due to an eye poke, which had the latter unable to continue.
