Volkanovski Climbs to No. 5 in Sherdog Pound-for-Pound List

UFC 333 reshuffled Sherdog's pound-for-pound rankings. Alexander Volkanovski rose to No. 5, and Merab Dvalishvili fell to No. 8.

Volkanovski (29-4, 16-3 UFC) kept his featherweight title in the main event by stopping Movsar Evloev (20-1, 10-1 UFC) with punches at 4:54 of Round 2. The result lifted him two spots and put him ahead of heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane.

The co-main event was the third fight between Petr Yan (21-5, 13-4 UFC) and Dvalishvili (21-6, 14-4 UFC). Yan took a unanimous decision on three 48-47 cards, made his first successful bantamweight title defense and now leads the rivalry 2-1. He stayed at No. 2. Dvalishvili dropped four places and now sits directly below flyweight champion Joshua Van.

The top of the list

Islam Makhachev (29-1) is still first. His last outing was the UFC 330 headliner, where he beat Ian Garry by unanimous decision at 170 pounds. The win was his 17th in a row in the Octagon and broke Anderson Silva's record for consecutive victories.

Justin Gaethje (28-5) holds third place. Few gave him a chance against Ilia Topuria at the White House card, yet he forced a fourth-round corner stoppage and can now call himself an undisputed UFC champion. He hinted that retirement could be possible, but nothing is set.

Topuria (17-1) moved from fifth to fourth after his first career defeat. Sherdog notes he holds titles in two divisions and has finished Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway and Volkanovski.

Places five to ten

Volkanovski, at 38, came through a hard first round at UFC 333 before ending Evloev's unbeaten record. Gane (14-2, 1 NC) is sixth. He stopped Alex Pereira in the second round of the White House co-main event, and Aspinall's decision to vacate the heavyweight belt promoted him from interim to undisputed champion. Gane is expected to fight Josh Hokit at UFC 334.

Van (17-2) rose from eighth to seventh. He beat Alexandre Pantoja by unanimous decision in the UFC 331 headliner, after a first meeting that lasted 26 seconds because of an arm injury to Pantoja. Van is 24.

Dvalishvili started fast against Yan but could not hold off the late surge, and he took a couple of liver kicks along the way. Sherdog writes that the title is unlikely to be available to him while Yan is champion.

Tom Aspinall (15-3, 1 NC) stays ninth. He gave up the heavyweight title after another injury in training, following the eye poke that ended his fight with Gane at UFC 321. Pereira (13-4) stays tenth and is booked to meet Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main event of UFC 335.

Sherdog lists Sean Strickland, Alexandre Pantoja, Magomed Ankalaev, Khamzat Chimaev and Dricus Du Plessis as other contenders.

Source: Sherdog