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Even in a losing effort, former UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman managed to get something out of the UFC Oklahoma City main event.
The UFC returned to Oklahoma for the first time in nearly 10 years last weekend, as Usman closed out a 12-fight card when he made his second middleweight appearance opposite the division’s former titleholder Dricus du Plessis.
“Stillknocks” was competing for the first time since losing his middleweight belt to Khamzat Chimaev in August, and the South African put on a largely dominant performance in Oklahoma City to take a unanimous decision over Usman.
Kamaru Usman Breaks into Middleweight Rankings After Loss at UFC Oklahoma City
Even after defeating a major name, du Plessis stayed put at #2 in the Meta UFC middleweight rankings following UFC Oklahoma City.
In a somewhat surprising change, Usman debuts in the middleweight rankings at #11 after going the distance with du Plessis in what was just his second middleweight outing after he met Chimaev on short notice at UFC 294. The former champion also still holds a #10 ranking in the UFC welterweight
division.
Ikram Aliskerov, who extended his winning run to three fights with a unanimous decision over Brunno Ferreira last month, fell two spots down to #12 in the latest update.
The co-main event for UFC Oklahoma City was also an important middleweight bout that saw Christian Leroy Duncan best former title challenger Jared Cannonier. Duncan moved up two places to #10 after collecting his fifth win in a row.
Fatima Kline Vaults Into UFC Title Contention
Arguably the biggest winner at UFC Oklahoma City was Fatima Kline, who was originally scheduled to meet Amanda Ribas before the latter fighter withdrew with an injury.
Ribas was replaced by Tabatha Ricci, who came into the night as the promotion’s #8-ranked strawweight contender and represented a huge opportunity for Kline to vault into the division’s Top 10.
After taking a comprehensive unanimous decision over Ricci, Kline vaulted up eight places in the strawweight rankings and now sits at #6.
Stepping in to replace Ribas unfortunately backfired for Ricci, as “Baby Shark” fell six places down to #13 following the loss to Kline.
The only other movement directly influenced by the results of UFC Oklahoma City came in the featherweight division, as Jose Miguel Delgado moved up one spot to #14 after taking a unanimous decision over Austin Bashi.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/fannation/mma as UFC Oklahoma City Loser Kamaru Usman Gets Massive Boost in New UFC Rankings Update.
