UFC 288 took place Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. where multiple fighters made a significant impact.
In the main event, Henry Cejudo returned to action for the first time in three years when he lost a close split decision to bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. With the performance, Cejudo is eligible for ranking and inserts in at No. 4.
Co-main event winner Belal Muhammad had an impressive performance as he dominated former UFC title challenger Gilbert Burns for much of 25 minutes to earn a unanimous decision nod – and a jump to No. 3 in our rankings.
Two women’s strawweight contenders, Yan Xiaonan and Virna Jandiroba, also had big, meaningful victories. Xiaonan’s TKO of Jessica Andrade moves her from No. 6 to No. 5. Jandiroba’s unanimous decision victory over Marina Rodriguez shoots her up the rankings from No. 11 to No. 6.
Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.
Ranking Criteria
The rankings take into account a fighter's wins/losses, quality of competition, finishing rate/dominance and frequency of fights.
Fighters are no longer eligible to be ranked after they've been inactive for 24 months, either due to injuries, drug/conduct suspensions, contract disputes or self-imposed hiatuses.
Fighters serving drug/conduct suspensions are eligible to be ranked, so long as they're not inactive for more than 24 months.
To the best of our ability, fighters will be ranked in their primary weight class. Catchweight fights and bouts outside the fighter's primary weight class can have a positive or negative impact on the ranking. However, non-titleholders can be ranked in only one weight class at a given time, and in most cases, they won't be ranked in a new weight class until they've had their first fight at that weight.