UFC 329 Winner Paddy Pimblett Gets Major Boost in New Meta UFC Rankings Update

"The Paddy" was one of several big winners at UFC 329.

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The dust is still settling from UFC 329, and the official UFC rankings have been updated to reflect some major results from last Saturday’s card.

Taking place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV, arguably the most highly-anticipated fight card of the entire year saw Conor McGregor make his return from a five-year layoff to rematch Max Holloway in a welterweight main event.

Any fans hoping for a storybook return for McGregor were treated to just the opposite, as a knee injury brought an end to the fight after just 69 seconds and left “The Notorious” on a three-fight skid that dates back to 2021.

Paddy Pimblett Jumps into Top 5 After Stunning UFC 329 Win

The injury TKO did nothing to raise Holloway’s stock in the Meta AI UFC rankings for the lightweight division, although “Blessed” is probably more than satisfied with the payday he got for a short night of work.

Max Holloway leaves the octagon after defeating Conor McGregor (not pictured) during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Arguably the biggest winner at UFC 329 was Paddy Pimblett, who returned from his failed interim title bid against Justin Gaethje to take on French finisher Benoit Saint-Denis in the card’s co-main event.

Benoit Saint-Denis (red gloves) fights Paddy Pimblett (blue gloves) in a lightweight bout during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“The Baddy” only needed 52 seconds to choke his opponent unconscious and vault up four places to #5 in the Meta UFC rankings. Saint-Denis falls three spots down to #8 after Pimblett snapped his four-fight finishing streak in stunning fashion.

Cong Wang Closes in on UFC Title Fight With Valentina Shevchenko

There was also some significant movement in the women’s flyweight rankings, as Cong Wang’s unanimous decision victory over Tracy Cortez moved her up four spots to #6.

Wang Cong (blue gloves) celebrates after defeating Tracy Cortez (not pictured) in a women's flyweight bout during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Cong famously defeated UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion Valentina Shevchenko in kickboxing in 2015 and now could be one more win away from a UFC title shot, while Cortez finds herself on the first two-fight skid of her career and has dropped two places down to #10.

Tracy Cortez (red gloves) reacts in a women's flyweight bout during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Robert Whittaker Breaks into UFC Light Heavyweight Rankings

After getting his hand raised in his divisional debut, former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker broke through into the light heavyweight rankings at #13.

Nikita Krylov (red gloves) fights Robert Whittaker (blue gloves) in a light heavyweight bout during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

“The Reaper” elected to move up to 205 lbs. after back-to-back losses to Khamzat Chimaev and Reinier de Ridder, which marked the first time the former champion had dropped consecutive fights since his initial welterweight run with the UFC.

Robert Whittaker (blue gloves) celebrates after defeating Nikita Krylov (red gloves) after a light heavyweight bout during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The move paid off at UFC 329, as Whittaker overcome a fairly significant size disadvantage to stop
Nikita Krylov in the third round of the night’s featured prelim.

Brandon Royval & Mario Bautista Get UFC Rankings Bump

Entering the event as underdogs, main card fighters Brandon Royval and Mario Bautista scored big wins at UFC 329 and received slight rankings bumps as a result.

Brandon Royval (red gloves) fights Lone'er Kavanagh (blue gloves) in a flyweight bout during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Former title challenger Royval threw down with Lone’er Kavanagh in a high-paced flyweight scrap that took home “Fight of the Night” honors and ended with a third-round submission from “Raw Dawg”, who moved up one place to #3 in the flyweight rankings.

Cory Sandhagen (red gloves) fights Mario Bautista (blue gloves) in a bantamweight bout during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Bautista came into UFC 329 looking to exact revenge on Cory Sandhagen after he was submitted by the former title challenger in his promotional debut in 2019. A unanimous decision gave Bautista back-to-back wins, and he’s now swapped places with Sandhagen and sits at #4 in the bantamweight Top 15.