UFC Rankings Update Sees Israel Adesanya Take Major Fall After UFC Seattle Loss

Israel Adesanya’s fourth-straight loss at UFC Seattle resulted in a precipitous drop in the rankings for the former two-time UFC middleweight champion.

Taking place at the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, WA, this year’s edition of UFC Seattle saw Adesanya step into the cage to take on rising middleweight contender Joe Pyfer, who was ranked at #14 coming into the night after securing three-straight wins.

A second-round TKO gave Pyfer the biggest win of his career and left Adesanya on a four-fight skid. The event caused some major rankings movement, both at middleweight and in several other UFC weight classes.

Israel Adesanya Exits Middleweight Top 5 After UFC Seattle

The most significant rankings shakeup unsurprisingly came at 185 lbs., as Pyfer climbed a staggering eight spots and now sits as the division’s #6-ranked contender.

Israel Adesanya (red gloves) fights Joe Pyfer (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Climate Pledge Arena. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Previously ranked at #4, Adesanya fell five places to #9 and now sits outside of the Top 5 in a division where he had five successful title defenses during his first reign with the middleweight belt. Following a loss to Alex Pereira at UFC 281, “The Last Stylebender” joined the short list of two-time UFC champions when he knocked out his former kickboxing rival in their immediate rematch at UFC 287 and reclaimed his title.

Israel Adesanya (blue gloves) reacts to defeating Alex Pereira (red gloves) during UFC 287 at Miami-Dade Arena. | Rich Storry-Imagn Images

The 36-year-old already shot down speculation that he might consider retiring with his social media posts immediately after UFC Seattle, and it will be interesting to see how the UFC matches Adesanya up next following four-straight losses.

Tyrell Fortune Debuts In UFC Rankings, Alexa Grasso Climbs Women's P4P List

With relatively few ranked fighters in action at UFC Seattle, the night’s other most meaningful bout was undoubtedly the co-main event that saw former UFC women’s flyweight titleholder Alexa Grasso defeat Maycee Barber in one of the more shocking finishes that combat sports fans have seen this year.

Alexa Grasso (red gloves) fights Maycee Barber (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Climate Pledge Arena. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

The win marks the second time Grasso has defeated Barber after the pair previously met in 2021 and “The Future” dropped a unanimous decision to the future champion. Both women stayed put in the women’s flyweight rankings following their rematch, although Grasso did move up two spots in the official UFC women’s pound-for-pound rankings.

Marcin Tybura (red gloves) fights Tyrell Fortune (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Climate Pledge Arena. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

The only other ranked fighter competing at UFC Seattle was perennial top heavyweight Marcin Tybura, who welcomed former Bellator and PFL fighter Tyrell Fortune to the Octagon. Fortune secured a unanimous decision after Bruce Buffer made a rare mistake and initially announced Tybura as the winner, and the longtime Bellator veteran debuts at #10 in the UFC heavyweight rankings as of this week.