After another amazing UFC event in Brazil, we head up north to Vancouver for a huge matchup between Reinier De Ridder and Brendan Allen. While I love both of these fighters, only one shall stand in the end, and I feel whoever wins may get the next title shot. That being said, let’s get to this week’s power rankings, in which we finally had a couple of fights announced yesterday. Also, you’ll want to remember that the Fight Club of Pain will be live this Thursday, at 7 pm EST, for all of your betting and DFS needs for this card. Have a great day, everyone, and may the fights be with you.
- Ilia Topuria:
Ilia Topuria remains the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world, even after UFC 320 this weekend. A lot of fighters have been running their mouths since his win over Charles Oliveira, who happens to be fighting Mateusz Gamrot this weekend. No matter what, Paddy Pimblett, Justin Gaethje, and the rest of the bunch all want a shot at Topuria’s title.
- Islam Makhachev:
Islam Makhachev is preparing himself to challenge Jack Della Maddalena for the Welterweight Championship. This match is going to take place on November 15th at Madison Square Garden for UFC 322. This is going to be the perfect fight to start off the holiday season with.
- Merab Dvalishvili:
After dissecting Cory Sandhagen just recently, Merab Dvalishvili didn’t have to wait long for his next opponent. Yesterday, Uncle Dana announced that Dvalishvili will be facing Petr Yan in part two of their saga. That fight will take place in Las Vegas at UFC 323 on December 6th.
- Alexandre Pantoja:
Alexandre Pantoja will be defending his title on December 6th at UFC 323 in Las Vegas. As predicted for the past month, Joshua Van will be his opponent, which makes this fight a must-watch if you’re a fight fan. Be ready for some early fireworks before the new year because this match is going to be explosive.
- Khamzat Chimaev:
Khamzat Chimaev takes over the fifth spot after beating Dricus Du Plessis for the title at UFC 319. With a rematch most likely not happening, the next set of opponents has been set up. Reinier De Ridder is fighting Brendan Allen on October 18th at UFC Fight Night in Vancouver. Nassourdine Imavov, who defeated Caio Borrahlo, is hoping that the fight between Ridder and Allen is boring so that he has a chance to face Chimaev next.
- Alex Pereira:
Alex Pereira has been working his tail off since losing to Magomed Ankalaev earlier this year. He listened to everyone’s advice as well as his heart this past weekend by throwing his reverse punch and clocking Ank so bad that his knees buckled immediately, which led to Poatan mounting him and winning by TKO through a ground and pound. However, I’m going out on a limb and saying that the new fighter on the list will be his next opponent. CHAMA!
- Alexander Volkanovski:
Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski moves down to sixth as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Next up for Volk will most likely be Lerone Murphy, who remained undefeated after knocking out Aaron Pico. However, after Diego Lopes knocked out Jean Silva, there’s no doubt that these three will be fighting in some shape or form in the future. I could see Murphy getting the shot during the holiday season, while Lopes gets a chance at the winner.
- Tom Aspinall:
On October 25th in Abu Dhabi, Tom Aspinall will be defending his Heavyweight Championship against Ciryl Gane at UFC 321. For now, Aspinall moves up to eight after this week’s shake-up. However, Aspinall has been hungry for a fight for a long time, but people think Gane is going to walk him. I don’t see that happening, but the Gane fans can hope.
- Jack Della Maddalena:
Jack Della Maddalena doesn’t care that Islam Makhachev is coming for him. JDM knows that Makhachev is the complete package and is his toughest opponent yet. With the match now scheduled, you can bet that JDM can’t wait to prove everyone wrong by beating Makhachev on November 15th.
- Carlos Ulberg:
A lot of people are going to disagree with my decision to put Carlos Ulberg on my list over Jiří Procházka. Procházka does deserve this spot after his convincing win over Khalil Roundtree, but he was losing that match heading into the third round before knocking out Roundtree. Ulberg not only knocked out Dominik Reyes, but he did it in the first round with the exact combo we called on the Fight Club of Pain. So, for that, let’s welcome the Black Jag to our elite group of fighters.
