Valentina Shevchenko’s win against Holly Holm at Fight Night Chicago on FOX rocked the bedrock of the women’s bantamweight divisional rankings Wednesday.
Nine of the 15 women on the 135-pound list are in a new spot this week and Shevchenko is the biggest winner. Kyrgyzstan’s Shevchenko moves up four spots into serious title contention at No. 3 behind Ronda Rousey (2) and Miesha Tate (1).
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Holm dropped two spots to No.4 but still sits one spot ahead of No. 5-ranked Julianna Pena, who has won four in a row and also has a strong case for a shot at champion Amanda Nunes.
In the lightweight division, Edson Barboza cracked the top five with a one-spot jump into the No. 5 position, knocking Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone down a peg to No. 6. Gilbert Melendez lost to Barboza in his first fight back after a year-long absence, but he reappears in the 155-pound rankings at No. 14.
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Eddie Wineland recorded a monster knockout win at Fight Night Chicago, taking out Frankie Saenz in the FS1 prelim main event. Wineland moves up three spots at bantamweight to No. 12, dropping Saenz down three spots to No. 15.
There was also some additional movement not in relation to the fights last weekend. TJ Dillashaw moves past Frankie Edgar in the pound-for-pound ranks to No. 14.
In the featherweight division, Chad Mendes was removed from the rankings while he serves a two-year suspension for a USADA violation. Eight featherweights make a one-spot jump in his absence and “The Korean Superboy” Doo Ho Choi, a KO artist who has started 3-0 in the UFC, debuts at No. 12.
Matt Parrino is a digital producer and writer for UFC.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MattParrinoUFC
