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Rankings Shakeup: Paddy Pimblett will not be denied

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Rankings Shakeup: Paddy Pimblett will not be denied

Love him or hate him. Overrated or underrated. Real deal or hype job. One thing is a fact about Paddy Pimblett right now: He's one of the 10 best lightweights in the world. And he ain't 10.

With the Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway main event falling flat, Pimblett was the unequivocal star of UFC 329. He needed just 52 seconds to choke out the surging Benoit Saint Denis, washing the bitter taste of a loss to Justin Gaethje that kicked off Pimblett's 2026 campaign—a loss that doesn't look so bad considering he lasted longer than Ilia Topuria did against Gaethje.

Pimblett silenced plenty of doubters just by cracking the top 15, so I'm curious to see what the #haters have to say about “The Baddy†making an undeniable contender statement. The MMA Fighting was so wowed by Pimblett's Submission of the Year candidate that he jumped all the way from No. 12 to No. 7 on our charts. Just ahead of him are PFL's Usman Nurmagomedov and Max Holloway, who has said he'd like to stick around at welterweight (though presumably only for a third fight with McGregor), so if you squint, you can see that Pimblett is actually top 5 if we're talking just UFC lightweights.

It's unlikely Pimblett gets another shot at Gaethje next, so he likely needs one more win over an elite 155er to cement his case. Depending how the cards shake out, that could mean a dance with presumptive No. 1 contender Arman Tsarukyan, “BMF†champion Charles Oliveira, or longtime rival Ilia Topuria.

Regardless of who it turns out to be, is it really wise to bet against Pimblett beating the odds again?

Check out MMA Fighting's updated lightweight rankings below following UFC 329.

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 5 Max Holloway def. Conor McGregor (welterweight bout), No. 12 Paddy Pimblett def. No. 7 Benoit Saint Denis, No. 14 Rafael Fiziev def. Manuel Torres

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 6 Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Archie Colgan (PFL New York, July 31), No. 11 Mateusz Gamrot vs. No. 13 Quillan Salkilld (UFC Vegas 120, Aug. 8)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Beneil Dariush (1), Alfie Davis (1), Tom Nolan (1)

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MMA

Ex-UFC stars new career takes wild turn during traffic stop

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Ex-UFC star's new career takes wild turn during traffic stop
Former
Ultimate Fighting Championship title challenger Marlon
Moraes now deals with real-world situations, as seen in a
recent South Florida traffic stop.

Viral footage circulating on social media shows Moraes, now working
as a police officer, dealing with a motorist who repeatedly
confronted and verbally challenged him. After several warnings to
back away, the man moved toward Moraes, who responded by taking him
to the ground.

Marlon Moraes hip tosses motorist while working as South
Florida police officer

The incident took place on March 27. Moraes joined the Davie Police
Department in Florida in June 2024 before taking a position with
the Coral Springs P.D. later that year.

In the viral footage, the situation escalates after the motorist
repeatedly insults Moraes and another officer. Moraes warns him
against moving closer before eventually using a hip toss to bring
him to the ground, where other officers move in to handcuff
him.

The incident adds another chapter to Moraes’ unusual post-fighting
career, which has seen him transition into law enforcement while
also returning to mixed martial arts competition. The Brazilian
exited the UFC in 2023 on a seven-fight losing streak. He defeated
Maximiliano
Perez by unanimous decision on Aug. 28, returning to
competition after three years to record his first victory since
2019.

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MMA

Shavkat Rakhmonov admits UFC return is far from guaranteed

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Shavkat Rakhmonov admits UFC return is far from guaranteed
Shavkat
Rakhmonov isn’t ready to say that his
Ultimate Fighting Championship career is over, but the unbeaten
welterweight admits his return is far from guaranteed.

Rakhmonov has been sidelined since defeating Ian Garry in
December 2024. He entered that bout with a knee injury and it left
a long-lasting impact. In a new interview, he reflected on the
fight and where he stands in the 170-pound division.

Shavkat Rakhmonov details the knee injury that has kept him
sidelined since beating Ian Garry

“Nomad†admits that he should not have competed with his injury. He
also took a shot at Dagestani stars Khabib
Nurmagomedov and Islam
Makhachev, claiming they would never fight injured.

“Well, that's my problem; I couldn't fight,†Rakhmonov told Alf
Global. “If I had fought, I could've become champion, but that's
how it turned out. I was injured. What can I do? We are only human.
I actually shouldn't even have fought Ian Garry at
all. With injuries like that, I shouldn't have fought at all; I
just took a risk. That's the Kazakh way. Kazakhs are very daring.
They're not afraid. If it had been some other Dagestani fighter
like Khabib or Islam Makhachev, they definitely would've
refused.â€

Rakhmonov then delved deeper into how his injury worsened during
the Garry fight.

“I already had an injury going into the Ian Garry fight,†he added.
“I stepped in; I hadn't fought for a year; I wanted to fight. That
old injury was still bothering me a lot. My leg was swollen. And
when he was striking me, it was probably because I completely
lacked a ligament. I couldn't really feel that strike, in
general.â€

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Salahdine Parnasse calls out Max Holloway following showstopping UFC debut

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Salahdine Parnasse calls out Max Holloway following showstopping UFC debut
Salahdine
Parnasse made a statement in his
Ultimate Fighting Championship debut.

The former two-division
KSW champion stopped Dan Hooker
with a body kick and follow-up strikes in the first round of the

UFC Paris main event. Parnasse subsequently reiterated his
claim that he's already one of the best in the world.

Salahdine Parnasse targets Max Holloway after stopping Dan
Hooker at UFC Paris

Parnasse carried a five-fight win streak into his Octagon debut and
is high in confidence after a near-perfect introduction to UFC
fans. He was in good spirits after the fight, claiming that his
performance reflects just how dangerous he is to other UFC
lightweights.

“I threw the kick and then I threw a punch and to be honest with
you, I got to rewatch the fight, but I don't remember exactly
everything,†Parnasse said in a post-fight interview. “I showed
that I'm one of the best in the world, I showed that I'm dangerous
and I'm here.â€

The Frenchman also called for a matchup with former UFC champion
Max
Holloway, emphasizing that the request comes from admiration
rather than disrespect.

“Like I said, I want to fight Max Holloway; I know he's a legend,â€
Parnasse added. “This is not trash talking; this is just a dream
that I've had for a long time and out of respect, I really want to
face a legend like Max.â€

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