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Rankings Shakeup: Navajo Stirling rises, Jan Blachowicz at crossroads

Published

3 months ago

on

Rankings Shakeup: Navajo Stirling rises, Jan Blachowicz at crossroads

Jan Blachowicz has been to the mountaintop and now he's in the middle of a precipitous fall.

May 2022. That's the last time Blachowicz left the octagon with his hand raised. And that bout ended in opponent Aleksandar Rakic being felled by an injury in the third round. For the last time Blachowicz had a truly definitive victory, you have to go further back to March 2021, when he put on an incredible performance to defend his light heavyweight title against Israel Adesanya and hand “The Last Stylebender†his first-ever loss in MMA.

Now 43, Blachowicz is in a career-worst slump, with two losses and two draws heading into his co-main event bout with Navajo Stirling at UFC Belgrade this past Saturday. The undefeated Stirling was facing a huge step up in competition, but he made it look easy as he decimated Blachowicz to score a knockout in less than three minutes.

During Blachowicz's walkout, commentator Jon Anik revealed that the Polish veteran is no longer able to lift weights due to it causing excessive discomfort. Perhaps that should have been a sign.

First and foremost, we need to give Stirling his flowers. The win looks like easy pickings now, but Stirling was taking a chance by accepting this fight on less than three weeks' notice (Blachowicz's originally scheduled opponent Bogdan Guskov had to replace an injured Khalil Rountree, resulting in a disastrous loss to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC Abu Dhabi last week) and against a Blachowicz who, even in defeat, had given tough fights to Carlos Ulberg, Alex Pereira, and Magomed Ankalaev, all three of which would go on to claim the 205-pound title.

Stirling finally cracks our rankings, debuting at No. 6 in a tie with PFL light heavyweight champion Corey Anderson. Just 28, Stirling is still developing towards his prime, and already sits just outside the top 5. Though his ascendancy is complicated by his friend and teammate Ulberg currently holding the UFC belt, Stirling seems destined to get his own shot to rule the division sooner rather than later.

As for Blachowicz, he falls four spots to No. 10, far closer to exiting the rankings—and possibly retiring—than the No. 1 spot that he once owned.

On a more positive note, we welcome former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker to the rankings after he made a successful light heavyweight debut against Nikita Krylov at UFC 329.

Check out the latest MMA Fighting light heavyweight rankings below.

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 3 Magomed Ankalaev def. No. 12 Bogdan Guskov, Navajo Stirling def. No. 6 Jan Blachowicz, No. 12 MW Robert Whittaker def. No. 14 Nikita Krylov

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Nikita Krylov (1), Muhammad Saidov (1), Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev (1)

Falling out of the rankings: No. 14 Nikita Krylov, No. 15 Aleksandar Rakic (moved to heavyweight)

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MMA

Alexander Volkanovski explains why he’s a ‘nightmare matchup’ for Movsar Evloev

Published

10 hours ago

on

October 24, 2026

By

Alexander Volkanovski explains why he’s a ‘nightmare matchup’ for Movsar Evloev
Alexander
Volkanovski is confident he'll become the first fighter to
defeat Movsar
Evloev.

Volkanovski (28-4) will defend his
Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight title against
Evloev (20-0) at
UFC 333 on Oct. 24 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The champion
believes he presents a “nightmare†stylistic matchup for the
unbeaten Russian.

Alexander Volkanovski explains why Movsar Evloev’s grappling
may fail him in UFC 333 title fight

Ahead of their title clash, Volkanovski explained that Evloev
relies on his wrestling to escape difficult situations. The
Australian champion believes his own grappling skills will deny the
challenger that fallback option.

“I think it just doesn't end well for him,†Volkanovski said in a
pre-fight interview. “I don't mean it in any bad way. I just think
I'm the guy to take that zero from him. He's got incredible skill.
He is very effective with what he does… Every time he's had
problems, he could rely on that wrestling and grappling to get him
out of trouble. And you’ve got to respect that skill. But that
doesn't work with me. That's not a get out of jail free card with
me. When you're panicking, when you're freaking out, you don't get
to just grab hold of me and hang on to a leg or anything like that…
I just think that I'm a bit of a nightmare matchup for him.â€

Volkanovski has demonstrated his defensive wrestling in previous
appearances, including his competitive first bout against Islam
Makhachev, who tops the UFC's men's pound-for-pound rankings.
He has never been submitted in 32 professional fights.

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MMA

Alexander Volkanovski stops Movsar Evloev with barrage of shots to defend title in UFC 333 main event

Published

12 hours ago

on

October 24, 2026

By

Alexander Volkanovski stops Movsar Evloev with barrage of shots to defend title in UFC 333 main event

Alexander Volkanovski is still the greatest after his latest title defense as he ended Movsar Evloev's undefeated run with a second-round stoppage in the UFC 333 main event.

As usual, Volkanovski showed off tremendous takedown defense and immaculate striking as he picked Evloev apart on the feet. Finally in the second round, Volkanovski put together a combination of punches that put Evloev down and the Australian finished with a barrage of shots on the ground.

The end came at 4:54 in the second round.

“He's a great figher,†Volkanovski said after his latest title defefnse. “He was undefeated for a reason but I just said I'm the right guy for that job. I knew the ref would have to stop it when he covered up like that.

“I'm choosing to do this. I said if I didn't take too much damage, we probably keep going so maybe we keep going. I feel the love and it's paid off now. The love around the world is incredible.â€

After tasting defeat for the first time, Evloev was understandably upset but he paid homage to Volkanovski on a job well done.

“It was a terrible fight,†Evloev said. “He's a good one. Older, stronger, better, he's truly a legend. I'm grateful for this opportunity to be here. Alex, great champion, I'm happy to be here to share the cage with him.â€

Volkanovski started fast with a series of inside leg kicks and then peppering Evloev with a series of stiff jabs. Evloev then exploded forward with a takedown but Volkanovski bounced back up almost immediately.

Volkanovski continued with his forward pressure before countering another takedown as kept working on the feet. Evloev was undeterred though, as he kept battling to drag the champion to the ground.

Evloev grabbed onto the body lock to open round two and literally dragged Volkanovski to the canvas but the champion reversed positions to land on top. From there, Volkanovski laned some ground and pound before Evloev escaped back to his feet.

Volkanovski then uncorked a well-timed overhand right that seemingly wobbled Evloev momentarily.

Late in the round, Volkanovski connected with a nasty combination of punches that had Evloev turning away to avoid the damage as a cut opened up on the head.

Evloev eventually faded as he fell to the ground following a blistering left hand from Volkanovski and the champion took full advantage of the opening. With Evloev hurt, Volkanovski just unleashed a barrage of shots to finish the fight.

That makes three straight wins for Volkanovski in championship fights and his seond straight title defense since reclaiming the featherweight belt. He obviously indicated that he plans to continue fighting and it's soon going to be difficult not to declare Volkanovski as the greatest featherweight of all-time, if he hasn't already taken that crown.

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MMA

UFC 333 ‘Volkanovski vs. Evloev’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Published

23 hours ago

on

October 24, 2026

By

UFC 333 ‘Volkanovski vs. Evloev’ play-by-play, results & round scoring

Sherdog’s live
UFC 333 “Volkanovski vs. Evloev†coverage will begin Saturday
at 10 a.m. ET.

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 4

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 5

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

Round 1

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 2

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 3

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 4

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

Round 5

Sherdog Scores

Brian Knapp scores the round:
Tyler Treese scores the round:
Mike Sloan scores the round:

The Official Result

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