Israel Adesanya Drops Out Of UFC Rankings After Poor Performances

Nigerian-born former UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, dropped out of the UFC pound-for-pound rankings after losing by submission to South Africa’s Dricus du Plessis in August.

Adesanya missed out on the rankings for the first time in five years following his poor performances in his recent bouts, losing three out of his last four.

He is now out of the UFC top 15. The Last Stylebender had been as high as No. 2 but continues to struggle in recent years, dropping three of his last four and getting finished twice in the process.

In his last bout, Adesanya submitted to Du Plessis despite leading 2-1 going into the fourth round, Du Plessis produced a stunning performance with a series of powerful hooks and jabs, followed by a decisive takedown to force him into submission.

It was the first time Nigerian-New Zealander Adesanya was submitted in his professional MMA career, which stands at 24 wins and four losses.

Adesanya’s last victory was in April 2023 against Alex Pereira, which he won via knockout in the second round.

He suffered a shock loss to Sean Strickland via unanimous decision in September 2023.

The 35-year-old will be hoping to bounce back in his next bout in order to return to the pound-for-pound rankings.

He has now been replaced in the rankings by Aljamain Sterling.

MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND Rankings:

Islam Makhachev

Alex Pereira

Jon Jones

Ilia Topuria

Dricus Du Plessis

Belal Muhammad

Sean O’Malley

Tom Aspinall

Leon Edwards

Alexander Volkanovski

Max Holloway

Alexandre Pantoja

Sean Strickland

Charles Oliveira

Aljamain Sterling

Israel Adesanya Drops Out Of UFC Rankings After Poor Performances is first published on The Whistler Newspaper