USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Nov. 15: Two new champions cause big moves
The UFC traveled to The Big Apple for a huge pay-per-view event, which resulted in the crowning of two new champions.
In the main event of UFC 281, Alex Pereira ended the dominant middleweight reign of Israel Adesanya to claim the title, and extend his lead in their combat sports series to 3-0. With the result, Pereira claims the No. 1 spot at middleweight, while also debuting in the pound-for-pound rankings.
Pereira wasn’t the only one to claim gold in New York.
Zhang Weili became champion once again with a beautiful submission of Carla Esparza in the co-main event. The two-time strawweight champion is back at No. 1 this week, with Esparza falling behind her at No. 2.
Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.
