Kelvin Gastelum (18-8 MMA, 11-9 UFC) openly admitted he was in desperate need of a victory, and he was able to deliver at this past weekend’s UFC 287, claiming a unanimous decision win over Chris Curtis (30-10 MMA, 4-2 UFC) in a contest that was awarded the evening’s “Fight of the Night” bonus.
Gastelum was also rewarded in the latest update of the UFC’s official rankings, moving up four spots in the promotion’s middleweight rankings, where he now resides at No. 11.
Following the loss, Curtis drops one spot to No. 15.
Of course, that wasn’t the only change at 185 pounds, with Israel Adesanya (24-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) reclaiming the UFC middleweight title. Following the setback, former champ Alex Pereira (7-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC) now resides the division’s No. 1 contender.
Pereira took a larger tumble in the pound-for-pound list, sliding three spots to the No. 9 position. Adesanya remains at his previous position of No. 5 in the pound-for-pound list.
Take a look at the latest UFC middleweight rankings below. Check out the full updated rankings at UFC.com.
UFC middleweight champion: Israel Adesanya
- Alex Pereira -1
- Robert Whittaker
- Marvin Vettori
- Jared Cannonier
- Paulo Costa
- Dricus Du Plessis
- Sean Strickland
- Derek Brunson
- Roman Dolidze
- Jack Hermansson
- Kelvin Gastelum +4
- Nassourdine Imavov -1
- Brendan Allen -1
- Andre Muniz -1
- Chris Curtis -1
