Rankings Shakeup: Kamaru Usman is back—but is he back in the welterweight top 5?

Kamaru Usman picked up proper the place he left off with a classic efficiency at UFC Atlanta. So the place does that go away him within the crowded welterweight rankings?

Although Usman knocked off prime 10 contender Joaquin Buckley, it’s not so simple as simply having the previous UFC champion bump Buckley out of his spot. When Usman departed our rankings resulting from inactivity (earlier than Saturday, it had been over two years since Usman made a welterweight look), he was No. 4 on the charts; since then, there was loads of exercise within the division, with Buckley being a part of a recent crop of contenders that additionally consists of Shavkat Rakhmonov, Sean Brady, Ian Machado Garry, and Michael Morales.

Is it truthful for Usman to leapfrog these fighters which were racking up large wins in his absence? To not point out Leon Edwards, the person who holds a pair of wins over Usman in UFC championship bouts.

Lengthy reply, quick: Sure, Usman is again within the prime 5, behind Rakhmonov and Brady, however forward of Garry and the undefeated Morales. Ultimately, it was onerous for our panel to disregard how good he was Saturday, to not point out his storied historical past at 170 kilos and the way effectively he carried out in his losses at the same time as he fell right into a three-fight droop. Usman is 38 years outdated, however the model of him we noticed in Atlanta seems like he can nonetheless give anybody within the division a run for his or her cash, together with present champion Jack Della Maddalena.

Usman insists he’s ready for the winner of Della Maddalena’s still-to-be-scheduled struggle with MMA Preventing’s Pound-for-Pound king Islam Makhachev, however he ought to critically think about reserving that grudge match with Belal Muhammad. If he can do to Muhammad what he did to Buckley, few would argue that the all-time welterweight nice is worthy of yet one more shot on the gold.

Try MMA Preventing’s up to date 170-pound rankings beneath.

Latest outcomes for ranked fighters (earlier rating proven): Kamaru Usman def. No. 7 Joaquin Buckley, Thad Jean def. No. 10 Jason Jackson

Fighters additionally receiving votes (variety of poll appearances proven): Carlos Prates (5), Stephen Thompson (3), Kevin Holland (2), Jason Jackson (2), Shamil Musaev (2), Rinat Fakhretdinov (1)