Which Ranked Fighters Are Competing This Weekend? UFC 243 Rankings Tracker
The ordering process for Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-views has changed: UFC 243 is only available on ESPN+ in the U.S.
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In the main event, a massive middleweight title unification fight takes place between Robert Whittaker and interim champion Israel Adesanya. Whittaker (20-4) has only competed three times since the start of 2017, but he remains one of the top fighters in the promotion. His last three outings have seen him post wins over Yoel Romero (twice) and Ronaldo Souza; he is also 8-0 at middleweight. As a result, “The Reaper” is not only rated as the best 185-pounder in the world but one of the very best in the sport. Sherdog.com has him as the fifth-best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, while ESPN and the UFC both have him ninth. Oddly enough, a win over Adesanya would give him his first official title defense and could see him move up further.
Meanwhile, the undefeated Adesanya (17-0) has enjoyed a meteoric rise. He only debuted for the promotion in 2018 but has gone 6-0 since. In that period, he defeated the likes of Derek Brunson, Anderson Silva and, most recently, Kelvin Gastelum. His five-round war with Gastelum at UFC 236 in April saw him capture interim gold and the chance to face Whittaker. “The Last Stylebender” is rated as the second-best middleweight in the world by Sherdog and ESPN, while he is the No. 1 contender in the UFC rankings. Beating Whittaker would not only make him the undisputed champion but also see him enter the pound-for-pound ranks for the first time.
In the co-main event, ranked lightweights go to war, as Al Iaquinta meets Dan Hooker. Iaquinta (14-5-1) is coming off a lopsided decision loss to Donald Cerrone in May. He has lost two of his last three outings and will look to start a winning run on his way to another title shot. The New Yorker is still ranked high, mainly because of his unanimous decision win over Kevin Lee in 2018. Sherdog rates him as the eighth-best lightweight in the world, while ESPN and the UFC have him sixth. A victory over Hooker could see him potentially overtake the No. 5-ranked Cerrone -- currently on a two-fight losing streak -- in the rankings.
It would appear that Hooker (18-8) has more to gain from this fight. The New Zealander bounced back from his TKO defeat to Edson Barboza with a knockout win over James Vick in July. As a result, he is currently ranked No. 15 in the UFC rankings. A win over Iaquinta would not only be the most significant victory of Hooker’s career but could also see him leapfrog a number of contenders and sit just below the Top 5 at 155 pounds.
Finally, there is ranked heavyweight action, as Tai Tuivasa collides with Sergey Spivak. After an impressive start to his UFC career saw him post three straight wins, Tuivasa (8-2) has gone through a bit of a slump. “Bam Bam” suffered his first career loss in a TKO defeat to Junior dos Santos in 2018. He then went on to get outpointed by Blagoy Ivanov at UFC 238 in June. Hungry to end his losing streak, Tuivasa has the chance to do so on home soil. Despite his recent struggles, he sits at No. 14 in the UFC rankings. A definitive win could see him overtake the No. 13-ranked Alexey Oleynik, who is currently on a two-fight losing streak.
Like Hooker, Spivak (9-1) has more to gain from this fight. “The Polar Bear” made his UFC debut in a losing effort after getting TKO’d by Walt Harris at UFC Fight Night 151 in May. However, his second outing with the promotion will see him get a ranked opponent in Tuivasa. A win would not only be considered a major upset but could also see the Moldovan enter the Top 15 under the promotion’s banner.
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