Merab Dvalishvili picked up the first defence of his bantamweight title at UFC 311 when he earned a five-round unanimous decision win over Umar Nurmagomedov, and the energetic Georgian was rewarded by climbing the UFC’s pound-for-pound list.
The performance extended Dvalishvili’s current winning streak to 12 in a row and resulted in the men’s 135-pound champ rising two spots on the UFC's updated official pound-for-pound rankings.
Dvalishvili was No. 7 on the pound-for-pound list — which aims to rank the best active fighters on the UFC roster regardless of weight class — before UFC 311 but now sits at No. 5 after leapfrogging middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis and new welterweight champ Belal Muhammad.
The 34-year-old cardio machine also holds notable wins over past champions Sean O’Malley, Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan and Jose Aldo during his current winning streak.
Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov entered UFC 311 ranked No. 2 at bantamweight and was bumped down to No. 3 following the loss with former champion Yan benefitting and getting bumped up to No. 2.
The celebrated bout ended with both fighters getting a Fight of the Night bonus. The contest was competitive enough that a future rematch is entirely possible, however, it is unclear whom Dvalishvili will face next.
Islam Makhachev maintained his place as the consensus No. 1 pound-for-pound in mixed martial arts with his dominant first-round submission win over short-notice opponent Renato Moicano.
The win even resulted in Dana White caving and agreeing that Makhachev deserves the No. 1 spot. White has previously refused to acknowledge anyone except Jon Jones as MMA's top pound-for-pound talent.
Other notable rankings adjustments impacted by the UFC 311 results:
— Grant Dawson is now ranked at lightweight at No. 15 after beating Carlos Diego Ferreira
— Jamahal Hill was bumped down from No. 3 to No. 4 at 205 pounds after getting stopped by Jiri Prochazka in their fan-friendly main card brawl
— Ailin Perez jumped two spots to No. 11 in the women’s bantamweight division due to her unanimous decision win over Karol Rosa, who still sits three spots ahead of Perez despite the loss.
