Two of the strongest performances at UFC 333 brought no change in ESPN's divisional MMA rankings, because the winners were already at the top of their divisions.
Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski knocked out Movsar Evloev in Saturday's main event. Men's bantamweight titlist Petr Yan won a trilogy fight against Merab Dvalishvili in the co-main event. Both men were ranked No. 1 going in, so there was no higher spot for either to reach.
Their opponents also hold their places. Evloev, who suffered the first defeat of his career, and Dvalishvili, a former champion who has now lost two straight to Yan, both remain at No. 2.
Other bouts on the Abu Dhabi card did shift the lists. At light heavyweight, Dominick Reyes was the only fighter to beat an opponent ranked above him, knocking out sixth-ranked Azamat Murzakanov. Reyes moves from No. 7 into the top five, and Murzakanov drops into the spot Reyes held before.
Heavyweight saw a chain of moves, partly because of a fight result. Alexander Volkov beat the unranked Rizvan Kuniev and moves up one place to No. 3. His rise is largely due to former UFC champion Tom Aspinall, previously ranked second, being removed from the top 10 as ineligible. Aspinall has not fought in more than a year.
The other ranked heavyweights each move up one position as a result, and Kuniev enters the rankings at No. 10.
The remaining change is at men's flyweight, where Lone'er Kavanagh climbs one place to No. 6 after handing the unranked Ramazan Temirov his first loss.
The rankings are current as of Oct. 27. To be eligible, a fighter must have competed within the past 12 months or have an upcoming fight booked. Fighters dropped for inactivity can be reinstated only after they compete again.
