![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260616121632_lw061526.JPG\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nImage: John Brannigan\/Sherdog.com illustration<\/p>\n
Lightweight
\n<\/p>\n
Few gave Gaethje a chance against Ilia Topuria in the UFC White
\nHouse headliner, but \u201cThe Highlight\u201d defied the odds, as he
\nbattered \u201cEl Matador\u201d to force a fourth-round corner stoppage
\nagainst the man previously regarded by many as the sport\u2019s top
\npound-for-pound fighter. In his third attempt, Gaethje can finally
\ncall himself an undisputed UFC champion after authoring one of hte
\nbiggest upsets in promotion history. While Gaethje hinted that
\nretirement could be a possibility, nothing is set in stone just
\nyet. Assuming he decides to defend the belt, he figures to have no
\nshortage of suitors for his first title defense.
\nHeading into the UFC White House main event, Topuria seemed to be
\non the fast track to a spot on MMA\u2019s figurative Mount Rushmore.
\nThat path may have been permanently altered following his encounter
\nwith Justin Gaethje, where \u201cEl Matador\u201d took a tremendous beating
\nen route to a fourth-round stoppage loss. How Topuria rebounds
\nafter suffering his first career defeat will be interesting to
\ntrack, because it had the look of a bout that may change his entire
\noutlook. Still, with championships in two divisions and finishes
\nagainst the likes of Charles Oliveira, Max Holloway and Alexander
\nVolkanovski, the Georgian-Spaniard remains one of the most
\naccomplished fighters in the sport today.<\/p>\n
After more than a year and a half on the sidelines, Tsarukyan Other Contenders: Mateusz Jump To \u00bb
\ndidn\u2019t miss a beat in the UFC Qatar headliner, where he secured a
\nsecond-round submission victory over all-action Kiwi fighter Dan
\nHooker. Tsarukyan has won five straight in the Octagon and 10 of
\nhis last 11 UFC outings overall \u2014 which would seemingly be enough
\nto earn him the next title shot against 155-pound kingpin Ilia
\nTopuria. \u201cAhalkalakets\u201d made his intentions clear in the aftermath
\nof his latest triumph. Now it\u2019s just a matter of waiting to see
\nwhat the UFC\u2019s next move will be.
\nMore than a decade after an untimely injury ended his first meeting
\nwith Max Holloway, Oliveira exacted his revenge at UFC 326, as he
\nclaimed the BMF crown with a lopsided unanimous decision victory at
\nthe T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. \u201cDo Bronxs\u201d has now earned
\nback-to-back wins over Holloway and Mateusz Gamrot to reassert
\nhimself as one of the top talents at 155 pounds. As long as Ilia
\nTopuria remains champion, his path back to championship gold will
\nbe difficult.
\nHolloway\u2019s inability to remain upright led to his demise against
\nCharles Oliveira in their rematch at UFC 326. The striking-minded
\nHawaiian spent much of the bout with Oliveira attached to his back,
\nas he his BMF belt in a lopsided unanimous decision defeat. The
\nsetback likely removes Holloway from lightweight championship
\nconsideration for the time being, but the popular ex-featherweight
\nking remains quite capable of putting on entertaining fights when
\npresented with the right matchup. \u201cBlessed\u201d will move to 170 pounds
\nfor a headlining showdown against the returning Conor McGregor at
\nUFC 329.
\nPoirier fought admirably in his swan song at UFC 318, but a
\nstorybook ending wasn\u2019t meant to be, as \u201cThe Diamond\u201d dropped an
\nentertaining unanimous decision to Max Holloway in a trilogy bout
\nat the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Though the result
\ncertainly wasn\u2019t what he envision, Poirier will go down in history
\nas one of the sport\u2019s most beloved all-action performers. Assuming
\nhis retirement sticks, Poirier\u2019s rankings eligibility will expire
\non July 19, 2026.
\nSt. Denis survived some early adversity, then overwhelmed Dan
\nHooker with punches and elbows from top position to earn a
\nsecond-round technical knockout victory in the UFC 325 co-main
\nevent on Jan. 31 in Sydney, Australia. The \u201cGod of War\u201d has won
\nfour straight outings inside the Octagon \u2014 all inside the distance.
\nThat sets him up high-profile matchup in his next promotional
\nappearance, when he faces Paddy Pimblett in the UFC 329 co-main
\nevent.
\nNurmagomedov kept his unbeaten record intact in impressive fashion
\nat PFL Dubai, where he vanquished 2025 lightweight tournament
\nwinner Alfie Davis with a third-round reverse arm-triangle choke on
\nFeb. 7. The 27-year-old Dagestani has won titles in both PFL and
\nBellator, racking up quality victories against the likes of Davis,
\nPaul Hughes (twice), Alexander Shabliy, Benson Henderson and
\nPatricky Freire. A showdown with Archie Colgan at PFL New York is
\nup next for the reigning lightweight king.
\nThe UFC set Ruffy up with an ideal opportunity to make a statement
\nand the Brazilian delivered, knocking out former Bellator champ
\nMichael Chandler with a spinning wheel kick and follow-up punches
\nat the White House on June 14. While Chandler has seen better days,
\nis was still a spectacular showing for the former Fighting Nerds
\nstalwart. The 29-year-old has been victorious in five of six
\npromotional outings, with his lone defeat coming at the hands of
\nfellow Top 10 lightweight Benoit St. Denis.10. Dan Hooker<\/a>
\n(24-14) UFC [10]
\nHooker started well enough against Benoit St. Denis in their UFC
\n325 co-main event matchup, as he controlled distance and attacked
\nhis foe with rangy strikes. An ill-advised strategic error led to
\nhis demise in the second stanza, as St. Denis battered him on the
\nground en route to a technical knockout stoppage. After winning
\nthree straight fights from November 2022 to August 2024, \u201cThe
\nHangman\u201d has dropped back-to-back contests against St. Denis and
\nArman Tsarukyan.<\/p>\n
\nGamrot<\/a>, Paddy
\nPimblett<\/a>, Manuel
\nTorres<\/a>, Quillan
\nSalkilld<\/a>, Grant
\nDawson<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nHEAVYWEIGHT<\/a>
\nLIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT<\/a>
\nMIDDLEWEIGHT<\/a>
\nWELTERWEIGHT<\/a>
LIGHTWEIGHT
\nFEATHERWEIGHT<\/a>
\nBANTAMWEIGHT<\/a>
\nFLYWEIGHT<\/a>
\nWOMEN’S FEATHERWEIGHT<\/a>
\nWOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT<\/a>
\nWOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT<\/a>
\nWOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT<\/a>
\nWOMEN’S ATOMWEIGHT<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Image: John Brannigan\/Sherdog.com illustration Lightweight Few gave Gaethje a chance against Ilia Topuria in the UFC White House…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":740038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[4225,64,63,786,357118,785,44,85],"class_list":["post-740037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-article","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-https-www-sherdog-com-news-rankings-6-ufc","tag-mma","tag-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=740037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/740037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/740038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=740037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=740037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=740037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}