Ante Delija has been demoted in the UFC heavyweight rankings despite beating the man above him in his last fight.
Delija knocked out Marcin Tybura at UFC Paris earlier this month, stopping the Polish heavyweight with a vicious left hand two minutes into the first round.
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Delija made light work of Tybura at UFC Paris, stopping the Pole with an array of punches in the first round of their fightCredit: Getty
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The Croatian heavyweight was brought to tears after the victory as he celebrated his first UFC winCredit: Getty
The win for ‘Walking Trouble’ marked his first in Dana White‘s promotion, leaving his training partner Tom Aspinall emotional and in tears.
UFC heavyweight champion Aspinall had made the journey to France to watch his teammate after taking part in his first face-off with Ciryl Gane ahead of their title fight next month.
The pair lock horns at UFC 321 on October 25 in what is Aspinall’s first defence of the heavyweight title since Jon Jones retired.
The emotions were high at UFC Paris and also got the better of Croatia’s Delija, who collapsed to his knees immediately after securing his win.
Delija expected to climb the rankings through his emphatic performance, but has instead bizarrely taken a hit.
Ante Delija drops in heavyweight rankings despite UFC Paris win
Having debuted in the UFC heavyweight rankings in the No. 9 spot, Delija has now dropped down to No. 10.
What makes it even more strange is the fact that the man who overtook him is Tybura, who has now been knocked out by Delija and Aspinall.
MMA fans call heavyweight rankings update ’embarrassing’
MMA fans were quick to react to the weird change, and there was one general consensus.
One responded: “That’s just embarrassing for whoever made it…”
Another added: “He beat him literally 10 days ago in less than half a round, yet he’s ranked lower? Yeah, that makes tons of sense. Dumba** rankings.”
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Aspinall had a front row seat for Delija’s epic KO win at UFC ParisCredit: Getty
UFC Heavyweight Rankings: Updated
Champion: Tom Aspinall
Ciryl GaneAlexander VolkovSergei PavlovichCurtis BlaydesJailton AlmeidaWaldo Cortes AcostaSerghei SpivacDerrick LewisMarcin Tybure (+1)Ante Delija (-1)Tai TuivasaShamil GazievMick ParkinTallison TeixeiraValter Walker
And a third said: “These rankings are ridiculous.”
The update comes just five months after UFC CEO Dana White joined forces with Mark Zuckerberg to introduce an overhaul to his rankings system..
White has previously expressed his frustrations towards the UFC rankings, which are voted on by members of the media every other week.
He brought in Zuckerberg to incorporate Meta’s technology within the UFC, declaring the move as his promotion’s ‘first-ever official fan technology partner.’
It is unknown whether Meta’s involvement with the rankings began to date, which could explain the change to Delija’s rank, one month after Paddy Pimblett also received a bizarre rankings boost.
What is Delija’s MMA record?
Nonetheless, the change will mean little to nothing to newly signed UFC heavyweight Delija.
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Delija is now the No. 10-ranked UFC heavyweight, even after beating the fighter above him, TyburaCredit: Getty
He had 31 professional MMA fights before joining the UFC, previously winning heavyweight gold under the PFL banner.
‘Walking Trouble’ now boasts a pro record of 26-6, winning eight of his last ten bouts.