Donald Cerrone may not have liked the way he did it, but his dominant decision win over Myles Jury in the co-main event at UFC 182 impressed the rankings voting panel.
Cerrone was voted up one spot to No. 3 at 155 pounds, passing former No. 1 contender Gilbert Melendez. “Cowboy” now sits just one spot behind No. 2 Khabib Nurmagomedov, who has been lobbying for a title shot for months.
With the news over the weekend that the champion Anthony Pettis will face No. 1-ranked Rafael dos Anjos for the championship at UFC 185 in Dallas, Tx., that could set up a No. 1 contender fight between Cerrone and Nurmagomedov.
That’s if Cerrone is willing to wait for the injured Russian, which doesn’t sound like Cowboy. > Check out the complete official UFC rankings
In other movement, Kyoji Horiguchi makes the biggest jump of the week, moving three spots up to No. 8 in the flyweight division. He drops Chris Cariaso, Zach Makovsky and Timothy Elliott all down one spot.
Hector Lombard’s decision win against Josh Burkman was good enough to earn him a one-spot jump to No. 5 at 170 pounds, passing Matt Brown.
Daniel Cormier maintained his No. 2 spot in the light heavyweight division after losing to Jon Jones, but fell off the pound-for-pound list, making room for Alexander Gustafsson, who assumes the No. 15 spot.
Fans voices come first
Favorite athlete? Fantasy match-ups? Comments? Leave 'em here!
