Israel Adesanya Climbs Six Places In UFC Pound For Pound Rankings

Israel Adesanya has rocketed up the UFC pound-for-pound charts after becoming the undisputed UFC middleweight champion.

Adesanya stopped Robert Whittaker in the second round of their UFC 243 main-event bout to capture the UFC middleweight title.

He's moved up six places to the No.8 spot following his stunning showing in Melbourne. Whittaker, on the other hand, drops five places to the No.14 spot.

UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones remains the pound-for-pound king ahead of UFC lightweight champion Nurmagomedov.

Henry Cejudo, Stipe Miocic and Amanda Nunes are placed third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

UFC Pound-For-Pound Rankings:

1. Jon Jones

2. Khabib Nurmagomedov

3. Henry Cejudo

4. Stipe Miocic

5. Amanda Nunes

6. Daniel Cormier

7. Max Holloway

8. Israel Adesanya +6

9. Kamaru Usmann -1

10. Tony Ferguson

11. Valentina Shevchenko

12. Conor McGregor

13. Dustin Poirier

14. Robert Whittaker -5

15. Tyron Woodley

Adesanya, who only made his UFC debut last year, is now one of the hottest things in the promotion and he's on the cusp of super stardom.

The Nigerian-born Kiwi is slated to make the first defence of his 185lbs title against fellow-undefeated fighter Paula Costa.

Adesanya aimed a dig at the Brazilian challenger during the UFC 243 post-fight press conference.

"I enjoyed it myself," he said. "I definitely enjoyed [the moment], but it sells the next fight a little bit. At the same time, he's a bitch and he's my bitch, and I want to make him my bitch. So that's why I did what I did."