Stock Up, Stock Down: B/R UFC Rankings After UFC 287

UFC 287 went down in Miami, Florida over the weekend, which means it's time for another update to Bleacher Report's pound-for-pound UFC rankings.

The card was headlined by a middleweight title fight, as champion Alex Pereira looked to defend the title against the man he won it from last year, Israel Adesanya. Adesanya ended up reclaiming the belt with a beautiful second-round knockout, reasserting himself among the sport's most impressive champions in the process.

Beyond the main event, none of the fighters on the UFC 287 bill were in the pound-for-pound conversation. Yet Adesanya and Pereira were both ranked in our men's top 10 ahead of the card, so their clash was more than enough to shake up our list a bit.

Keep scrolling to see where everyone has landed in the wake of the weekend's blockbuster fight card in Miami.

Men: Nos. 10-6

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Alex Pereira

10. Brandon Moreno

9. Alex Pereira

8. Aljamain Sterling

7. Charles Oliveira

6. Kamaru Usman

There has only been one change to the back half of our men's rankings in the wake of UFC 287. After his knockout loss to Israel Adesanya, Pereira has dropped one spot and landed at No. 9, between bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling and flyweight champion Brandon Moreno.

That being said, there could be some big changes to this list soon, as Sterling is set to defend his belt against returning former champ Henry Cejudo at UFC 288 on May 6.

Former lightweight champ Charles Oliveira, our No. 7 fighter, will also be in action on the card, taking on Beneil Dariush in what looks like a lightweight title eliminator.

Both fights are likely to change this list, no matter their outcomes.

Men: Nos. 5-1

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Israel Adesanya

5. Leon Edwards

4. Israel Adesanya

3. Islam Makhachev

2. Jon Jones

1. Alexander Volkanovski

The only change to the top half of our men's rankings also relates directly to the UFC 287 main event: Israel Adesanya is now in the No. 4 spot, having jumped ahead of welterweight champion Leon Edwards.

Edwards put himself in the pound-for-pound conversation with a pair of impressive wins over former No. 1 Kamaru Usman, but his resume still pales in comparison to Adesanya's. A fighter's resume is one of the few things we can base something as subjective as a pound-for-pound list upon, so the switch seemed obvious.

We also considered moving Adesanya ahead of lightweight champ Islam Makhachev—another relatively new champion—but decided to hold off given that Makhachev is riding a win over our current No. 1 fighter Alexander Volkanovski.

Depending on the results of their next fights, they could easily switch places.

Women: Nos. 10-6

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Carla Esparza

10. Manon Fiorot

9. Amanda Lemos

8. Julianna Peña

7. Jessica Andrade

6. Erin Blanchfield

None of the fighters on the bottom half of our women's list have fought since Erin Blanchfield choked out Jessica Andrade in February, so there is not much to report after UFC 287.

However, there has been one change unrelated to the card.

Former strawweight champ Carla Esparza, who previously held our No. 6 spot, recently announced that she's pregnant. She's aiming to be back in mid-2024, and we hope she is, but we decided to remove her from the list until she returns to competition.

That allowed Blanchfield, Andrade, Julianna Peña, and Amanda Lemos to move up a spot apiece and surging flyweight contender Manon Fiorot to jump in at No. 10.

Women: Nos. 5-1

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Amanda Nunes

5. Alexa Grasso

4. Zhang Weili

3. Rose Namajunas

2. Valentina Shevchenko

1. Amanda Nunes

The top half of our women's list is unchanged after UFC 287, and unfortunately, only one fighter on the list has a fight scheduled: No. 1-ranked Amanda Nunes.

Nunes, who holds the UFC women's bantamweight and featherweight titles, is set to defend her belt against former champ Julianna Peña at UFC 289 on June 10 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The pair are 1-1 across two previous fights. Nobody was really begging for a third fight between them—Nunes decisively proved herself Peña's better last time out—but if we get an upset, it will cause massive changes to our women's rankings.

It's unlikely, but Peña has pulled it off before.