Nate Diaz, Weili Zhang Rise in Latest Rankings After UFC Fight Night 157

By virtue of their big wins at UFC 241 and UFC Fight Night 157, respectively, Nate Diaz and Weili Zhang ascended in the latest UFC rankings.

Diaz moved up from No. 7 to No. 6 in the welterweight rankings, a rise that started after he beat Anthony Pettis by unanimous decision on Aug. 17.

Meanwhile, Weili moved into the champion spot on the heels of her first-round knockout win over Jessica Andrade for the UFC Women's Strawweight Championship on Saturday.

As a result of the decisive loss, Andrade dropped into the No. 1 contender position and fell out of the pound-for-pound rankings completely.

Diaz returned to the Octagon last month after a three-year absence and didn't seem to miss a beat. The win over Pettis gave him a career record of 20-11 and moved him closer to a potential shot at Kamaru Usman's UFC welterweight title.

Tyron Woodley, Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, Leon Edwards and Rafael Dos Anjos are all ahead of Diaz, but he could conceivably leapfrog some of them due to his star power and name recognition.

In his post-fight interview, Diaz called for a potential bout against Masvidal, which could determine the next No. 1 contender:

"With this belt, I want to defend it against ... Jorge Masvidal had a good last fight, good last fight," Diaz said. "All respect to the man, but there ain't no gangsters in this game anymore. There ain't nobody who does it right but me and him. So I know my man's a gangster, but he ain't no West Coast gangster."

Diaz holds a victory over Conor McGregor, which is something few can say, and it gives him a great deal of bargaining power as well.

Zhang made history by becoming the first Chinese champion in UFC history, and she did it in front of her home fans in Shenzhen, China.

The 30-year-old owns a 20-1 record with her only loss coming in her first professional fight against Meng Bo for China MMA League in 2013.

Andrade had been on a four-fight winning streak before facing Zhang, but the loss dropped her to 20-7 and left her without a title.

While Andrade may be in line for a rematch, it is far from a lock since the likes of Rose Namajunas, Tatiana Suarez, Nina Ansaroff and Joanna Jedrzejczyk could be in the mix as well.