A pair of new champs – albeit ones of the interim variety – were crowned this past Saturday at UFC 236.
In the main event at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Dustin Poirier (25-5 MMA, 17-4 UFC) became the interim lightweight champion with a decision win over featherweight champ Max Holloway (20-5 MMA, 16-5 UFC).
And in the co-feature, Israel Adesanya (16-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) won the interim middleweight belt with a decision over Kelvin Gastelum (16-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC). Both fights were quick to be labeled as instant classics, and both won “Fight of the Night” honors.
There wasn’t much room for either new champ to move up in the rankings, though. Adesanya made a jump right to the No. 2 spot at middleweight, just behind champion Robert Whittaker. But what about Poirier, who was No. 3 behind champ Khabib Nurmagomedov and former interim champ Tony Ferguson going in?
Take a look at this week’s rankings above.
