Rankings Shakeup: Israel Adesanya reclaims No. 1 middleweight spot, but how far should Alex Pereira fall?

Israel Adesanya is once again MMA’s middleweight king.

“The Last Stylebender” reclaimed his crown in ferocious fashion at UFC 287, finally vanquishing his nemesis Alex Pereira with a highlight-reel second-round knockout to become a two-time UFC middleweight champion. Adesanya and Pereira are now tied with one win apiece in their MMA series, although Pereira still holds the upper hand 3-1 when counting their two kickboxing bouts. More importantly, however, Adesanya’s win propelled him back into a unanimous No. 1 spot at 185 pounds on MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings, with the champ gaining all eight first-place votes from our eight-person panel.

But considering his limited MMA résumé, how far down should Pereira fall?

MMA Fighting

Not far at all, it turns out.

Although votes were all over the board — with Pereira slotting in as high as second and as low as fifth on at least one ballot — “Poatan” settled in at No. 3 for this month’s rankings update, nestled only behind fellow UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker.

Is that the right call? Should Pereira be No. 2 or should he be even lower than we have here?

Vote in the poll and leave a comment below.