New Bellator welterweight champion Yaroslav Amosov is now officially a pound-for-pound top five fighter. Amosov jumped to the No. 5 spot with his title-winning victory over Douglas Lima at Bellator 260 this past Friday night.
Amosov's victory ran his career record to a perfect 26-0 as he used his grappling to dominate Lima over five rounds, only finding himself in danger once in the fight as he was forced to fight off a late armbar attempt before taking the wide decision victory.
Amosov is also now No. 1 in the welterweight rankings, while Lima, a three-time champion in the division, dropped one spot to No. 2.
Below are the top-10 pound-for-pound rankings for both the men and women. The full top-10 rankings for each division within the promotion can be found here. The rankings are voted on by 17 members of the media.
Editor's note: CBS Sports insider Brian Campbell is a member of the 17-person voting panel. Bellator and CBS Sports are both owned by ViacomCBS.
Bellator Rankings (June 15)
Men's pound-for-pound
| Fighter | Record |
|---|---|
1. Patricio Pitbull | 32-4 |
2. Vadim Nemkov | 12-2 |
3. Gegard Mousasi | 47-7-2 |
4. Ryan Bader | 27-6 |
5. Yaroslav Amosov | 26-0 |
6. AJ McKee | 17-0 |
7. Sergio Pettis | 21-5 |
8. Douglas Lima | 32-9 |
9. Corey Anderson | 15-5 |
10. Juan Archuleta | 25-3 |
Women's pound-for-pound
| Fighter | Record |
|---|---|
1. Cris Cyborg | 23-2 |
2. Juliana Velasquez | 11-0 |
3. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane | 11-1 |
4. Julia Budd | 15-3 |
5. Liz Carmouche | 15-7 |
6. Arlene Blencowe | 13-8 |
7. Denise Kielholtz | 6-2 |
8. Cat Zingano | 12-4 |
9. Kana Watanabe | 10-0-1 |
10. Leslie Smith | 12-8-1 |
Other notable results
- Featherweight: Aaron Pico climbed one spot to No. 5 after his dominant win over Aiden Lee. Pico went back to his wrestling base to score takedown after takedown in the fight before finally scoring the late submission with an anaconda choke.
- Welterweight: Even though the fight between Jason Jackson and Paul Daley was fought at a catchweight, there was fallout in the rankings after Jackson used his wrestling to safely grind out a decision victory. Jackson remained locked in at No. 3 in the division, while Daley fell two spots to No. 8.
