Johnny Walker evicts Waldo Cortes Acosta from Heavyweight Top 10 in latest UFC rankings update
Johnny Walker predicted 2027 will be “the year of the heavyweights.”
The Brazilian is certainly doing his part, racking up two straight knockout wins along with a pair of $100,000 post-fight performance bonuses. That includes his destruction of Waldo Cortes Acosta atop the UFC Vegas 124 fight card last weekend in Las Vegas, which earned Walker (24-10, 1 NC) a spot in the heavyweight Top 10.
At the expense of “Salsa Boy.”
Elsewhere on the charts, Tatiana Suarez (13-1) ascended to the top spot in the strawweight division by turning away Brazilian bruiser Virna Jandiroba. In addition, Karine Siva rose two places in the women’s flyweight division by defeating Gabriella Fernandez on the UFC Vegas 124 preliminary card.
Check out the updated UFC Meta Rankings below (for an explanation on how they work click here).
UFC META RANKINGS
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Joshua Van
1. Manel Kape
2. Alexandre Pantoja
3. Brandon Royval
4. Tatsuro Taira
5. Lone’er Kavanagh
6. Asu Almabayev
7. Kyoji Horiguchi
8. Amir Albazi
9. Brandon Moreno
10. Ramazan Temirov
11. Sumudaerji
12. Mitch Raposo
13. Imanol Rodriguez
14. Rei Tsuruya
15. Charles Johnson
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Petr Yan
1. Merab Dvalishvili
2. Song Yadong
3. Sean O’Malley
4. Mario Bautista
5. Umar Nurmagomedov
6. Cory Sandhagen
7. David Martinez
8. Raul Rosas Jr.
9. Farid Basharat
10. Payton Talbott
11. Montel Jackson
12. Aiemann Zahabi
13. Bryce Mitchell
14. Marlon Vera
15. Raoni Barcelos
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Movsar Evloev
2. Diego Lopes
3. Lerone Murphy
4. Aljamain Sterling
5. Jean Silva
6. Arnold Allen
7. Pat Sabatini
8. Youssef Zalal +1
9. Aaron Pico +1
10. Kevin Vallejos +1
11. Joanderson Brito +1
12. Melquizael Costa +1
13. Steve Garcia +1
14. Jamall Emmers +1
15. Patricio Pitbull *NR
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Justin Gaethje
1. Ilia Topuria
2. Arman Tsarukyan
3. Charles Oliveira
4. Max Holloway
5. Paddy Pimblett
6. Quillan Salkilld
7. Tom Nolan
8. Benoit Saint Denis
9. Mateusz Gamrot
10. Mauricio Ruffy
11. Grant Dawson
12. Tofiq Musayev
13. Rafael Fiziev
14. Renato Moicano
15. Esteban Ribovics
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Carlos Prates
2. Ian Machado Garry
3. Michael Morales
4. Jack Della Maddalena
5. Sean Brady
6. Gabriel Bonfim
7. Belal Muhammad
8. Mike Malott
9. Uros Medic
10. Leon Edwards
11. Kamaru Usman
12. Joaquin Buckley
13. Yaroslav Amosov
14. Jacobe Smith
15. Kevin Holland
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Sean Strickland
1. Khamzat Chimaev
2. Dricus Du Plessis
3. Nassourdine Imavov
4. Brendan Allen
5. Joe Pyfer
6. Caio Borralho
7. Gregory Rodrigues
8. Anthony Hernandez
9. Abus Magomedov
10. Israel Adesanya
11. Ikram Aliskerov
12. Christian Leroy Duncan
13. Bo Nickal
14. Roman Kopylov
15. Edmen Shahbazyan
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Carlos Ulberg
1. Alex Pereira
2. Magomed Ankalaev
3. Jiri Prochazka
4. Dominick Reyes
5. Paulo Costa
6. Khalil Rountree
7. Navajo Stirling
8. Reinier de Ridder
9. Alonzo Menifield
10. Bogdan Guskov
11. Robert Whittaker
12. Muhammad Saidov
13. Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev
14. Azamat Murzakanov
15. Modestas Bukauskas
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Ciryl Gane
1. Tom Aspinall
2. Alexander Volkov
3. Alex Pereira
4. Sergei Pavlovich
5. Josh Hokit
6. Rizvan Kuniev +1
7. Curtis Blaydes -1
8. Johnny Walker +4
9. Vitor Petrino
10. Mario Pinto
11. Valter Walker
12. Waldo Cortes Acosta -4
13. Brando Pericic
14. Serghei Spivac
15. Anthony Wint
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Mackenzie Dern
1. Tatiana Suarez +2
2. Zhang Weili -1
3. Virna Jandiroba -1
4. Denise Gomes
5. Gillian Robertson
6. Fatima Klein
7. Piera Rodriguez
8. Iasmine Lucindo
9. Alexia Thainara
10. Loopy Godinez
11. Yan Xiaonan
12. Mizuki Inoue
13. Tabatha Ricci
14. Amanda Lemos
15. Sam Hughes
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Natalia Silva
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Alexa Grasso
3. Jasmine Jasudavicius
4. Manon Fiorot
5. Erin Blanchfield
6. Zhang Weili
7. Rose Namajunas
8. Wang Cong
9. Maycee Barber
10. Tracy Cortez
11. Casey O’Neill
12. Karine Silva +2
13. Miranda Maverick -1
14. Regina Tarin -1
15. Carli Judice
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Kayla Harrison
1. Joselyne Edwards
2. Ailin Perez
3. Luana Santos
4. Norma Dumont
5. Julianna Pena
6. Jacqueline Cavalcanti
7. Michelle Montague
8. Yana Santos
9. Chelsea Chandler
10. Karol Rosa
11. Bia Mesquita
12. Alice Pereira
13. Nora Cornolle
14. Macy Chiasson
15. Melissa Croden
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the heavyweight division, following the upcoming UFC 334: “Gane vs. Hokit” MMA event on Paramount+, scheduled for Sat., Nov. 14, 2026 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.