USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, March 8: Mitchell, Rodriguez move closer to the top

Following their performances at UFC 272, Bryce Mitchell and Marina Rodriguez have climbed in their respective divisions.

Mitchell (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) defeated Edson Barboza (22-11 MMA, 16-11 UFC) in a dominant performance on the main card of Saturday’s pay-per-view event. While he largely controlled the contest on the mat with a smothering grappling approach, he dropped Barboza with a crisp punching combination in the first round. In his first fight since Oct. 2020, Mitchell showed new wrinkles to his game and climbs up to the No. 9 slot in the featherweight divison.

On the prelims of the same event, strawweight title hopeful Rodriguez (16-1-2 MMA, 6-1-2 UFC) edged out a close split decision win over Yan Xiaonan (13-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) to pick up her fourth-straight win over top competition, bumping her up to the No. 4 spot.

After UFC 272, take a look at movement in the featherweight and women’s strawweight divisions, as well as the rest of the full rankings ahead of UFC Fight Night 203 and Bellator 276 using the dropdown menu above.