UFC rankings update: Raquel Pennington breaks into prestigious women's pound-for-pound list following title win at UFC 297

The latest rankings update is in after the conclusion of the year's first pay-per-view, UFC 297, and newly crowned champions Raquel Pennington and Dricus du Plessis have shone the brightest.

Pennington went up against Mayra Bueno Silva in the UFC 297 co-main event for the vacant bantamweight championship, winning via unanimous decision. Her victory helped her make the biggest leap this week, jumping five positions to No.7 on the women's pound-for-pound list.

Erin Blanchfield also rose to No.4, while Pennington's defeated opponent Bueno Silva debuted at No.15 following the removal of Carla Esparza.

Meanwhile, UFC 297 main event victor Dricus du Plessis also made his first appearance on the men's pound-for-pound rankings, entering at No.8. His opponent, Sean Strickland, fell heavily, dropping three places to No.11.

Movsar Evloev's unanimous decision victory over Arnold Allen saw him gain big, climbing four positions to No.5 in the featherweight division. Allen dropped two places to No.6, meanwhile, with upcoming featherweight challenger Ilia Topuria continuing his ascent to occupy No.3.

Welterweight Neil Magny's impressive TKO win over Mike Malott boosted him to No.12 in the division. Fellow UFC 297 main card feature, Chris Curtis, also climbed a position to No.13 in the middleweight division.

UFC women's strawweight victor Gillian Robertson broke into the top 15 of the division on the back of her victory on home soil. Fellow Canadian Jasmine Jasudavicius' destructive performance against Priscila Cachoeira at UFC 297 also helped her return to the women's flyweight rankings at No.15.

Check out all the changes on UFC's official website here.

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Julianna Pena outlines potential dates for title clash against UFC 297 victor Raquel Pennington

Former bantamweight champion Julianna Pena is set to make her return to action after not competing for the entirety of 2023.

She is currently listed as the No.1 contender in the women's bantamweight division despite her inactivity, and is the consensus challenger to Raquel Pennington's newly acquired title.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Pena stated the potential dates she is targeting for a title fight:

"I would say one of those two dates, first week of June or third week in July. I asked for International Fight Week. They said no. They said that that date wasn't available. They did say, however, if anything changes, they would let me know about International Fight Week. Location I think would be a really big key factor for me."

Pena admitted to not knowing the exact location of either date. She could only divulge that both cards will take place in the United States:

"They won't give me the location of June 1 yet and July 3, I'm not sure the location either. But I do know, lucky me, that both locations will be in the United States."

Check out her full comments below (18:37):