Highly-Touted Team Lakay Striker Headlines Massive Shift In ONE Championship Rankings

The aftermath of ONE Championship's back-to-back events over the weekend has seen significant developments in the respective rankings of five weight classes, and the biggest beneficiary of them all is Filipino striker Stephen Loman.

Loman moved two places up in the bantamweight Top Five as he marches through the division in the hopes of getting a shot at challenging for the currently vacant title, forcing former titleholder Bibiano Fernandes to move down a spot.

As it stands, the bantamweight picture is as follows:

• ONE Bantamweight Champion: VACANT
• Fabricio Andrade (#1)
• John Lineker (#2)
• Stephen Loman (new ranking: #3)
• Bibiano Fernandes (new ranking: #4)
• Kwon Won Il (#5)

With an 11-fight winning streak under his belt, the next challenge for the former BRAVE CF bantamweight titleholder is to capture gold under the banner of the organization where his Team Lakay comrades have made a name for themselves in.

Loman is now closer than ever to a ONE bantamweight title shot against the winner of the rematch between Fabricio Andrade and John Lineker in February of next year after effectively routing Fernandes by unanimous decision in their catchweight contest at ONE on Prime Video 4.

Entering that bout, Loman had his eyes set on concretizing the upset that he saw in his mind and went about his business for the entirety of the fight.

The Team Lakay striker was not the only fighter who saw a bump in the rankings as Danny Kingad and Reece McLaren now occupied No. 4 and No. 5 respectively in the flyweight division.

The 61.2-kilogram bracket also welcomed Xie Wei as its new No. 5-rated contender.

In the lightweight division, Saygid Izagakhmaev moved up a spot to No. 3 while Halil Amir moved down to No. 4.

Two new names also entered the standings in the flyweight Muay Thai and bantamweight kickboxing divisions as both Elias Mahmoudi and Ferrari Fairtex entered their respective weight classes at No. 5.

ONE Championship's official athlete rankings are determined by an independent panel of sports media members and industry experts, which include International Business Times sports editor and combat sports analyst Nissi Icasiano.

Following each live event, the panel ranks the fighters based on their most recent performances and the quality of competition.