Paddy Pimblett slips in UFC rankings despite no bout

Paddy Pimblett has slipped from the list of top five lightweight fighters in the UFC rankings after the latest update, despite not even fighting.

The British fighter failed in a bid for a UFC lightweight title last month after he was defeated by Justin Gaethje at UFC 324 in Las Vegas.

The American secured a unanimous decision victory, with the judges scoring it 48-47, 49-46, and 49-46 in the interim title fight.

The victory ended Pimblett's seven-fight unbeaten run in the UFC, but Gaethje praised the Liverpool fighter, giving him credit for his toughness.

Paddy Pimblett came into the Gaethje fight ranked fifth in the division, and his ranking was unaffected despite the loss.

However, after a week, that has now changed after a fresh update.

This past weekend, the premium MMA promotion returned to Australia for UFC 325, which was headlined by the title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes in the featherweight division, in which the Aussie champion successfully retained his gold after a decision victory over the Brazilian.

In other matches on the main card, Mauricio Ruffy defeated Rafael Fiziev by a second-round TKO, Tallison Teixeira downed Tai Tuivasa by unanimous decision in a heavyweight fight, and Quillan Salkild got rid of Jamie Mullarkey via first-round submission.

However, in the co-main event, a dominant second-round TKO victory of Benoit Saint-Denis of France added to his four-match winning streak against Dan Hooker at 155lb.

After the 'God of War's' knockout victory, Benoit jumped up three spots and took control of the fifth position in the rankings, with Pimblett dropping down one spot.