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MMA Pound-for-Pound Rankings: How much did Alexander Volkanovski’s UFC 325 win move the needle?

2026-02-05T23:49:36-05:00

SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA - 2026/02/01: Australia's Alexander Volkanovski (R) talks with Daniel Cormier (L) during his fight against Brazil's Diego Lopes (not in picture) in UFC 325 at Qudos Bank Arena. Australia's Alexander Volkanovski defeated Brazil's Diego Lopes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 325 event. (Photo by Arif Karim/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Alexander Volkanovski, the pound-for-pound rankings just can’t quit you.

Or maybe it’s the other way around?

What I’m trying to say is that Volkanovski once again defended his featherweight title with a workmanlike win over Diego Lopes at UFC 325 this past weekend and even at 37, he’s performing like one of the best fighters on the planet. Sure, convincingly beating Lopes twice in 10 months is hardly the stuff of legends, but at this level and at this stage of his career, Volkanovski is rolling the dice against hungry, younger challengers every time he goes out there. That should be applauded.

But did it move our rankings panel?

If Volkanovski had stepped into the cage with an undefeated challenger like Movsar Evloev or Lerone Murphy (conveniently announced for the UFC London main event in March), there’s no question he would have received a significant bump in our P4P charts, but for now he has to settle for a slight nudge as he goes from being tied for the No. 8 spot last month to sole possession of No. 7.

If that sounds like nothing, keep in mind this places him above heavyweight king Tom Aspinall, currently in competition limbo as he recovers from those Ciryl Gane eye pokes, and Merab Dvalishvili, who was speed-running to the No. 1 spot in 2025 before stumbling at the finish line in his rematch with Petr Yan.

Does Old Man Volk deserve to be on the cusp of a top 5 spot or have we overrated him this month?

Check out the post-UFC 324 and UFC 325 Men’s Pound-for-Pound Rankings and let us know your thoughts in the poll and comments below.

MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 8 (tied) Alexander Volkanovski def. Diego Lopes

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 12 Max Holloway vs. No. 19 Charles Oliveira (UFC 326, March 7), No. 18 Movsar Evloev vs. Lerone Murphy (UFC London, March 21)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Justin Gaethje (3), Usman Nurmagomedov (2), Sean O’Malley (2), Belal Muhammad (1), Aljamain Sterling (1)

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 4 Cris Cyborg def. Sara Collins, No. 7 Natalia Silva def. No. 14 Rose Namajunas, No. 9 Erin Blanchfield def. Tracy Cortez, No. 15 Seika Izawa def. Rena Kubota

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 11 Alexa Grasso vs. Maycee Barber (UFC Seattle, March 28), No. 12 Tatiana Suarez vs. Loopy Godinez (UFC 327, April 11), No. 13 Virna Jandiroba vs. Tabatha Ricci (UFC Vegas 115, April 4)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Jasmine Jasudavicius (3), Norma Dumont (2), Jessica Andrade (1), Maycee Barber (1), Amanda Lemos (1)

A refresher on the ground rules:

The five-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, Damon Martin, and Jed Meshew.
Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout in a given weight class. Updates to the rankings are typically completed following each month’s UFC pay-per-view.
Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice. (Let’s put it this way: We’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did.)
Holding a promotion’s title does not guarantee that fighter will be viewed as the best in their promotion. Additionally, fighters who regularly compete or hold titles in multiple weight classes are eligible to be ranked in multiple lists.

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.

MMAF Year-End Divisional Rankings: Who were the biggest movers and shakers of 2025?

2026-01-08T12:51:24-05:00

In the ever-shifting MMA landscape, ranking the world’s greatest fighters might seem like a fool’s errand, but that’s exactly what we’ve set out to do with the MMA Fighting Global Rankings. Here, our esteemed panel sorts out the movers and shakers from every division to provide you with the most definitive list of the best fighters on the planet.

Updated pound-for-pound rankings can be found here.

There are plenty of familiar faces at the top of the rankings to end 2025, but some of them took a winding road to get there.

Two champions changed divisions. One champion lost his spot and then won it back. A former champion jumped on the opportunity to reclaim his throne. And one fell short in her quest to become a two-division titleholder, but still enters 2026 with the No. 1 next to her name.

If you’ve been keeping track of the UFC’s increasingly convoluted title scene, then you know exactly who we’re talking about. If not, then the MMA Fighting Year-End Divisional Rankings should be both a fun look back at where the best-of-the-best previousy stood and perhaps a portent of things to come if it’s even possible to predict where the game is heading these days.

Below are the final rankings of the year, and for a fun twist, we’re marking down fighter movement based on where they stood last year as opposed to in the most recent rankings update. So check out the 2024 Year-End rankings and then see where everybody ended up 12 months later.

HEAVYWEIGHT

Who was No. 1 this time last year? Tom Aspinall

Who is No. 1 now? Aspinall

Biggest movers: Waldo Cortes-Acosta was dutifully making his way up the rankings after being signed off of Dana White’s Contender Series in 2022, but wins over Andrei Arlovski and Robelis Despaigne were hardly lighting the combat sports world ablaze. Even when he won his first two fights of 2025, it didn’t feel like he was a real player at heavyweight.

Then he lost to Sergei Pavlovich and it felt like we could comfortably put a ceiling on “Salsa Boy.” Wrong. Three months later, Cortes-Acosta flashed his knockout power with a one-eyed comeback against Ante Delija, then racked up his second fast finish of November when he clocked Shamil Gaziev in less than 90 seconds. Just like that, the dancing Dominican became the most talked-about heavyweight of 2025.

Biggest losers: Even though Jon Jones exited the rankings after briefly calling it a career in June, it’s Tom Aspinall who might have taken the biggest hit. Yes, he held on to his No. 1 spot, but he didn’t come close to getting the Jones clash he wanted, was promoted to undisputed UFC heavyweight champion by default, and then saw his first fight in 15 months end in a no-contest after an eye-poke from Ciryl Gane that somehow resulted in Aspinall receiving a torrent of criticism.

Aspinall was poised to have the biggest year of his career; instead, he became the face of one of MMA’s most anemic divisions.

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 7 Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. No. 13 Derrick Lewis (UFC 324, Jan. 24), No. 11 Serghei Spivac vs. No. 12 Ante Delija (UFC Houston, Feb. 21)

Falling out of the rankings (January 2025 ranking shown): No. 3 Jon Jones (“retirement”), No. 12 Jairzinho Rozenstruik, No. 14 Renan Ferreira

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Who was No. 1 this time last year? Alex Pereira

Who is No. 1 now? Pereira

Biggest movers: Carlos Ulberg and Azamat Murzakanov, come on down!

Now firmly established in the top 10, Ulberg and Murzakanov brought some much-needed fresh blood to the light heavyweight division. They’re not spring chickens by any means (both men have already passed 35), but in all likelihood, one of them challenges for a title this year and that’s exciting enough.

Big shout-out to Dominick Reyes, too, who fell short of earning a second title shot, but made an inspiring surge back into the rankings.

Biggest losers: There were bigger fallers, but it’s hard to look past Jamahal Hill continuing to plummet from his championship heights.

Hill put on a strong losing effort against Jiri Prochazka and then dropped a forgettable decision to Khalil Rountree, leaving him without a win ever since he beat Glover Teixeira for a vacant belt almost three years ago. Following the Rountree loss, Hill admitted he hasn’t been at his best and planned to take time off, so it could be some time before he bounces back—if ever.

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 9 Dominick Reyes vs. No. 15 Johnny Walker (UFC 327, April 11), No. 14 Nikita Krylov vs. Modestas Bukauskas (UFC 324, Jan. 24)

Falling out of the rankings (January 2025 ranking shown): No. 12 Anatoly Malykhin, No. 15 (tied) Gadzhi Yagshimuradov

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Who was No. 1 this time last year? Dricus du Plessis

Who is No. 1 now? Khamzat Chimaev

Biggest movers: This whole division is cooking right now.

Nassourdine Imavov should be next for Khamzat Chimaev, Anthony Hernandez continued his torrid run, and Brendan Allen kept himself in the contender race by jumping on a short-notice opportunity and upsetting Reinier de Ridder. Speaking of “RDR,” the former ONE Championship star still had a brilliant 2025, scoring three impressive wins before being tripped up by Allen.

And don’t forget Costello van Steenis, who earned a top 15 spot with an unbelievable comeback submission win over the undefeated Johnny Eblen.

Biggest losers: Well, Eblen obviously, but you have to feel for Dricus du Plessis.

He entered 2025 in discussion for the top of the pound-for-pound list, and even though a clash with Chimaev loomed after he settled his business with Sean Strickland, du Plessis had a legitimate shot to hand Chimaev his first loss. On paper, at least.

In reality, Chimaev made it look so easy against du Plessis to the point that it’s unclear if the South African star ever gets a title shot again, much less an immediate rematch.

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 4 Sean Strickland vs. No. 6 Anthony Hernandez (UFC Houston, Feb. 21), No. 8 Reinier de Ridder vs. No. 9 Caio Borralho (UFC 326, March 7), No. 13 Costello van Steenis vs. Fabian Edwards (PFL Madrid, March 20)

Falling out of the rankings (January 2025 ranking shown): No. 11 Marvin Vettori, No. 14 Roman Dolidze, No. 15 Derek Brunson

WELTERWEIGHT

Who was No. 1 this time last year? Belal Muhammad

Who is No. 1 now? Islam Makhachev

Biggest movers: Makhachev did the damn thing.

He waited for Belal Muhammad to drop the title, which was nice of him, but once the path was clear, Makhachev made his move to 170 and did something close friend and coach Khabib Nurmagomedov never did: Become a two-division champion.

Making things interesting for the new champion is the fact that he has a healthy crop of compelling challengers. Michael Morales, Ian Machado Garry, and Carlos Prates all made their way into the contender circle, and even former champion Kamaru Usman is in play.

Biggest losers: Out with the old, in with the new.

Sorry, there’s no nice way to put what happened to Gilbert Burns and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson this year as the respected veterans both suffered eye-opening losses in their lone appearances. Burns was shredded by Morales for his fourth straight loss, while Thompson got a raw deal, losing a controversial split decision to Gabriel Bonfim.

Whatever the reason, neither guy can seem to get on track and for the first time in years, they exited our rankings.

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 12 Ramazan Kuramagomedov vs. Shamil Musaev (PFL Dubai, Feb. 7)

Falling out of the rankings (January 2025 ranking shown): No. 7 (tied) Gilbert Burns, No. 10 Jason Jackson, No. 13 Michael Page (competing at middleweight), No. 14 Stephen Thompson, No. 15 Shamil Musaev

LIGHTWEIGHT

Who was No. 1 this time last year? Islam Makhachev

Who is No. 1 now? Ilia Topuria

Biggest movers: If we’re giving props to Makhachev, we have to do the same for Topuria.

Topuria wanted to become lightweight champion, whether it was by beating Makhachev or someone else, and it turned out to be the latter with Makhachev’s departure. Facing the always dangerous Charles Oliveira, Topuria once again unleashed his knockout magic to claim a second UFC title and make his case to be the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Honorable mentions go to Benoit Saint Denis for reversing his fortunes with a 3-0 campaign, Paul Hughes for boosting his profile with two valiant five-round efforts against Usman Nurmagomedov, and Paddy Pimblett for silencing the doubters and legitimately earning a ranking—and an interim title shot.

Biggest losers: Even though he’s the rightful No. 1 contender, it’s still Arman Tsarukyan.

How did we get here? At the beginning of the year, Tsarukyan was a trendy pick to dethrone Makhachev at UFC 311. An injury forced him to pull out at the last second and that apparently put him on the UFC’s poop list for the foreseeable future. Even a dominant win over Dan Hooker at UFC Qatar has done little to improve his standing with Dana White.

Now, he finds himself in limbo as Pimblett faces Justin Gaethje at UFC 324 with the winner expected to face Topuria in the future.

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 3 Charles Oliveira vs. No. 4 Max Holloway (UFC 326, March 7), No. 5 Justin Gaethje vs. No. 11 (tied) Paddy Pimblett (UFC 324, Jan. 24), No. 6 Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Alfie Davis (PFL Dubai, Feb. 7), No. 7 Dan Hooker vs. No. 8 Benoit Saint Denis (UFC 325, Jan. 31), No. 11 (tied) Rafael Fiziev vs. Mauricio Ruffy (UFC 325, Jan. 31), No. 14 Renato Moicano vs. Brian Ortega (UFC 326, March 7)

Falling out of the rankings (January 2025 ranking shown): No. 1 Islam Makhachev (moved to welterweight), No. 7 Dustin Poirier (retirement), No. 13 Michael Chandler

FEATHERWEIGHT

Who was No. 1 this time last year? Ilia Topuria

Who is No. 1 now? Alexander Volkanovski

Biggest movers: He’s not getting a title shot for some reason, but in my eyes, Lerone Murphy made an airtight case that he’s worthy of one.

With respect to Volkanovski, who won a vacant featherweight title to begin a second reign, its Murphy who delivered the most meaningful result of the year at 145 pounds. The biggest knock against the undefeated Murphy was that he doesn’t finish fights, which put him in an unfavorable light with the matchmakers, and it seemed like they put him up against the debuting Aaron Pico to fast-track the Bellator slugger to a title shot.

Murphy flipped the script, scoring a sensational first-round knockout over Pico—Murphy’s first finish since 2021—and leaving no room for anyone to criticize his contender credentials.

Biggest losers: Speaking of Pico, it wasn’t a great year for him and fellow Bellator refugee Patricio Pitbull.

The two made their long-awaited UFC debuts with plenty of hype and while Pico got finished, Pitbull’s first walk to the octagon was even worse. Pitbull was a two-division Bellator champion, so expectations were higher, and he didn’t come close to reaching them, losing a dreadful decision to Yair Rodriguez that had fans questioning whether the Brazilian veteran was well past his best-before date.

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Alexander Volkanovski vs. No. 3 Diego Lopes (UFC 325, Jan. 31), No. 7 Arnold Allen vs. No. 8 Jean Silva (UFC 324, Jan. 24), No. 11 Brian Ortega vs. Renato Moicano (lightweight bout) (UFC 326, March 7)

Falling out of the rankings (January 2025 ranking shown): No. 1 Ilia Topuria (moved to lightweight), No. 3 Max Holloway (moved to lightweight), No. 13 Calvin Kattar, No. 14 Giga Chikadze

BANTAMWEIGHT

Who was No. 1 this time last year? Merab Dvalishvili

Who is No. 1 now? Petr Yan

Biggest movers: Yeah, it’s Yan.

The then-former (now current) bantamweight champion righted the ship in 2024 and he carried that momentum into 2025 with a solid win over the streaking Marcus McGhee to set up a rematch with Dvalishvili, who had named Yan as his preferred opponent for his fourth title defense of the year. At UFC 323, Yan put on an all-time great championship performance to stop Dvalishvili from making history and snap Dvalishvili’s seven-year, 14-fight unbeaten streak.

Mario Bautista, Song Yadong, and a slew of fresh names made waves at 135 pounds, but Yan made this his year by stealing Dvalishvili’s thunder in the final month.

Biggest losers: Not to keep piling dirt on the Bellator boys but, ouch! What a rough campaign for Patchy Mix.

At one point, Mix was drawing first-place votes from our panel, but after a pair of disastrous UFC outings, Mix is off the list. Way off the list. At just 32, it doesn’t feel like Mix should be out of the, er, mix forever, he just has a lot of work to do to restore the faith.

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 3 Umar Nurmagomedov vs. No. 7 Deiveson Figueiredo (UFC 324, Jan. 24), No. 5 Sean O’Malley vs. No. 8 Song Yadong (UFC 324, Jan. 24), No. 6 Mario Bautista vs. No. 14 Vinicius Oliveira (UFC Vegas 113, Feb. 7), No. 13 Rob Font vs. Raul Rosas Jr. (UFC 326, March 7)

Falling out of the rankings (January 2025 ranking shown): No. 4 Patchy Mix, No. 8 Jose Aldo (retirement), No. 9 Kyoji Horiguchi (moved to flyweight), No. 10 Henry Cejudo (retirement)

FLYWEIGHT

Who was No. 1 this time last year? Alexandre Pantoja

Who is No. 1 now? Pantoja

Biggest movers: Joshua Van, you’re not our No. 1 flyweight just yet, but you just had one of the craziest breakthrough years in UFC history.

Van was outside of our top 15 at the end of 2024, then he beat fellow wunderkind Rei Tsuruya, finished the dangerous Bruno “Bulldog” Silva, and out-struck Brandon Royval in what was the Fight of the Year. To cap off the craziness, he earned a shot against the seemingly indomitable Pantoja.

He ends 2025 with gold around his waist and even though the circumstances aren’t ideal (get well soon, Pantoja), that shouldn’t take away from the 24-year-old’s shocking run from unranked to UFC champion.

Biggest losers: No one at 125 pounds fell too hard, but you have to feel for the old guard of Brandon Moreno, Brandon Royval, and Kai Kara-France.

Entrenched in the top 5 for ages, the three fan favorites suffered crucial losses and now find themselves on the outside looking in. While no one would be surprised to see any of them back in the title picture, the flyweight division is defined by speed and that also applies to how quickly contenders can be left in the dust.

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 3 Kyoji Horiguchi vs. No. 8 (tied) Amir Albazi (UFC Vegas 113, Feb. 7), No. 7 Brandon Moreno vs. No. 11 Asu Almabayev (UFC Mexico City, Feb. 28)

Falling out of the rankings (January 2025 ranking shown): No. 14 Matheus Nicolau, No. 15 Kai Asakura

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Who was No. 1 this time last year? Kayla Harrison

Who is No. 1 now? Harrison

Biggest movers: Yana Santos, where did you come from?

A one-time featherweight title challenger, Santos hasn’t exactly toiled in obscurity, but to say she wasn’t much of a factor at 135 pounds in recent years would be an understatement. But big wins over Macy Chiasson and Miesha Tate have propelled her into the top 10 and given her some cachet with the fans. Beating Chiasson in particular boosted Santos’ profile as she had to deal with Chiasson coming in heavy—the fourth time in Santos’ UFC career her opponent has missed weight.

Santos took care of business on fight night and showed she’s still a contender as she enters her age 36 campaign.

Biggest losers: Did we mention Chiasson going 0-2 (0-3 if you count her ongoing struggle with the scale) in 2025?

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes (UFC 324, Jan. 24), No. 8 Ailin Perez vs. No. 11 Macy Chiasson (UFC Mexico City, Feb. 28), No. 12 Joselyne Edwards vs. Nora Cornolle (UFC Houston, Feb. 21), No. 14 Bia Mesquita vs. Montserrat Rendon (UFC Vegas 114, March 14)

Falling out of the rankings (January 2025 ranking shown): No. 8 Holly Holm (returned to boxing), No. 13 Talita Bernardo

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Who was No. 1 this time last year? Valentina Shevchenko

Who is No. 1 now? Shevchenko

Biggest movers: Natalia Silva is coming for that No. 1 spot.

“Natty Ice” scored the biggest win of her career in May, earning a lopsided unanimous decision win over recent flyweight champion Alexa Grasso. She is now 7-0 in the UFC with wins over several ranked opponents and has all the makings of a fighter who could potentially dethrone Valentina Shevchenko and be flyweight’s new torchbearer.

Biggest losers: Taila Santos is all too familiar with being almost famous.

Three years ago, Santos took Valentina Shevchenko to the limit and almost captured a flyweight title. Fast forward to November 2024, and Santos almost captured a PFL tournament championship and a million-dollar prize, only to be outclassed by Dakota Ditcheva. She still held on to the No. 6 spot in our rankings, but a drug test suspension essentially cost Santos her 2025 season and inactivity caused her stock to plummet, leaving her outside of the top 10 looking in with little opportunity to climb back up.

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 3 Natalia Silva vs. No. 9 Rose Namajunas (UFC 324, Jan. 24), No. 6 Alexa Grasso vs. No. 7 (tied) Maycee Barber (UFC Seattle, March 28)

Falling out of the rankings (January 2025 ranking shown): No. 11 Katlyn Cerminara, No. 13 Viviane Araujo , No. 14 Jessica Andrade, No. 15 Jennifer Maia

STRAWWEIGHT

Who was No. 1 this time last year? Zhang Weili

Who is No. 1 now? Zhang

Biggest movers: Like Van, Mackenzie Dern isn’t No. 1 for us, but she is officially a UFC champion and that’s pretty good!

By the end of 2024, most of us felt we had a firm grasp of what Dern is capable of: An incredible grappler, tough as hell, but not quite championship material. However, when Zhang made the decision to move up in weight to fight Shevchenko, that opened the door for Dern to be one half of a vacant title fight and she seized the opportunity. Dern won a convincing decision over Virna Jandiroba and even if you question the legitimacy of her champion status with Zhang looming, there’s no question Dern was strawweight’s most pleasant surprise.

Biggest losers: Former UFC champion Jessica Andrade didn’t fall out of the strawweight rankings entirely but she’s barely hanging on to a top 10 spot in the division in which she once reigned.

Andrade should always be appreciated for her wicked finishing ability and willingness to fight anyone, anytime across two weight classes, but staying busy has proven to be detrimental to her record as she’s won just two of her past eight fights. “Bate Estaca” looked like a shell of herself in losses to Loopy Godinez and Jasmine Jasudavicius and if she can’t right the ship soon, this could be the last time you see her ending a year with a number next to her name.

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 6 Amanda Lemos vs. No. 11 Gillian Robertson (UFC Vegas 114, March 14)

Falling out of the rankings (January 2025 ranking shown): No. 13 Angela Hill, No. 15 Luana Pinheiro

A refresher on the ground rules:

The five-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, Damon Martin, and Jed Meshew.
Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout in a given weight class. Updates to the rankings are typically completed following each month’s UFC pay-per-view.
Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice. (Let’s put it this way: We’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did.)
Holding a promotion’s title does not guarantee that fighter will be viewed as the best in their promotion. Additionally, fighters who regularly compete or hold titles in multiple weight classes are eligible to be ranked in multiple lists.

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.

MMA Pound-for-Pound Rankings: Is Joshua Van top 10 after freak UFC 323 title win?

2025-12-11T09:05:11-05:00

On paper, UFC 323 looked like it would maintain the status quo of the pound-for-pound rankings; in practice? Pure chaos.

Not only did a resurgent Petr Yan foil Merab Dvalishili’s plans to become the first champion in UFC history to defend a title four times in a calendar year, 24-year-old fighting prodigy Joshua Van toppled long-reigning flyweight king Alexandre Pantoja—literally toppling him and causing a freak arm injury that cost Pantoja his belt after just 26 seconds of action.

To put it simply: The MMA Fighting Pound-for-Pound Rankings haven’t been broken like this since Sean Strickland upset Israel Adesanya.

Entering Saturday’s event, Dvalishvili (3) and Pantoja (4) were entrenched in our top 5 and while Yan’s incredible performance was guaranteed to bump Dvalishvili down a few spots, the abrupt end to Pantoja’s championship reign left our panel divided on what to make of his loss and how much Van should gain from the win.

The highest ranking Van received was 7th from one voter, while another declined to rank him altogether (Van was already unranked on their list and the brief nature of the fight was essentially a no-contest in their eyes). Our other three voters had him at 9th, 16th, and 20th. Outrageous, maybe? But even given Van’s inspiring run to a UFC title less than five years into his pro career, we still don’t know for sure what we have with him, and I feel that’s reflected in the No. 15 spot he eventually landed on.

Winning a rematch would cement Van as being worthy of taking Pantoja’s spot. However, with Pantoja’s arm injury keeping him shelved for an indefinite period of time, Van may have to settle for a title defense against Tatsuro Taira. Nobody said building a legacy would be easy.

Yan rises from unranked to No. 6, an astounding leap, but really one that says more about how poorly we evaluated him prior to him getting this title shot. Three straight wins over bantamweight contenders should have had Yan on our list already, so consider this an over-correction of sorts.

As for Dvalishvili, he falls to his lowest ranking in ages, settling in at No. 8, tied with two-time featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. Time off could do the dogged Dvalishvili good and I’d wager this time next year he’ll be fighting for top 5 consideration again.

Check out the post-UFC 323 Men’s Pound-for-Pound Rankings below.

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): Petr Yan def. No. 3 Merab Dvalishvili, Joshua Van def. No. 4 Alexandre Pantoja, Ian Machado Garry def. No. 11 Belal Muhammad, No. 14 Arman Tsarukyan def. Dan Hooker

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 8 (tied) Alexander Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes (UFC 325, Jan. 31), No. 13 Max Holloway vs. No. 18 Charles Oliveira (UFC 326, March 7)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Sean O’Malley (2), Usman Nurmagomedov (2), Francis Ngannou (1), Belal Muhammad (1), Aljamain Sterling (1), Diego Lopes (1)

A refresher on the ground rules:

The five-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, Damon Martin, and Jed Meshew.
Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout in a given weight class. Updates to the rankings are typically completed following each month’s UFC pay-per-view.
Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice. (Let’s put it this way: We’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did.)
Holding a promotion’s title does not guarantee that fighter will be viewed as the best in their promotion. Additionally, fighters who regularly compete or hold titles in multiple weight classes are eligible to be ranked in multiple lists.

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.

MMA Pound-for-Pound Rankings: Valentina Shevchenko cements No. 1 spot—is she now the GOAT?

2025-11-19T16:35:25-05:00

At UFC 322, Valentina Shevchenko provided a painful reminder that size matters.

All credit in the world to Zhang Weili for jumping up to 125 pounds for a dream fight with the flyweight champion, but Shevchenko did what she was supposed to do as the bigger fighter and just bullied Zhang for 25 minutes. Zhang never managed to get any offense going and when the final bell rang, the debate of who is the best woman in the world pound-for-pound was definitively settled.

Zhang has been No. 1 P4P on MMA Fighting’s chart for some time, but Shevchenko rightfully reclaims that spot with her UFC 322 triumph. Now, we have to once again ask ourselves, is Shevchenko the women’s MMA GOAT?

When Amanda Nunes retired in 2023, she departed the game with a résumé that seemed like it would keep her on the top of GOAT mountain for some time. But Shevchenko has continued to roll in Nunes’ absence, avenging a loss to Alexa Grasso, fending off a dangerous Manon Fiorot, and now making easy work of her most accomplished active contemporary. Shevchenko also recorded her 11th UFC championship fight win, tying Nunes’ record on the women’s list.

In Nunes’ favor is her status as a two-division champion (despite bantamweight and featherweight being among the weaker divisions), an absurd 14-1 run to close out her career (including numerous one-sided beatdowns of her opposition), and signature wins over Cris Cyborg, Holly Holm, and Miesha Tate. Oh, and she’s also holds two wins over Shevchenko, though the second was an exceedingly close toss-up that neither fighter should be crowing about.

At the very least, there’s a conversation to be had, especially with Shevchenko still having a healthy lineup of challengers with which to potentially add to her legacy. On the other hand, Nunes could strengthen her case if she comes out of retirement and defeats current bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison.

Either way, appreciate the greats while we have them, because it could be some time before we see the likes of Shevchenko, Zhang, Nunes, and Cyborg ever again.

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

Over on the men’s side, there isn’t a dramatic shift in the aftermath of UFC 322, with newly crowned welterweight champion Islam Makhachev already holding on to the No. 1 spot due to his lightweight excellence. However, eagle-eyed readers will notice that since our most recent Men’s Pound-for-Pound tally, Makhachev’s hold on the top of the list has tightened.

Previously, Makhachev had three first place votes, with Ilia Topuria and Merab Dvalishvili also earning a nod from our panelists. This month, it’s all Makhachev, with our panel unanimously voting him No. 1.

Merab Dvalishvili and Alexandre Pantoja still have a say before the end of 2025, with both scheduled to defend their titles at UFC 323, but they’d have to put on some truly inspiring performances on Dec. 6 to surpass the newest member of The Champ-Champ Club.

MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

A refresher on the ground rules:

The five-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, Damon Martin, and Jed Meshew.
Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout in a given weight class. Updates to the rankings are typically completed following each month’s UFC pay-per-view.
Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice. (Let’s put it this way: We’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did.)
Holding a promotion’s title does not guarantee that fighter will be viewed as the best in their promotion. Additionally, fighters who regularly compete or hold titles in multiple weight classes are eligible to be ranked in multiple lists.

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.

Rankings Shakeup: Islam Makhachev rules welterweight, contenders surge at UFC 322

2025-11-18T12:02:24-05:00

Islam Makhachev has conquered a whole new kingdom, and with it, a fresh set of would-be usurpers.

Six months after announcing he was vacating his lightweight title to pursue welterweight gold, Makhachev completed his mission by beating Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 to become the 11th two-division champion in UFC history. And he made it look easy.

Makhachev already owns the record for most successful UFC lightweight title defenses (four) and he now has the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of legends like Georges St-Pierre, Kamaru Usman, and Matt Hughes, and make a name for himself in the hallowed 170-pound division. He certainly has no shortage of challengers.

Two up-and-coming contenders made loud statements Saturday, with Michael Morales leaping into the top five of our rankings with a first-round drubbing of Sean Brady, and Carlos Prates winning his second straight fight with a stunning one-punch knockout of slumping former champion Leon Edwards. The undefeated Morales appears to have the inside track for a title shot, but Prates is right back in the mix having rebounded in style following a loss to Ian Machado Garry this past April.

Speaking of Garry, he fights Belal Muhammad this Saturday at UFC Qatar and now the pressure is on him to impress if he wants to keep pace with the surging contender line. Welterweight hasn’t been this hot in a while, so let’s hope Makhachev decides to be a fighting champion to keep the division moving.

Then again, there’s always the chance he ends up fighting Usman. The two share management, have both mentioned meeting in a title bout, and Usman is a legend any champion would love to add to their résumé. Add in the UFC needing big names for its upcoming White House event, and it almost makes too much sense for this to happen, even if it means snubbing a handful of more deserving challengers.

That’s a problem for another day, though. Right now, Islam Makhachev can savor once again having made history (did we mention he also tied Anderson Silva’s UFC record for consecutive wins at 16?) and knowing that he holds all the cards in what is once again one of MMA’s most intriguing divisions.

Check out MMA Fighting’s updated 170-pound rankings below.

MMA Divisional Rankings: 4 UFC champions target 2026 to continue reigns

2025-11-07T22:38:46-05:00

The UFC is in a strange place right now as the ESPN era comes to an end.

This past rankings cycle saw the status quo mostly maintained with Merab Dvalishvili delivering another 25-minute masterclass to defend his bantamweight title against Cory Sandhagen, and Alex Pereira restoring the status quo at 205 pounds by taking back his title from Magomed Ankalaev. Outside of that, we had a handful of championship fights confirmed to close out the year, with Dvalishvili getting his wish for a fourth title defense in 2025 when he rematches Petr Yan at UFC 323 on Dec. 6 and Alexandre Pantoja defending his flyweight belt against Joshua Van on that same card.

With the UFC set to begin its next broadcast deal with Paramount in January, we have a few ideas of what to expect, so let’s ponder some lingering questions as we head into the final two months of this campaign:

Khamzat Chimaev. Ilia Topuria. Alexander Volkanovski. Kayla Harrison. What do they have in common? They all have title defenses guaranteed to happen in the near future with some clear options on the table, but we’re still waiting for the official word to come down. Chimaev presumably faces the last contender standing at middleweight, Nassourdine Imavov, Volkanovski should be on a collision course with the undefeated Lerone Murphy, and Harrison’s clash with returning legend Amanda Nunes has been set in stone for ages. Only Topuria doesn’t have a clear No. 1 contender, but you can slot in Justin Gaethje, Paddy Pimblett, or Arman Tsarukyan if he gets past Dan Hooker, and each would satisfy at least some segments of the fan base (while irking others, of course). Don’t expect these announcements to be made until late November/early December though.
Is Alex Pereira staying at light heavyweight? Ankalaev will surely campaign for a rematch he has no chance of getting, and Carlos Ulberg is more than deserving of his shot, but that doesn’t mean Pereira has to stick around to give it to him. All signs point to Pereira moving to heavyweight at some point in 2026 and you get the sense he could either leapfrog Ciryl Gane for a shot at Tom Aspinall, or simply wait until June if his dream fight with Jon Jones materializes.
Speaking of jumping up in weight, let’s not forget Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev and Valentina Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weili are just around the corner at UFC 322. Is Makhachev staying at 170, win or lose? Would a win over Makhachev set Della Maddalena on the path to becoming the next great welterweight legend? Does Shevchenko continue her record-setting reign at flyweight if she beats Zhang, or is it her turn to chase champ-champ glory again? And is Zhang totally done with strawweight no matter what happens on Nov. 15?
Because with Zhang gone, who is actually the No. 1 strawweight in the world now? Mackenzie Dern has a UFC belt, which already has us confused as to where to rank her on the Pound-for-Pound list, then you remember she has losses not that long ago to Amanda Lemos, Jessica Andrade, and Yan Xiaonan, and having her at the top of even the 115-pound list looks silly. But for now, with the Zhang vs. Shevchenko superfight going down soon, we’ve removed Zhang from the division rankings (we did the same with Makhachev after he booked his welterweight title fight), and we can only hope that the results of UFC 322 brings stability and clarity to the charts…
…oh, who am I kidding? This is MMA and the only thing guaranteed is chaos.

One important editorial note, our voting panel has been reduced from six to five members, so if you see some random looking movement below, that’s why. As I said: chaos.

Without further ado, here are the latest MMA Fighting Divisional Rankings.

HEAVYWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 1 Tom Aspinall vs. No. 4 Ciryl Gane ends in a no-contest, No. 3 Alexander Volkov def. No. 7 Jailton Almeida, No. 5 Sergei Pavlovich def. No. 8 Waldo Cortes-Acosta, No. 9 Phil De Fries def. Stefan Vojcak, Ante Delija def. No. 12 Marcin Tybura

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 8 Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. No. 11 Ante Delija (UFC Vegas 110, Nov. 1), No. 12 Vadim Nemkov vs. Renan Ferreira (PFL Europe, Dec. 13), No. 15 Reug Reug vs. Anatoly Malykhin (ONE 173, Nov. 15)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Jairzinho Rozenstruik (3), Valter Walker (2), Anatoly Malykhin (1)

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 2 Alex Pereira def. No. 1 Magomed Ankalaev vs. No. 2 Alex Pereira, No. 3 Jiri Prochazka def. No. 5 (tied) Khalil Rountree, No. 4 Carlos Ulberg def. No. 9 (tied) Dominick Reyes, No. 5 (tied) Corey Anderson def. Dovlet Yagshimuradov, No. 11 Azamat Murzakanov def. No. 8 Aleksandar Rakic, No. 15 Johnny Walker def. Zhang Mingyang

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 6 (tied) Jan Blachowicz vs. No. 11 Bogdan Guskov (UFC 323, Dec. 6), No. 12 Volkano Oezdemir vs. Alonzo Menifield (UFC Qatar, Nov. 22)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Modestas Bukauskas (2), Anatoly Malykhin (1)

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 3 Nassourdine Imavov def. No. 7 Caio Borralho, No. 12 Brendan Allen def. No. 6 Reinier de Ridder

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: N/A

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Ikram Aliskerov (1), Roman Dolidze (1), Fabian Edwards (1), Abus Magomedov (1)

WELTERWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): N/A

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev (UFC 322, Nov. 15), No. 2 Belal Muhammad vs. No. 6 Ian Machado Garry (UFC Qatar, Nov. 22), No. 4 Sean Brady vs. No. 8 (tied) Michael Morales (UFC 322, Nov. 15), No. 5 Leon Edwards vs. No. 10 Carlos Prates (UFC 322, Nov. 15)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Gilbert Burns (2), Gabriel Bonfim (1), Rinat Fakhretdinov (1), Shamil Musaev (1)

LIGHTWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 4 Charles Oliveira def. No. 9 Mateusz Gamrot, No. 6 Usman Nurmagomedov def. No. 11 (tied) Paul Hughes

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 2 Arman Tsarukyan vs. No. 7 Dan Hooker (UFC Qatar, Nov. 22), No. 8 Beneil Dariush vs. No. 14 Benoit Saint Denis (UFC 322, Nov. 15)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Ignacio Bahamondes (1), Grant Dawson (1), Gadzhi Rabadanov (1), Fares Ziam (1)

FEATHERWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 3 Diego Lopes def. No. 8 Jean Silva, No. 9 Aljamain Sterling def. No. 4 Brian Ortega (catchweight bout), No. 13 Youssef Zalal def. No. 10 Josh Emmett

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 14 Steve Garcia vs. David Onama (UFC Vegas 110, Nov. 1)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): David Onama (2), A.J. McKee (1), Razhabali Shaydullaev (1), Dan Ige (1), Calvin Kattar (1),

BANTAMWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 1 Merab Dvalishvili def. No. 3 Cory Sandhagen, No. 14 Aiemann Zahabi def. N0. 10 Marlon Vera, No. 11 Sergio Pettis def. No. 15 Magomed Magomedov, Jakub Wiklacz def. No. 12 Patchy Mix

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Merab Dvalishvili vs. No. 5 Petr Yan (UFC 323, Dec. 6), No. 10 Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Tagir Ulanbekov (UFC Qatar, Nov. 22)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Montel Jackson (1), Magomed Magomedov (1), Marcus McGhee (1), Raufeon Stots (1)

FLYWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): N/A

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Alexandre Pantoja vs. No. 2 Joshua Van (UFC 323, Dec. 6), No. 3 Brandon Royval vs. No. 6 Manel Kape (UFC Vegas 112, Dec. 13), No. 5 Brandon Moreno vs. No. 9 Tatsuro Taira (UFC 323, Dec. 6), No. 10 Muhammad Mokaev vs. Gerard Burns (BRAVE CF 100, Nov. 7), No. 11 Asu Almabayev vs. Alex Perez (UFC Qatar, Nov. 22), No. 15 Yuya Wakamatsu vs. Joshua Pacio (ONE 173, Nov. 15)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Tim Elliott (2), Charles Johnson (1), Matheus Nicolau (1), Tagir Ulanbekov (1)

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 12 Yana Santos def. No. 5 (tied) Macy Chiasson

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 4 Ketlen Vieira vs. No. 5 Norma Dumont (UFC Vegas 110, Nov. 1), No. 10 Jacqueline Cavalcanti vs. Mayra Bueno Silva (UFC Vegas 111, Nov. 8)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Talita Bernardo (3), Luana Santos (1), Mayra Bueno Silva (1)

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 3 Manon Fiorot def. No. 11 Jasmine Jasudavicius (UFC Vancouver, Oct. 18),

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Valentina Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weili (UFC 322, Nov. 15), No. 4 Erin Blanchfield vs. No. 12 Tracy Cortez (UFC 322, Nov. 15), No. 8 Maycee Barber vs. Karine Silva (UFC 323, Dec. 6)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Jessica Andrade (1), Jena Bishop (1), Gabriella Fernandes (1), Carli Judice (1), Karine Silva (1)

STRAWWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 6 Mackenzie Dern def. No. 2 Virna Jandiroba, No. 3 Tatiana Suarez def. No. 5 Amanda Lemos, Alexia Thainara def. No. 14 Loma Lookboonmee

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 7 Iasmin Lucindo vs. No. 10 Gillian Robertson (UFC Vegas 112, Dec. 13), No. 12 (tied) Angela Hill vs. Fatima Kline (UFC 322, Nov. 15), No. 14 (tied) Tecia Pennington vs. Denise Gomes (UFC Vegas 111, Nov. 8)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Denise Gomes (4)

A refresher on the ground rules:

The five-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, Damon Martin, and Jed Meshew.
Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout in a given weight class. Updates to the rankings are typically completed following each month’s UFC pay-per-view.
Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice. (Let’s put it this way: We’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did.)
Holding a promotion’s title does not guarantee that fighter will be viewed as the best in their promotion. Additionally, fighters who regularly compete or hold titles in multiple weight classes are eligible to be ranked in multiple lists.

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.

MMA Pound-for-Pound Rankings: Mackenzie Dern is a UFC champion – but does that make her a top 5 fighter?

2025-11-08T21:45:48-05:00

Mackenzie Dern has a UFC title now and there is no question about that.

How much this particular gold belt means, however, is certainly up for debate.

Let’s write it out one more time, just because it’s still pretty crazy to see it: Mackenzie Dern is A UFC CHAMPION. It doesn’t matter how you slice it, it’s in the record books. And that’s awesome for her.

But she’s indisputably not the best strawweight in the world. That status belongs to Zhang Weili, who cleared out all her current contenders (with respect to Dern and Virna Jandiroba) and deservedly earned herself a shot at flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 322 on Nov. 15. Should Zhang lose to Shevchenko, return to strawweight, and get a shot at Dern, she’d be no lower than an 8-to-1 favorite. That’s a conservative estimate.

All of that is to say finding Dern’s place on the Pound-for-Pound list is tricky. On the one hand, she beat Jandiroba fair and square and now holds a UFC title, widely regarded as the most prestigious trophy you can hold in MMA; on the other hand, Dern wasn’t exactly on a tear before she earned her title shot. She has decisive losses to Amanda Lemos, Jessica Andrade, and Yan Xiaonan, all bouts that happened in the past three years. Not exactly ancient history.

For the most part, our panel has decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and vault her over Yan and everybody else, sending her all the way from unranked to No. 6 on the list. It’s an unprecedented debut, though considering how far Dern was from a title shot at one point, oddly fitting one.

Check out the post-UFC 321 Women’s Pound-for-Pound Rankings below and let us know in the comments where you think Dern belongs on the list.

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 6 Manon Fiorot def. No. 19 Jasmine Jasudavicius, Mackenzie Dern def. No. 11 Virna Jandiroba, No. 12 Tatiana Suarez def. Amanda Lemos

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Zhang Weili vs. No. 2 Valentina Shevchenko (UFC 322, Nov. 15), No. 4 Cris Cyborg vs. Sara Collins (PFL Europe, Dec. 13), No. 9 Erin Blanchfield vs. Tracy Cortez (UFC 322, Nov. 15), No. 15 Seika Izawa vs. Saori Oshima (RIZIN LANDMARK 12, Nov. 3)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Norma Dumont (2), Taila Santos (2), Jessica Andrade (2), Maycee Barber (1), Amanda Lemos (1)

A refresher on the ground rules:

The five-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, Damon Martin, and Jed Meshew.
Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout in a given weight class. Updates to the rankings are typically completed following each month’s UFC pay-per-view.
Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice. (Let’s put it this way: We’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did.)
Holding a promotion’s title does not guarantee that fighter will be viewed as the best in their promotion. Additionally, fighters who regularly compete or hold titles in multiple weight classes are eligible to be ranked in multiple lists.

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.

MMA Pound-for-Pound Rankings: Alex Pereira, Merab Dvalishvili make big moves after UFC 320 triumphs

2025-11-09T23:52:26-05:00

Alex Pereira and Merab Dvalishvili have shaken up the rankings once again.

Both stars shined at UFC 320 on Saturday, with Alex Pereira reclaiming his place atop the light heavyweight mountain with a swift knockout of rival Magomed Ankalaev, and Merab Dvalishvili denying Cory Sandhagen to record his third straight defense of the bantamweight title and his 14th straight win overall. Unsurprisingly, these boys are moving on up in the MMA Fighting Pound-for-Pound Rankings.

Pereira makes a big jump back into the top 5 after temporarily residing in the No. 10 spot following his UFC 313 defeat at the hands of Ankalaev. When Ankalaev beat Pereira the first time, “Poatan” looked flat and uninspired, raising the question of whether his hectic schedule had finally gotten the better of him and if a decline was in order. That question was answered emphatically with Pereira running through Ankalaev in the rematch and making the past seven months seem like a mere blip in Pereira’s increasingly absurd combat sports career.

Two spots ahead of Pereira is Dvalishvili, who claims a top 3 spot and a first-place vote after putting together another complete five-round performance. Sandhagen was a worthy challenger with plenty of tricks up his sleeve to deal with the usual Dvalishvili onslaught, but “The Machine” had the best moment of the fight by far as he nearly finished Sandhagen with strikes in the second round. Outside of that, Dvalishvili stopped Sandhagen from finding any offensive rhythm and when the final bell rang, the outcome wasn’t in doubt. It rarely is for Dvalishvili and now he only trails Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria in our rankings.

If Makhachev falters in his chase for Jack Della Maddalena’s welterweight title, and Topuria’s inactivity drags on, don’t be surprised if Dvalishvili keeps climbing, especially if he authors a fourth championship defense in 2025 as planned.

Check out the post-UFC 320 Men’s Pound-for-Pound Rankings below.

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 4 Merab Dvalishvili def. Cory Sandhagen, No. 10 Alex Pereira def. No. 6 Magomed Ankalaev, No. 18 Jiri Prochazka def. Khalil Rountree, No. 20 Usman Nurmagomedov def. Paul Hughes

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Islam Makhachev vs. No. 8 Jack Della Maddalena (UFC 322, Nov. 15), No. 7 Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane (UFC 321, Oct. 25), No. 11 Belal Muhammad vs. Ian Machado Garry (UFC Qatar, Nov. 22), No. 14 Arman Tsarukyan vs. Dan Hooker (UFC Qatar, Nov. 22), No. 19 Charles Oliveira vs. Mateusz Gamrot (UFC Rio, Oct. 11)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Francis Ngannou (2), Joshua Van (2), Diego Lopes (1), Brandon Moreno (1), Sean O’Malley (1), Usman Nurmagomedov (1)

MMA Pound-for-Pound Rankings: How far does Dricus du Plessis fall after UFC 319 flop?

2025-11-12T23:23:18-05:00

Dricus du Plessis entered UFC 319 on the cusp of consideration for the No. 1 spot on MMA Fighting’s Pound-for-Pound list.

After five rounds with the indomitable Khamzat Chimaev, du Plessis now sits on the outside of the top 10 looking in.

That’s a harsh and precipitous fall for the now-former middleweight champion, who simply had no answers for Chimaev’s relentless wrestling attack. Had du Plessis been caught early and finished in the first or second round, a fate so many of Chimaev’s previous opponents have suffered, perhaps we could have written it off as du Plessis having an off night or simply making a costly mistake. But seeing him completely neutralized for five rounds felt worse, as if Chimaev has been the rightful middleweight king all along and du Plessis was simply saving his seat on the throne.

Our rankings panel acted swiftly in the aftermath of Saturday’s pay-per-view, dropping du Plessis all the way from No. 5 to No. 11, while Chimaev makes a massive eight-spot jump to claim du Plessis’ spot. Chimaev has impressed every time he’s been in the cage and seeing him with gold around his waist was the final piece the MMA Fighting staff needed to push him past the likes of Magomed Ankalaev, Tom Aspinall, Alexander Volkanovski, and Jack Della Maddalena.

What do you think, did we put Chimaev too high? Du Plessis too low? Let us know in the comments below.

MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 13 Khamzat Chimaev def. No. 5 Dricus du Plessis, No. 12 Max Holloway def. Dustin Poirier

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 4 Merab Dvalishvili vs Cory Sandhagen (UFC 320, Oct. 4), No. 6 Magomed Ankalaev vs. No. 10 Alex Pereira (UFC 320, Oct. 4), No. 7 Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane (UFC 321, Oct. 25), No. 16 Charles Oliveira vs. Rafael Fiziev (UFC Rio, Oct. 11), No. 18 Jiri Prochazka vs. Khalil Rountree (UFC 320, Oct. 4), No. 20 Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Paul Hughes (PFL Champions Series, Oct. 3)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Francis Ngannou (2), Aljamain Sterling (2), Joshua Van (2), Mario Bautista (1), Brandon Moreno (1), Lerone Murphy (1), Sean O’Malley (1), Cory Sandhagen (1)

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 8 Dakota Ditcheva def. Sumiko Inaba, No. 13 Rose Namajunas def. Miranda Maverick, No. 14 Seika Izawa def. Yu Jin Shin, No. 20 Liz Carmouche def. Jena Bishop

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 6 Manon Fiorot vs. No. 19 Jasmine Jasudavicius (UFC Vancouver, Oct. 18), No. 12 Tatiana Suarez vs. Amanda Lemos (Noche UFC, Sept. 13)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Norma Dumont (3), Jessica Andrade (2), Maycee Barber (1), Macy Chiasson (1), Loopy Godinez (1), Amanda Lemos (1), Gillian Robertson (1)

MMA Divisional Rankings: Who is the true No. 1 UFC contender at middleweight?

2025-08-20T15:46:31-04:00

Khamzat Chimaev has never been beaten, and it could be a long time before he ever suffers a loss. But there’s a fine line of contenders waiting to test that theory out.

Middleweight continues to be one of the hottest divisions, and now there’s a new champion to chase following Chimaev’s dominant decision win over Dricus du Plessis to capture the 185-pound belt at UFC 319. Barring inactivity, the undefeated Chimaev has plenty of time to build on his budding legacy, with a quartet of worthy title challengers jockeying for position.

Anthony Hernandez made the most recent and perhaps most emphatic statement with his win over Roman Dolidze in the main event of UFC Vegas 109. “Fluffy” relentlessly worked Dolidze over all around the octagon before bullying him into submission with a vicious choke. Oh, and Hernandez has also won eight straight fights.

Caio Borralho can also claim eight straight UFC wins if he beats Nassourdine Imavov in the UFC Paris headliner on Sept. 6. Doing anything he can to stay front and center in the title picture, Borralho weighed in as the backup for the UFC 319 middleweight championship bout, but he wasn’t needed, and now he resets his focus on Imavov.

Imavov, meanwhile, is on a four-fight winning streak and most recently demolished former champion Israel Adesanya in the second round of their fight in February. In our rankings, only Chimaev and du Plessis are higher than Imavov, and he should be guaranteed a title shot if he steals Borralho’s thunder.

Then there’s Reinier de Ridder, the former two-division ONE Championship titleholder, who just keeps finding ways to win. At UFC Abu Dhabi, de Ridder battled tooth-and-nail with former UFC champion Robert Whittaker, narrowly eking out a split decision to move to 4-0 inside the octagon. He makes a huge jump in our rankings, going from No. 10 to No. 6.

Fortunately, we’re soon to have some clarification on this issue. With Borralho and Imavov already booked for the main event of UFC Paris on Sep. 6, on Tuesday, UFC CEO Dana White announced that Hernandez and de Ridder will face off in the main event of UFC Vancouver on Oct. 18, declaring that Chimaev’s next title challenger will be the winner of one of those two matchups.

HEAVYWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 15 (tied) Derrick Lewis def. Tallison Teixeira

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Tom Aspinall vs. No. 4 Ciryl Gane (UFC 321, Oct. 25), No. 3 Alexander Volkov vs. No. 7 Jailton Almeida (UFC 321, Oct. 25), No. 5 Sergei Pavlovich vs. No. 8 Waldo Cortes-Acosta (UFC Shanghai, Aug. 23), No. 12 Marcin Tybura vs. Ante Delija (UFC Paris, Sept. 9)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Reug Reug (4), Anatoly Malykhin (2), Rizvan Kuniev (1)

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 5 Corey Anderson def. Denis Goltsov (heavyweight bout), No. 15 Bogdan Guskov def. No. 13 Nikita Krylov

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Magomed Ankalaev vs. No. 2 Alex Pereira (UFC 320, Oct. 4), No. 3 Jiri Prochazka vs. No. 5 (tied) Khalil Rountree (UFC 320, Oct. 4), No. 4 Carlos Ulberg vs. No. 9 (tied) Dominick Reyes (UFC Perth, Sept. 27), No. 5 (tied) Corey Anderson vs. Dovlet Yagshimuradov (PFL Champions Series, Oct. 3), No. 8 Aleksandar Rakic vs. No. 11, Azamat Murzakanov, No. 15 Johnny Walker vs. Zhang Mingyang (UFC Shanghai, Aug. 23)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Anatoly Malykhin (2), Phil Davis (1), Roman Dolidze (1), Dovlet Yagshimuradov (1), Zhang Mingyang (1)

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 2 Khamzat Chimaev def. No. 1 Dricus du Plessis, No. 10 Reinier de Ridder def. No. 7 Robert Whittaker, No. 8 Anthony Hernandez def. No. 13 Roman Dolidze, Costello van Steenis def. No. 9 Johnny Eblen, Michael Page def. No. 11 Jared Cannonier, No. 12 Brendan Allen def. Marvin Vettori, No. 14 Paulo Costa def. Roman Kopylov

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 3 Nassourdine Imavov vs. No. 7 Caio Borralho (UFC Paris, Sept. 9)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Roman Dolidze (2), Abus Magomedov (1)

WELTERWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): Carlos Prates def. No. 11 Geoff Neal, No. 12 Michael Page def. Jared Cannonier (middleweight bout), No. 14 Thad Jean def. Logan Storley

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: N/A

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Carlos Prates (4), Shamil Musaev (3), Gilbert Burns (2), Jason Jackson (2), Gabriel Bonfim (1), Rinat Fakhretdinov (1), Kevin Holland (1)

LIGHTWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 4 Max Holloway def. No. 7 Dustin Poirier, No. 15 A.J. McKee def. Akhmed Magomedov

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 4 Charles Oliveira vs. No. 10 Rafael Fiziev (UFC Rio, Oct. 11), No. 6 Usman Nurmagomedov vs. No. 11 (tied) Paul Hughes (PFL Championship Series, Oct. 3),

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Alfie Davis (3), Grant Dawson (1), Gadzhi Rabadanov (1), Benoit Saint Denis (1), Fares Ziam (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): No. 7 Dustin Poirier (retirement), No. 15 A.J. McKee (return to featherweight)

FEATHERWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 9 Lerone Murphy def. No. 10 Aaron Pico, No. 12 Patricio Pitbull def. No. 14 Dan Ige, Movlid Khaybulaev def. No. 15 (tied) Jesus Pinedo

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 3 Diego Lopes vs. No. 8 Jean Silva (Noche UFC, Sept. 13), No. 4 Brian Ortega vs. No. 9 Aljamain Sterling (UFC Shanghai, Aug. 23), No. 11 Patricio Pitbull vs. Losene Keita (UFC Paris, Sept. 6)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): A.J. McKee (2), Razhabali Shaydullaev (2), Dan Ige (1), Calvin Kattar (1), David Onama (1)

BANTAMWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 5 Petr Yan def. Marcus McGhee

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Merab Dvalishvili vs. No. 3 Cory Sandhagen (UFC 320, Oct. 4), N0. 10 Marlon Vera vs. No. 14 Aiemann Zahabi (UFC Vancouver, Oct. 18), No. 11 Sergio Pettis vs. No. 15 Magomed Magomedov (PFL Champions Series, Oct. 3), No. 12 Patchy Mix vs. Jakub Wiklacz (UFC 320, Oct. 4)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Vinicius Oliveira (4), Montel Jackson (2), Marcus McGhee (2), Raufeon Stots (2)

FLYWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 9 Tatsuro Taira def. Hyun Sung Park, No. 12 Steve Erceg def. Ode Osbourne, No. 13 Asu Almabayev def. Jose Ochoa

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 14 Yuya Wakamatsu vs. Joshua Pacio (ONE 173, Nov. 16)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Tim Elliott (2), Matheus Nicolau (2), Charles Johnson (1), Hiromasa Ougikubo (1), Tagir Ulanbekov (1)

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 10 Karol Rosa def. Nora Cornolle

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 4 Ketlen Vieira vs. No. 5 (tied) Norma Dumont (UFC Vegas 110, Nov. 1), No. 5 (tied) Macy Chiasson vs. No. 12 Yana Santos (UFC 320, Oct. 4)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Joselyne Edwards (5), Nora Cornolle (2)

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 5 Dakota Ditcheva def. Sumiko Inaba, No. 8 Liz Carmouche def. Jena Bishop, Tabatha Ricci def. No. 13 Amanda Ribas

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 3 Manon Fiorot vs. No. 11 Jasmine Jasudavicius (UFC Vancouver, Oct. 18),

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Jena Bishop (2), Jessica Andrade (1), Gabriella Fernandes (1), Karine Silva (1)

STRAWWEIGHT

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 11 Loopy Godinez def. No. 5 Jessica Andrade, No. 8 Iasmin Lucindo def. No. 13 Angela Hill, No. 12 Tabatha Ricci def. No. 10 Amanda Ribas

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 3 Tatiana Suarez vs. No. 5 Amanda Lemos (Noche UFC, Sept. 13), No. 14 Loma Lookboonmee vs. Alexia Thainara (UFC Pert, Sept. 27)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Denise Gomes (2)

A refresher on the ground rules:

The six-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, E. Casey Leydon, Damon Martin, and Jed Meshew.
Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout in a given weight class. Updates to the rankings are typically completed following each month’s UFC pay-per-view.
Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice. (Let’s put it this way: We’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did.)
Holding a promotion’s title does not guarantee that fighter will be viewed as the best in their promotion. Additionally, fighters who regularly compete or hold titles in multiple weight classes are eligible to be ranked in multiple lists.

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.