Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) updated its official rankings in the wake of the UFC on ESPN 2 mixed martial arts (MMA) event last weekend in Philadelphia, which featured a thrilling knockout victory for 155-pound “Highlight” reel, Justin Gaethje.
Watch the finish again right here.
His reward is the No. 5 spot in the official rankings, which also sent Edson Barboza down two slots to No. 8. As for ex-champion Conor McGregor, he stands fast at No. 2 (lightweight) and No. 8 (pound-for-pound), despite his alleged retirement.
Here’s how the rankings work, courtesy of UFC.com:
Rankings were generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings.
Take a look at what the latest rankings field looks like courtesy of UFC.com. Note: (+/- = movement in rankings, *NR = Not previously ranked).
POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Daniel Cormier
2 Jon Jones
3 Khabib Nurmagomedov
4 Max Holloway
5 Henry Cejudo
6 Amanda Nunes
7 Kamaru Usman
8 Conor McGregor
9 Robert Whittaker
10 Stipe Miocic
11 Tony Ferguson
12 Tyron Woodley
13 Rose Namajunas
14 Cris Cyborg
15 Valentina Shevchenko
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Henry Cejudo
1 Jussier Formiga
2 Joseph Benavidez
3 Deiveson Figueiredo +1
4 Wilson Reis +1
5 Alexandre Pantoja +1
6 Tim Elliott +2
7 Rogerio Bontorin +2
8 Magomed Bibulatov +2
9 Ryan Benoit +2
10 Jordan Espinosa +2
11 Kai Kara France +3
12 Eric Shelton +1
13 Louis Smolka *NR
14 Raulian Paiva *NR
15 Jaime Alvarez *NR
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: VACANT (TJ Dillashaw Suspended)
1 Marlon Moraes
2 Raphael Assuncao
3 Aljamain Sterling
4 Pedro Munhoz
5 Dominick Cruz
6 Cody Garbrandt
7 Jimmie Rivera
8 John Lineker
9 Petr Yan
10 Cody Stamann
11 Rob Font
12 John Dodson
13 Alejandro Perez
14 Thomas Almeida
15 Ricky Simon
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Jose Aldo
2 Brian Ortega
3 Frankie Edgar
4 Alexander Volkanovski
5 Renato Moicano
6 Zabit Magomedsharipov
7 Jeremy Stephens
8 Josh Emmett +2
9 Mirsad Bektic
10 Cub Swanson -2
11 Ricardo Lamas
12 Yair Rodriguez
13 Chan Sung Jung
14 Darren Elkins
15 Calvin Kattar
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov
1 Tony Ferguson
2 Conor McGregor
3 Dustin Poirier
4 Al Iaquinta
5 Justin Gaethje +3
6 Kevin Lee -1
7 Donald Cerrone
8 Edson Barboza -2
9 Paul Felder
10 Gregor Gillespie
11 Alexander Hernandez
12 Charles Oliveira
13 James Vick
14 Nate Diaz
15 Francisco Trinaldo
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Kamaru Usman
1 Tyron Woodley
2 Colby Covington
3 Rafael Dos Anjos
4 Jorge Masvidal
5 Ben Askren
6 Darren Till
7 Stephen Thompson
8 Anthony Pettis
9 Santiago Ponzinibbio
10 Robbie Lawler
11 Leon Edwards
12 Demian Maia
13 Neil Magny
14 Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
15 Vincente Luque
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Jacare Souza
4 Kelvin Gastelum
5 Israel Adesanya
6 Chris Weidman
7 Paulo Costa
8 Derek Brunson
9 Jared Cannonier
10 Jack Hermansson *NR
11 Brad Tavares -1
12 Antonio Carlos Junior
13 Uriah Hall
14 Elias Theodorou
15 Anderson Silva
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jon Jones
1 Daniel Cormier
2 Alexander Gustafsson
3 Thiago Santos
4 Anthony Smith
5 Dominick Reyes
6 Jan Blachowicz
7 Volkan Oezdemir
8 Corey Anderson
9 Ilir Latifi
10 Jimi Manuwa
11 Glover Teixeira
12 Ovince Saint Preux
13 Johnny Walker
14 Mauricio Rua
15 Misha Cirkunov
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Stipe Miocic
2 Francis Ngannou
3 Junior Dos Santos
4 Curtis Blaydes
5 Derrick Lewis
6 Alexander Volkov
7 Alistair Overeem
8 Cain Velasquez
9 Aleksei Oleinik
10 Marcin Tybura
11 Justin Willis
12 Tai Tuivasa -1
13 Shamil Abdurakhimov
14 Blagoy Ivanov
15 Andrei Arlovski
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Jessica Andrade
2 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
3 Tatiana Suarez
4 Nina Ansaroff -1
5 Claudia Gadelha
6 Weili Zhang +1
7 Michelle Waterson +2
8 Tecia Torres
9 Karolina Kowalkiewicz -3
10 Carla Esparza
11 Cynthia Calvillo
12 Felice Herrig
13 Randa Markos (T)
13 Alexa Grasso (T) +2
15 Cortney Casey -1
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1 Jessica Eye
2 Sijara Eubanks
3 Katlyn Chookagian
4 Joanna Jedrzejczyk (T)
4 Liz Carmouche (T) +1
6 Joanne Calderwood
7 Alexis Davis
8 Roxanne Modafferi
9 Lauren Murphy (T)
9 Jennifer Maia (T) +1
11 Jessica-Rose Clark
12 Andrea Lee
13 Montana De La Rosa
14 Mara Romero Borella
15 Antonina Shevchenko
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Germaine de Randamie
2 Holly Holm
3 Ketlen Vieira
4 Raquel Pennington
5 Cat Zingano
6 Aspen Ladd
7 Yana Kunitskaya
8 Marion Reneau
9 Sara McMann
10 Irene Aldana
11 Tonya Evinger
12 Bethe Correia
13 Lina Lansberg
14 Macy Chiasson
15 Talita Bernardo
There you have it.
You can expect these standings to change in roughly two weeks, particularly in the lightweight division, as the promotion is set to uncork the UFC 236: “Poirier vs. Holloway” pay-per-view (PPV) event a week from Sat. night (April 13, 2019) inside State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia (more on that fight card here).
For even more upcoming UFC events click here.