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UFC rankings are not determined by wins or losses.
That’s why top light heavyweight contender, Dominick Reyes, was able to make his debut on the promotion’s pound-for-pound list — at the expense of Jorge Masvidal — despite losing to Jon Jones in the UFC 247 main event last weekend in Houston, Texas.
“The Devastator” also took over the No. 1 spot at 205 pounds.
While I understand that arguments exist for a Reyes win in the wake of controversial scoring, there are an equal number of people who gave the nod to Jones. Being able to outrank other fighters because you looked good in defeat or “almost won” is a weird precedent to set.
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, T = tie, *NR = Not previously ranked).
MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Jon Jones
2. Khabib Nurmagomedov
3. Henry Cejudo
4. Stipe Miocic
5. Daniel Cormier
6. Israel Adesanya
7. Kamaru Usman
8. Alexander Volkanovski
9. Conor McGregor
10. Tony Ferguson
11. Max Holloway
12. Dustin Poirier
13. Tyron Woodley
14. Robert Whittaker
15. Dominick Reyes *NR
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: HENRY CEJUDO
1. Joseph Benavidez
2. Jussier Formiga
3. Deiveson Figueiredo
4. Alexandre Pantoja
5. Brandon Moreno
6. Askar Askarov
7. Rogerio Bontorin
8. Kai Kara France
9. Alex Perez
10. Matt Schnell
11. Tim Elliott
12. Jordan Espinosa
13. Mark De La Rosa
14. Raulian Paiva
15. Vacant
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: HENRY CEJUDO
1. Marlon Moraes
2. Aljamain Sterling
3. Petr Yan
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Raphael Assuncao
6. Jose Aldo +1
7. Pedro Munhoz -1
8. Jimmie Rivera
9. Cody Garbrandt
10. Rob Font
11. Cody Stamann
12. Song Yadong
13. John Dodson
14. Marlon Vera
15. Casey Kenny
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI
1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. Zabit Magomedsharipov
4. Chan Sung Jung
5. Yair Rodriguez
6. Frankie Edgar
7. Renato Moicano
8. Jeremy Stephens
9. Josh Emmett
10. Calvin Kattar
11. Jose Aldo
12. Shane Burgos
13. Ryan Hall
14. Arnold Allen +1
15. Sodiq Yosef -1
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV
1. Tony Ferguson
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Conor McGregor
4. Justin Gaethje
5. Donald Cerrone
6. Paul Felder
7. Dan Hooker
8. Kevin Lee
9. Al Iaquinta
10. Edson Barboza
11. Diego Ferreira
12. Gregor Gillespie
13. Charles Oliveira
14. Islam Makhachev
15. Alexander Hernandez
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: KAMARU USMAN
1. Tyron Woodley
2. Colby Covington
3. Jorge Masvidal
4. Leon Edwards
5. Demian Maia
6. Stephen Thompson
7. Michael Chiesa
8. Rafael dos Anjos
9. Nate Diaz
10. Robbie Lawler
11. Geoff Neal
12. Gilbert Burns
13. Vicente Luque +1
14. Anthony Pettis -1
15. Conor McGregor
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: ISRAEL ADESANYA
1. Robert Whittaker
2. Paulo Costa
3. Yoel Romero
4. Jared Cannonier
5. Darren Till
6. Jack Hermansson
7. Kelvin Gastelum
8. Derek Brunson
9. Edmen Shahbazyan
10. Uriah Hall
11. Brad Tavares
12. Omari Akhmedov
13. Ian Heinisch
14. Antonio Carlos Junior
15. Anderson Silva
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: JON JONES
1. Dominick Reyes +3
2. Thiago Santos -1
3. Anthony Smith
4. Daniel Cormier -2
5. Corey Anderson
6. Jan Blachowicz
7. Volkan Oezdemir +1
8. Alexander Gustafsson -1
9. Glover Teixeira
10. Aleksandar Rakic
11. Johnny Walker
12. Misha Cirkunov +1
13. Nikita Krylov +1
14. Ronaldo Souza +1
15. Mauricio Rua *NR
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: STIPE MIOCIC
1. Daniel Cormier
2. Francis Ngannou
3. Curtis Blaydes
4. Junior dos Santos
5. Derrick Lewis +1
6. Jairzinho Rozenstruik -1
7. Alexander Volkov
8. Alistair Overeem
9. Walt Harris
10. Shamil Abdurakhimov
11. Blagoy Ivanov
12. Aleksei Oleinik
13. Augusto Sakai
14. Sergei Pavlovich
15. Ciryl Gane
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. Weili Zhang
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Joanna Jedrzejczyk +1
6. Rose Namajunas -1
7. Holly Holm
8. Tatiana Suarez +1
9. Germaine De Randamie -1
10. Aspen Ladd +1
11. Katlyn Chookagian -1
12. (T) Jessica Eye
12. (T) Julianna Pena +1
14. Claudia Gadelha
15. Nina Ansaroff
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: WEILI ZHANG
1. Jessica Andrade
2. Rose Namajunas
3. Tatiana Suarez
4. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
5. Nina Ansaroff
6. Claudia Gadelha
7. Carla Esparza
8. Michelle Waterson
9. Marina Rodriguez
10. Cynthia Calvillo
11. Felice Herrig
12. Tecia Torres
13. Alexa Grasso
14. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
15. Amanda Ribas
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO
1. Jessica Eye +1
2. Katlyn Chookagian -1
3. Joanne Calderwood
4. Jennifer Maia
5. Roxanne Modafferi
6. Lauren Murphy +1
7. Viviane Araujo -1
8. Andrea Lee
9. Maycee Barber
10. Alexis Davis
11. Antonina Shevchenko
12. Montana De La Rosa
13. Mara Romero Borella
14. Ji Yeon Kim
15. Poliana Botelho
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: AMANDA NUNES
1. Germaine de Randamie
2. Holly Holm
3. Aspen Ladd
4. Julianna Pena
5. Irene Aldana
6. Raquel Pennington
7. Ketlen Vieira
8. Yana Kunitskaya
9. Sara McMann
10. Marion Reneau
11. Lina Lansberg
12. Macy Chiasson
13. Bethe Correia
14. Nicco Montano
15. Sijara Eubanks
There you have it.
You can expect these standings to change around this time next week following the UFC Fight Night 167: “Anderson vs. Blachowicz 2” event, which takes places Sat., Feb. 15, 2020 from inside Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, New Mexico (see that fight card here).
For even more upcoming UFC events click here.