In addition, the ailing Khamzat Chimaev (No. 14) was removed from the welterweight rankings.
Aljamain Sterling is the rightful bantamweight champion because Petr Yan disqualified himself by breaking the rules, throwing what can only be described as a blatantly illegal knee to end their 135-pound contest at UFC 259.
That said, I’m not sure their controversial outcome was enough to elevate “Funk Master” to the list of pound-for-pound greats, but it would appear the rest of the MMA media doesn’t share my outlook based on this week’s updated chart.
Elsewhere in the pound-for-pound rankings, middleweight champion Israel Adesanya tumbled three spots to No. 6 after losing to Jan Blachowicz last Sat. night (March 6) in Las Vegas, while the Polish power puncher improved to No. 8.
Here’s how the rankings are compiled:
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. Khabib Nurmagomedov
2. Jon Jones
3. Kamaru Usman +1
4. Stipe Miocic +1
5. Alexander Volkanovski +1
6. Israel Adesanya -3
7. Dustin Poirier
8. Jan Blachowicz +6
9. Max Holloway -1
10. Deiveson Figueiredo -1
11. Justin Gaethje
12. Petr Yan -2
13. Robert Whittaker -1
14. Francis Ngannou -1
15. Aljamain Sterling *NR
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo
1. Brandon Moreno
2. Askar Askarov +1
3. Alexandre Pantoja +2
4. Alex Perez
5. Joseph Benavidez -3
6. Brandon Royval
7. Kai Kara France +2
8. Matt Schnell -1
9. Rogerio Bontorin -1
10. Tim Elliott +2
11. David Dvorak -1
12. Raulian Paiva -1
13. Su Mudaerji +1
14. Amir Albazi -1
15. Tyson Nam
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Aljamain Sterling
1. Petr Yan -1
2. Cory Sandhagen
3. Rob Font
4. Cody Garbrandt
5. Jose Aldo
6. Marlon Moraes
7. Frankie Edgar
8. Pedro Munhoz
9. Dominick Cruz +2
10. Raphael Assuncao -1
11. Jimmie Rivera -1
12. Merab Dvalishvili
13. Cody Stamann
14. Kyler Phillips *NR
15. Marlon Vera
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI
1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. Zabit Magomedsharipov
4. Yair Rodriguez
5. Chan Sung Jung
6. Calvin Kattar
7. Josh Emmett
8. Jeremy Stephens
9. Dan Ige
10. Sodiq Yusuff
11. Arnold Allen
12. Shane Burgos
13. Bryce Mitchell
14. Edson Barboza
15. Movsar Evloev
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV
1. Dustin Poirier
2. Justin Gaethje
3. Charles Oliveira
4. Michael Chandler
5. Tony Ferguson
6. Conor McGregor
7. Rafael dos Anjos
8. Dan Hooker
9. Beneil Dariush
10. Paul Felder
11. Islam Makhachev +3
12. Diego Ferreira
13. Kevin Lee -2
14. Al Iaquinta -1
15. Gregor Gillespie
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: KAMARU USMAN
1. Colby Covington
2. Gilbert Burns
3. Leon Edwards
4. Jorge Masvidal
5. Stephen Thompson
6. Michael Chiesa
7. Tyron Woodley
8. Demian Maia
9. Neil Magny
10. Vicente Luque
11. Geoff Neal
12. Li Jingliang
13. Belal Muhammed
14. Sean Brady *NR
15. Robbie Lawler
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: ISRAEL ADESANYA
1. Robert Whittaker
2. Paulo Costa
3. Jared Cannonier
4. Darren Till
5. Marvin Vettori
6. Jack Hermansson
7. Derek Brunson
8. Kelvin Gastelum
9. Uriah Hall
10. Kevin Holland
11. Chris Weidman
12. Edmen Shahbazyan
13. Omari Akhmedov
14. Brad Tavares
15. Sean Strickland
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jan Blachowicz
1. Glover Teixeira
2. Aleksandar Rakic +2
3. Dominick Reyes
4. Thiago Santos -2
5. Jiri Prochazka
6. Anthony Smith
7. Magomed Ankalaev
8. Volkan Oezdemir
9. Nikita Krylov
10. Johnny Walker
11. Misha Cirkunov
12. Jim Crute
13. Ryan Spann
14. Paul Craig
15. Jamall Hill
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: STIPE MIOCIC
1. Francis Ngannou
2. Derrick Lewis
3. Curtis Blaydes
4. Ciryl Gane
5. Alexander Volkov
6. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
7. Shamil Abdurakhimov +1
8. (T) Augusto Sakai +1
8. (T) Walt Harris +3
10. Chris Daukaus
11. Marcin Tybura +4
12. Blagoy Ivanov +2
13. Tom Aspinall *NR
14. Sergei Pavlovich -1
15. Aleksei Oleinik *NR
Note: Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos removed following UFC releases
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. Weili Zhang
4. Rose Namajunas
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
7. Germaine De Randamie
8. Holly Holm
9. Aspen Ladd
10. Katlyn Chookagian
11. Nina Ansaroff
12. Yan Xiaonan
13. Carla Esparza
14. Cynthia Calvillo
15. Claudia Gadelha
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: WEILI ZHANG
1. Rose Namajunas
2. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
3. Yan Xiaonan
4. Carla Esparza
5. Nina Ansaroff
6. Marina Rodriguez
7. Claudia Gadelha
8. Michelle Waterson
9. Tecia Torres
10. Amanda Ribas
11. Mackenzie Dern
12. Angela Hill
13. Virna Jandiroba
14. Amanda Lemos*NR
15. Felice Herrig -1
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO
1. Jessica Andrade
2. Katlyn Chookagian
3. Lauren Murphy
4. Jennifer Maia
5. Cynthia Calvillo
6. Joanne Calderwood
7. Viviane Araujo
8. Jessica Eye
9. Roxanne Modafferi
10. Alexa Grasso
11. Andrea Lee +1
12. Antonina Shevchenko +1
13. Talia Santos +1
14. Maycee Barber +1
15. Gillian Robertson *NR
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: AMANDA NUNES
1. Germaine de Randamie
2. Holly Holm
3. Aspen Ladd
4. Irene Aldana
5. Yana Kunitskaya
6. Julianna Pena
7. Ketlen Vieira
8. Sara McMann
9. Marion Reneau
10. Lina Lansberg +1
11. Macy Chiasson -1
12. Pannie Kianzad
13. Sijara Eubanks
14. Karol Rosa
15. Julia Avila
There you have it.
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the welterweight division, following the UFC Vegas 21: “Edwards vs. Muhammad” event on Sat. night (March 13) from inside APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.