Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has updated its rankings following the massive UFC 268 pay-per-view (PPV) event, which went down this past weekend (Sat., Nov. 6, 2021) inside Madison Square Garden in New York City.
There wasn’t a ton of movement because both champions remained on top after Welterweight kingpin, Kamaru Usman, retained his title after defeating Colby Covington a second time in the main event. And in the co-headlining act, Rosa Namajunas narrowly defeated Zhang Weili to hold on to her women’s Strawweight strap.
At Lightweight, Justin Gaethje held on to his No. 2 spot after he defeated Michael Chandler in a wildly-entertaining affair, which likely earned “Highlight” a shot at the division title, which will be contested at UFC 269 on Dec. 11, 2021.
Here’s how UFC compiles its official rankings:
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. Kamaru Usman
2. Alexander Volkanovski
3. Israel Adesanya
4. Francis Ngannou
5. Dustin Poirier
6. Jon Jones
7. Max Holloway
8. Charles Oliveira -1
9. Stipe Miocic
10. Brandon Moreno
11. Petr Yan
12. Glover Teixeira
13. Robert Whittaker
14. Jan Blachowicz
15. Cyril Gane
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Brandon Moreno
1. Deiveson Figueiredo
2. Askar Askarov
3. Alexandre Pantoja
4. Alex Perez
5. Brandon Royval
6. Kai Kara France
7. Rogerio Bontorin
8. Matheus Nicolau
9. Matt Schnell
10. David Dvorak
11. Tim Elliott
12. Su Mudaerji
13. Amir Albazi
14. Tagir Ulanbekov
15. Tyson Nam
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Aljamain Sterling
1. Petr Yan (Interim champion)
2. T.J. Dillashaw
3. Cory Sandhagen
4. Rob Font
5. Jose Aldo
6. Merab Dvalishvili
7. Cody Garbrandt
8. Pedro Munhoz +1
9. Marlon Moraes +1
10. Dominick Cruz +1
11. Marlon Vera +1
12. Frankie Edgar -4
13. Raphael Assuncao
14. Cody Stamann
15. Song Yadong
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI
1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. Yair Rodriguez
4. Chan Sung Jung
5. Calvin Kattar
6. Arnold Allen
7. Josh Emmett
8. Giga Chikadze
9. Dan Ige
10. Edson Barboza
11. Bryce Mitchell
12. Sodiq Yusuff
13. Movsar Evloev
14. Shane Burgos
15. Alex Caceres
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Charles Oliveira
1. Dustin Poirier
2. Justin Gaethje
3. Beneil Dariush
4. Islam Makhachev +1
5. Michael Chandler
6. Rafael dos Anjos
7. Tony Ferguson
8. Dan Hooker
9. Conor McGregor
10. Gregor Gillespie
11. Diego Ferreira
12. Brad Riddell
13. Arman Tsarukyan
14. Rafael Fiziev
15. Thiago Moises
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: KAMARU USMAN
1. Colby Covington
2. Gilbert Burns
3. Leon Edwards
4. Vicente Luque
5. Stephen Thompson
6. Michael Chiesa
7. Jorge Masvidal
8. Neil Magny
9. Belal Muhammed
10. Khamzat Chimaev
11. Geoff Neal
12. Li Jingliang
13. Santiago Ponzinibbio
14. Sean Brady
15. Muslim Salikhov
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: ISRAEL ADESANYA
1. Robert Whittaker
2. Marvin Vettori
3. Jared Cannonier
4. Derek Brunson
5. Paulo Costa
6. Jack Hermansson
7. Sean Strickland
8. Darren Till
9. Uriah Hall +1
10. Kelvin Gastelum -1
11. Brad Tavares +1
12. Nassourdine Imavov *NR
12. Kevin Holland +2
14. Chris Weidman -1
15. Edmen Shahbazyan -4
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Glover Teixeira
1. Jan Blachowicz
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Aleksandar Rakic
4. Anthony Smith
5. Thiago Santos
6. Magomed Ankalaev
7. Dominick Reyes
8. Volkan Oezdemir
9. Nikita Krylov
10. Johnny Walker
11. Paul Craig
12. Ryan Spann
13. Jim Crute
14. Jamall Hill
15. Ion Cutelaba
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Francis Ngannou
1. Ciryl Gane (Interim Champion)
2. Stipe Miocic
3. Derrick Lewis
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Alexander Volkov
6. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
7. Chris Daukaus
8. Shamil Abdurakhimov
9. Marcin Tybura
10. Tom Aspinall
10. Augusto Sakai
12. Blagoy Ivanov
13. Walt Harris
14. Sergei Pavlovich
15. Serghei Spivac
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. Rose Namajunas
4. Weili Zhang
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Holly Holm
7. Germaine De Randamie
8. Carla Esparza
9. Katlyn Chookagian
10. Marina Rodriguez
11. Yan Xiaonan
12. Julianna Pena
13. Lauren Murphy
14. Aspen Ladd
15. Mackenzie Dern
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: ROSE NAMAJUNAS
1. Zhang Weili
2. Carla Esparza
3. Marina Rodriguez
4. Yan Xiaonan
5. Mackenzie Dern
6. Nina Nunes
7. Claudia Gadelha
8. Tecia Torres
9. Michelle Waterson
10. Amanda Ribas
11. Amanda Lemos
12. Angela Hill
13. Virna Jandiroba
14. Jessica Pena NR*
15. Brianna Van Buren
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. Talia Santos
10. Alexa Grasso
11. Roxanne Modafferi
12. Andrea Lee
13. Maycee Barber
14. Manon Fiorot
15. Casey O’Neill
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: AMANDA NUNES
1. Germaine de Randamie
2. Holly Holm
3. Irene Aldana
4. Julianna Pena
5. Aspen Ladd
6. Yana Kunitskaya
7. Ketlen Vieira
8. Miesha Tate
9. Raquel Pennington
10. Sara McMann
11. Macy Chiasson
12. Lina Lansberg
13. Pannie Kianzad
14. Karol Rosa
15. Julia Avila
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the Featherweight division as former champion Max Holloway will face off against Yair Rodriguez in the main event of UFC Vegas 42 on Saturday (Nov. 13, 2021) in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.
For complete UFC 268 results and coverage click here.