Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) updated its official rankings in the wake of the UFC Vegas 48 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, which took place last Sat. night (Feb. 19, 2022) inside the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, featuring a light heavyweight main event between Jamahal Hill and Johnny Walker.
Hill managed to crack the Top 10 by smashing the Brazilian in “Sin City” (watch the highlights here). Walker drops to No. 12 in defeat and is likely to exit the Top 15 with another defeat. Elsewhere on the charts, we have the first three-way tie in history, as Sean Strickland and Paulo Costa inexplicably gained two spots to tie middleweight Derek Brunson at No. 4.
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. Israel Adesanya
3. Alexander Volkanovski
4. Francis Ngannou
5. Charles Oliveira
6. Max Holloway
7. Jon Jones
8. Dustin Poirier
9. Petr Yan
10. Glover Teixeira
11. Stipe Miocic
12. Deiveson Figueiredo
13. Brandon Moreno
14. Robert Whittaker
15. Jan Blachowicz
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo
1. Brandon Moreno
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. Amir Albazi
12. Su Mudaerji
13. Tim Elliott
14. Manel Kape
15. Tagir Ulanbekov
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Aljamain Sterling
1. Petr Yan (Interim champion)
2. T.J. Dillashaw
3. Jose Aldo
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Rob Font
6. Merab Dvalishvili
7. Dominick Cruz
8. Marlon Vera
9. Pedro Munhoz
10. Marlon Moraes
11. Frankie Edgar
12. Sean O’Malley
13. Ricky Simon
14. Song Yadong
15. Raphael Assuncao
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. Yair Rodriguez
4. Chan Sung Jung
5. Calvin Kattar
6. Josh Emmett
7. Arnold Allen
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. Justin Gaethje
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Beneil Dariush
4. Islam Makhachev
5. Michael Chandler
6. Rafael dos Anjos
7. Tony Ferguson
8. Dan Hooker
9. (T) Conor McGregor
9. (T) Gregor Gillespie
11. Rafael Fiziev
12. Mateusz Gamrot
13. Arman Tsarukyan
14. Brad Riddell
15. Diego Ferreira
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Kamaru Usman
1. Colby Covington
2. Gilbert Burns
3. Leon Edwards
4. Vicente Luque
5. Belal Muhammed
6. Jorge Masvidal
7. Stephen Thompson
8. Neil Magny
9. Sean Brady
10. Michael Chiesa
11. Khamzat Chimaev
12. Geoff Neal
13. Li Jingliang
14. Santiago Ponzinibbio
15. Muslim Salikhov
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Israel Adesanya
1. Robert Whittaker
2. Jared Cannonier
3. Marvin Vettori
4. (T) Derek Brunson
4. (T) Paulo Costa +1
4. (T) Sean Strickland +1
7. Jack Hermansson
8. Darren Till
9. Uriah Hall
10. Kelvin Gastelum
11. Brad Tavares
12. Nassourdine Imavov
13. Andre Muniz
14. Kevin Holland
15. Chris Weidman
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. Jamahal Hill +2
11. Paul Craig
12. Johnny Walker -2
13. Ryan Spann
14. Jim Crute
15. Ion Cutelaba
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Francis Ngannou
1. Ciryl Gane
2. Stipe Miocic
3. Tai Tuivasa
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Derrick Lewis
6. Alexander Volkov
7. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
8. Chris Daukaus
9. Marcin Tybura
10. Shamil Abdurakhimov
11. Tom Aspinall
12. Augusto Sakai
13. Blagoy Ivanov
14. Walt Harris
15. Sergei Pavlovich
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Amanda Nunes
3. Rose Namajunas
4. Julianna Pena
5. Weili Zhang
6. Jessica Andrade
7. Holly Holm
8. Carla Esparza
9. Marina Rodriguez
10. Katlyn Chookagian
11. Yan Xiaonan
12. Irene Aldana
13. Lauren Murphy
14. Mackenzie Dern
15. Aspen Ladd
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. Tecia Torres
8. Michelle Waterson
9. Amanda Ribas
10. Amanda Lemos
11. Virna Jandiroba
12. Angela Hill
13. Jessica Penne
14. Brianna Van Buren
15. Luana Pinheiro
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Jessica Andrade
2. Katlyn Chookagian
3. Lauren Murphy
4. Jennifer Maia
5. Talia Santos
6. Viviane Araujo
7. Joanne Wood
8. Andrea Lee
9. Jessica Eye
10. Cynthia Calvillo
11. Alexa Grasso
12. Casey O’Neill
13. Manon Fiorot
14. Maycee Barber
15. Erin Blanchfield
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Julianna Pena
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Holly Holm
3. Irene Aldana
4. Aspen Ladd
5. Ketlen Vieira
6. Yana Kunitskaya
7. Raquel Pennington
8. Miesha Tate
9. Sara McMann
10. Macy Chiasson
11. Lina Lansberg
12. Pannie Kianzad
13. Karol Rosa
14. Julia Avila
15. Norma Dumont
There you have it.
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the lightweight division, as Islam Makhachev and Bobby Green collide at the UFC Vegas 49 mixed martial arts (MMA) event on Feb. 26 inside APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.