Good news for Marlon Vera, bad news for Dominick Cruz.
Vera blasted his way into the bantamweight Top 5 by knocking around fellow 135-pound title hopeful Rob Font in the UFC Vegas 53 main event last weekend on ESPN. The victory marked his third straight and improved “Chito” to 19-7-1. More importantly, it moved the Ecuadorian bruiser one step closer to his long-coveted title shot.
Font, who came into the UFC Vegas 53 headliner on the heels of a decision loss to Jose Aldo, dropped two places to No. 7 in the bantamweight rankings and fell to 19-6 overall. No question the Bostonian needs to bounce back in a big way if he hopes to maintain real estate in the 135-pound weight class.
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. Charles Oliveira
6. Max Holloway
7. Dustin Poirier
8. Glover Teixeira +1
9. Jon Jones -1
10. Aljamain Sterling +1
11. Deiveson Figueiredo -1
12. Stipe Miocic
13. Petr Yan
14. Brandon Moreno
15. Robert Whittaker
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo
1. Brandon Moreno
2. Kai Kara France
3. Askar Askarov
4. Alexandre Pantoja
5. Alex Perez
6. Brandon Royval
7. Matheus Nicolau
8. Rogerio Bontorin
9. Matt Schnell
10. David Dvorak
11. Tim Elliott
12. Su Mudaerji
13. Amir Albazi
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. Marlon Vera +3
6. Merab Dvalishvili
7. Rob Font -2
8. Dominick Cruz -1
9. Song Yadong
10. Pedro Munhoz -1
11. Frankie Edgar
12. Ricky Simon
13. Sean O’Malley
14. Marlon Moraes
15. Jack Shore
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. Yair Rodriguez
4. Calvin Kattar
5. Chan Sung Jung
6. Arnold Allen
7. Josh Emmett
8. Giga Chikadze
9. Bryce Mitchell
10. Dan Ige
11. Sodiq Yusuff
12. Edson Barboza
13. Movsar Evloev
14. Shane Burgos
15. Ilia Topuria
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Charles Oliveira
1. (T) Justin Gaethje
1. (T) Dustin Poirier
3. Islam Makhachev
4. Beneil Dariush
5. Michael Chandler
6. Rafael dos Anjos
7. Tony Ferguson
8. Gregor Gillespie
9. Conor McGregor
10. Rafael Fiziev
11. Arman Tsarukyan
12. Mateusz Gamrot
13. Dan Hooker
14. Brad Riddell
15. Diego Ferreira
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Kamaru Usman
1. Colby Covington
2. Leon Edwards
3. Khamzat Chimaev
4. Gilbert Burns
5. Belal Muhammed
6. Vicente Luque
7. Stephen Thompson
8. Jorge Masvidal
9. Sean Brady
10. Neil Magny
11. Michael Chiesa
12. Geoff Neal
13. Li Jingliang
14. Santiago Ponzinibbio
15. Shavkat Rakhmonov
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Israel Adesanya
1. Robert Whittaker
2. Jared Cannonier
3. Marvin Vettori
4. (T) Derek Brunson
4. (T) Paulo Costa
4. (T) Sean Strickland
7. Jack Hermansson
8. Darren Till
9. Uriah Hall
10. Kelvin Gastelum
11. Nassourdine Imavov
12. Brad Tavares
13. Andre Muniz
14. Chris Weidman
15. Edmen Shahbazyan
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Glover Teixeira
1. Jan Blachowicz
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Aleksandar Rakic
4. Magomed Ankalaev
5. Anthony Smith
6. Thiago Santos
7. Dominick Reyes
8. Paul Craig
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Jamahal Hill
11. Nikita Krylov
12. Johnny Walker
13. Ryan Spann
14. Jim Crute
15. Dustin Jacoby
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Francis Ngannou
1. Ciryl Gane
2. Stipe Miocic
3. Tai Tuivasa
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Derrick Lewis
6. Tom Aspinall
7. Alexander Volkov
8. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
9. Chris Daukaus
10. Marcin Tybura -1
11. Sergei Pavlovich
12. Shamil Abdurakhimov
13. Alexandr Romanov *NR
14. Augusto Sakai -1
15. Blagoy Ivanov
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. Mackenzie Dern
14. Lauren Murphy
15. Raquel Pennington
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1. Zhang Weili
2. Carla Esparza
3. Marina Rodriguez
4. Mackenzie Dern
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Yan Xiaonan
7. Nina Nunes
8. Tecia Torres
9. Amanda Ribas
10. Michelle Waterson
11. Amanda Lemos
12. Virna Jandiroba
13. Angela Hill
14. Jessica Penne
15. Brianna Van Buren
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Katlyn Chookagian
2. Lauren Murphy
3. Jessica Andrade
4. Talia Santos
5. Alexa Grasso
6. Manon Fiorot
7. Jennifer Maia
8. Viviane Araujo
9. Andrea Lee
10. Joanne Wood
11. Cynthia Calvillo
12. Jessica Eye
13. Casey O’Neill
14. Maycee Barber
15. Erin Blanchfield
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Julianna Pena
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Holly Holm
3. Irene Aldana
4. Raquel Pennington
5. Ketlen Vieira
6. Yana Kunitskaya
7. Aspen Ladd
8. Sara McMann
9. Miesha Tate
10. Pannie Kianzad
11. Macy Chiasson
12. Lina Lansberg
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 following the UFC 274 pay-per-view (PPV) card, particularly in the lightweight division, after event headliners Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje collide with the Brazilian’s 155-pound title on the line.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.