The official Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) rankings have been updated following UFC 274, which went down last Saturday night (May 7, 2022) inside Footprint Center in Phoenix, Ariz., and there was a lot of movement in the Lightweight division following Charles Oliveria’s win over Justin Gaethje (see it again here).
As a result of coming in half a pound heavy, “Do Bronx” was forced to vacate the 155-pound belt following his first-round submission win. That means he is the No. 1 contender and will face another worthy foe later this year for the vacant belt.
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. Charles Oliveira +1
5. Francis Ngannou -1
6. Max Holloway
7. Dustin Poirier
8. Glover Teixeira
9. Jon Jones
9. Aljamain Sterling +1
11. Deiveson Figueiredo
12. Stipe Miocic
13. Petr Yan
14. Robert Whittaker +1
15. Brandon Moreno -1
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo
1. Brandon Moreno
2. Kai Kara France
3. Askar Askarov
3. Alexandre Pantoja +1
5. Brandon Royval +1
6. Alex Perez -1
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
2. T.J. Dillashaw
3. Jose Aldo
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Marlon Vera
6. Merab Dvalishvili
7. Rob Font
8. Dominick Cruz
9. Song Yadong
10. Pedro Munhoz
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: VACANT
1. Charles Oliveira -1
2. Dustin Poirier -1
3. Justin Gaethje -2
4. Islam Makhachev -1
5. Michael Chandler
6. Beneil Dariush -2
7. Rafael dos Anjos -1
8. Gregor Gillespie
9. Conor McGregor
10. Tony Ferguson -3
11. Rafael Fiziev -1
12. Arman Tsarukyan -1
13. Dan Hooker
14. Mateusz Gamrot -2
15. Brad Riddell -1
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
11. Sergei Pavlovich
12. Shamil Abdurakhimov
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Augusto Sakai
15. Blagoy Ivanov
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Amanda Nunes
3. Julianna Pena +1
4. Rose Namajunas -1
5. Weili Zhang
6. Carla Esparza +2
7. Jessica Andrade -1
8. Holly Holm -1
9. Marina Rodriguez
10. Katlyn Chookagian
11. Yan Xiaonan
12. Mackenzie Dern +1
13. Irene Aldana -1
14. Lauren Murphy
15. Raquel Pennington
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Carla Esparza
1. Rose Namajunas -1
2. Zhang Weili -1
3. Marina Rodriguez
4. Mackenzie Dern
5. Yan Xiaonan +1
5. Jessica Andrade
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
15. Luana Pinheiro NR*
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. Pannie Kianzad +1
10. Miesha Tate -1
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 Vegas 54 fight card — particularly in the Light Heavyweight division after Jan Blachowicz collides with Aleksandar Rakic.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.