There was a time in the not-too-distant past when Conor McGregor was UFC lightweight champion and top contenders Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson were ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the 155-pound division, respectively.
Fast-forward a few years and Nurmagomedov is retired from combat sports while McGregor and Ferguson are no longer ranked in the Top 10 of the lightweight division. “Notorious” is currently idling at No. 12 while Ferguson recently dropped two places to No. 11.
Blame surging contender Rafael Fiziev.
“Ataman” captured his sixth straight victory by smashing former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in the UFC Vegas 58 main event last weekend in “Sin City,” improving three spots to No. 7 while sending the aging Brazilian down one place down to No. 8.
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
5. Francis Ngannou
6. Aljamain Sterling +1
7. Dustin Poirier -1
8. Deiveson Figueiredo +2
9. Jiri Prochazka
10. Max Holloway -2
11. Jon Jones
12. Stipe Miocic
13. Petr Yan
14. Robert Whittaker
15. Glover Teixeira
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo
1. Brandon Moreno
2. Kai Kara France
3. Askar Askarov
4. Alexandre Pantoja
5. Brandon Royval
6. Alex Perez
7. Matheus Nicolau
8. Matt Schnell
9. David Dvorak
10. Tim Elliott
11. Amir Albazi +1
12. Su Mudaerji -1
13. Manel Kape
14. (T) Tagir Ulanbekov
14. (T) Jeffrey Molina +1
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. Pedro Munhoz
10. Song Yadong
11. Frankie Edgar +1
12. Sean O’Malley +1
13. Ricky Simon -1
14. Jack Shore
15. (T) Umar Nurmagomedov
15. (T) Adrian Yanez
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. (T) Yair Rodriguez
3. (T) Josh Emmett
5. Calvin Kattar
6. Arnold Allen -1
7. Chan Sung Jung
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
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Justin Gaethje
4. Islam Makhachev
5. Michael Chandler
6. Beneil Dariush
7. Rafael Fiziev +3
8. Rafael dos Anjos -1
9. Mateusz Gamrot -1
10. Arman Tsarukyan +1
11. Tony Ferguson -2
12. Conor McGregor
13. Dan Hooker
14. Jalin Turner
15. Damir Ismagulov
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. Shavkat Rakhmonov
11. Michael Chiesa
12. Neil Magny
13. Geoff Neal
14. Li Jingliang
15. Michel Pereira
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Israel Adesanya
1. Robert Whittaker
2. Jared Cannonier
3. Marvin Vettori -1
4. Derek Brunson
5. Paulo Costa
6. Alex Pereira
7. Sean Strickland
8. Jack Hermansson
9. Darren Till
10. Andre Muniz
11. Kelvin Gastelum
12. Uriah Hall
13. Nassourdine Imavov
14. Dricus Du Plessis
15. Brad Tavares
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jiri Prochazka
1. Glover Teixeira
2. Jan Blachowicz
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. Ryan Spann
13. Johnny Walker
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. Alexandr Romanov +1
13. Shamil Abdurakhimov -1
14. Augusto Sakai
15. Blagoy Ivanov
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Amanda Nunes
3. Julianna Pena
4. Rose Namajunas
5. Weili Zhang
6. Carla Esparza
7. Jessica Andrade
8. Marina Rodriguez
9. Holly Holm
10. Katlyn Chookagian
11. Ketlen Vieira
12. Yan Xiaonan
13. Mackenzie Dern
14. Taila Santos
15. Raquel Pennington
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Carla Esparza
1. Rose Namajunas
2. Zhang Weili
3. Marina Rodriguez
4. Mackenzie Dern
5. Yan Xiaonan
6. 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. Luana Pinheiro
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Katlyn Chookagian
2. Talia Santos
3. Lauren Murphy
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Alexa Grasso
6. Manon Fiorot +1
7. Viviane Araujo -1
8. Jennifer Maia
9. Andrea Lee
10. Maycee Barber
11. Casey O’Neill +1
12. Cynthia Calvillo -1
13. Erin Blanchfield +1
14. Tracy Cortez +1
15. Amanda Ribas *NR
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Julianna Pena
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Ketlen Vieira
3. Holly Holm
4. Irene Aldana
5. Raquel Pennington
6. Yana Kunitskaya
7. Aspen Ladd
8. Sara McMann
9. Pannie Kianzad
10. Miesha Tate
11. Macy Chiasson
12. (T) Lina Lansberg
12. (T) Karol Rosa +1
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 featherweight division, following the UFC Long Island: “Ortega vs. Rodriguez” mixed martial arts (MMA) event scheduled for this Sat. night (July 16, 2022) on ABC from inside UBS Arena at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.