Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) tinkered with its official rankings in the wake of its UFC Vegas 59 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, which took place last Sat. night (Aug. 6, 2022) inside the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. Main card winners Jamahal Hill and Geoff Neal both enjoyed a big bump in their respective weight classes, courtesy of knockout wins over Thiago Santos and Vicente Luque, respectively.
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
7. Dustin Poirier
8. Deiveson Figueiredo
9. Jiri Prochazka
10. Max Holloway
11. Jon Jones
12. Stipe Miocic
13. Petr Yan
14. Brandon Moreno
15. Robert Whittaker
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo
1. Brandon Moreno *Interim Champion
2. Alexandre Pantoja
3. Kai Kara France
4. Askar Askarov
5. Brandon Royval
6. Alex Perez
7. Matheus Nicolau
8. Matt Schnell
9. David Dvorak
10. Tim Elliott
11. Amir Albazi
12. Su Mudaerji
13. Manel Kape
14. Jeffrey Molina
14. 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. Pedro Munhoz
10. Song Yadong
11. Ricky Simon
12. Frankie Edgar
13. Sean O’Malley
14. Umar Nurmagomedov
15. Jack Shore
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Max Holloway
2. Yair Rodriguez
3. Brian Ortega
4. Josh Emmett
5. Calvin Kattar
6. Arnold Allen
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
8. Rafael dos Anjos
9. Mateusz Gamrot
10. Arman Tsarukyan
11. Tony Ferguson
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. Stephen Thompson +1
7. Sean Brady +2
8. Geoff Neal +5
9. Jorge Masvidal -1
9. Vicente Luque -3
11. Shavkat Rakhmonov -1
12. Michael Chiesa -1
13. Neil Magny -1
14. Li Jingliang
15. Michel Pereira
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Israel Adesanya
1. Robert Whittaker
2. Jared Cannonier
3. Marvin Vettori
4. Derek Brunson
5. Alex Pereira
6. Paulo Costa
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. Magomed Ankalaev
4. Aleksandar Rakic
5. Anthony Smith
6. Jamahal Hill +4
7. Dominick Reyes
8. Volkan Oezdemir
9. Thiago Santos -3
10. Paul Craig -1
11. Nikita Krylov
12. Ryan Spann
13. Johnny Walker
14. Dustin Jacoby
15. Jim Crute
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Francis Ngannou
1. Ciryl Gane
2. Stipe Miocic
3. Tai Tuivasa
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Sergei Pavlovich
6. Tom Aspinall
7. Derrick Lewis
8. Alexander Volkov
9. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
10. Chris Daukaus
11. Marcin Tybura
12. Serghei Spivac *NR
13. Alexandr Romanov -1
14. Shamil Abdurakhimov -1
15. Blagoy Ivanov
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Valentina Shevchenko
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. Lauren Murphy
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. Tecia Torres
8. Amanda Lemos
9. Nina Nunes
10. Amanda Ribas
11. Michelle Waterson
12. Virna Jandiroba
13. Angela Hill
14. Emily Ducote
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. Viviane Araujo
7. Manon Fiorot
8. Jennifer Maia
9. Andrea Lee
10. Maycee Barber
11. Casey O’Neill
12. Cynthia Calvillo
13. Erin Blanchfield
14. Tracy Cortez
15. Molly McCann
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1. Julianna Pena
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. Macy Chiasson
11. Miesha Tate
12. (T) Karol Rosa
12. (T) Lina Lansberg +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 bantamweight division, following the UFC San Diego: “Vera vs. Cruz” mixed martial arts (MMA) event scheduled for this Sat. night (Aug. 13, 2022) on ESPN and ESPN+ from inside Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.