In addition, Jose Aldo drops out of the bantamweight Top 5.
The king is dead, long live the king!
Reigning UFC featherweight champion Alex Volkanovski is now the No. 1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world, according to the official rankings update, following the demise of Kamaru Usman in the UFC 278 pay-per-view (PPV) main event last weekend at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Newly-crowned welterweight champion Leon Edwards, who slept “The Nigerian Nightmare” with a vicious, fifth-round head kick, debuted at No. 6 on the pound-for-pound chart and shook up the rankings at 170 pounds. That was just one of several changes to the official list in the wake of UFC 278.
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. Alexander Volkanovski +1
2. Israel Adesanya +1
3. Charles Oliveira +1
4. Kamaru Usman -3
5. Francis Ngannou
6. Leon Edwards *NR
7. Aljamain Sterling -1
8. Dustin Poirier -1
9. Deiveson Figueiredo -1
10. Jiri Prochazka -1
11. Max Holloway -1
12. Jon Jones -1
13. Stipe Miocic -1
14. Petr Yan -1
15. Brandon Moreno -1
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. Amir Albazi +1
11. Tim Elliott -1
12. Manel Kape
13. Su Mudaerji -1
14. Jeffrey Molina
14. Tagir Ulanbekov
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Aljamain Sterling
1. Petr Yan
2. T.J. Dillashaw
3. Merab Dvalishvili +3
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Marlon Vera
6. Jose Aldo -3
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. Ilia Topuria +1
15. Alex Caceres *NR
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: Leon Edwards
1. Kamaru Usman -1
2. Colby Covington -1
3. Khamzat Chimaev
4. Gilbert Burns
5. Belal Muhammed
6. Geoff Neal +2
7. Stephen Thompson -1
8. Sean Brady -1
9. Jorge Masvidal
10. Vicente Luque -1
11. Shavkat Rakhmonov
12. Michael Chiesa
13. Neil Magny
14. Li Jingliang
15. Michel Pereira
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Israel Adesanya
1. Robert Whittaker
2. (T) Jared Cannonier
2. (T) Marvin Vettori +1
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
7. Dominick Reyes
8. Volkan Oezdemir
9. Thiago Santos
10. Paul Craig
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. Marcin Tybura +1
11. Chris Daukaus -1
12. Serghei Spivac
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Shamil Abdurakhimov
15. Blagoy Ivanov
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. Julianna Pena
4. Carla Esparza +2
5. Rose Namajunas -1
6. Weili Zhang -1
7. Jessica Andrade
8. Marina Rodriguez
9. Holly Holm
10. Katlyn Chookagian
11. Ketlen Vieira
12. Taila Santos +2
13. Mackenzie Dern
14. Yan Xiaonan -2
15. Lauren Murphy
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Carla Esparza
1. Rose Namajunas
2. Zhang Weili
3. Marina Rodriguez
4. Jessica Andrade +2
5. Mackenzie Dern -1
6. Yan Xiaonan -1
7. Tecia Torres
8. Amanda Lemos
9. Nina Nunes
10. Amanda Ribas
11. Virna Jandiroba +1
12. Michelle Waterson -1
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. Casey O’Neill +1
11. Maycee Barber -1
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
14. Julia Avila
15. Norma Dumont
There you have it.
You can expect these rankings to change in roughly two weeks, particularly in the heavyweight division, following the UFC Paris: “Gane vs. Tuivasa” mixed martial arts (MMA) event scheduled for Sat., Sept. 3, 2022 on ESPN+ from Accor Arena in Paris, France.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.