Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) updated its official rankings in the wake of the UFC Vegas 79 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, which took place last Sat. night (Sept. 23, 2023) at the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. Lightweight headliner Mateusz Gamrot jumped one spot to No. 6 after capturing a technical knockout victory over Rafael Fiziev, who blew out his ACL and got dumped in the loss column midway through the second stanza. In addition, Michelle Waterson-Gomez tumbled two places to No. 14 after a prolonged beating at the hands of strawweight assassin Marina Rodriguez.
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. Jon Jones
2. Alexander Volkanovski
3. Islam Makhachev
4. Leon Edwards
5. Charles Oliveira
6. Sean O’Malley
7. Kamaru Usman -1
8. Sean Strickland
9. Israel Adesanya
10. Alexandre Pantoja
11. Alex Pereira
12. Max Holloway
13. Aljamain Sterling
14. Jiri Prochazka
15. Jamahal Hill
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexandre Pantoja
1. Brandon Moreno
2. Deiveson Figueiredo
3. Amir Albazi
4. Brandon Royval
5. Kai Kara France
6. Matheus Nicolau
7. Alex Perez
8. Manel Kape
9. Matt Schnell
10. Tim Elliott
11. Muhammad Mokaev
12. Su Mudaerji
13. Tagir Ulanbekov
14. Steve Erceg
15. David Dvorak
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Sean O’Malley
1. Aljamain Sterling
2. Merab Dvalishvili
3. Henry Cejudo
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Petr Yan
6. Marlon Vera
7. (T) Rob Font
7. (T) Song Yadong
9. Dominick Cruz
10. Pedro Munhoz
11. Umar Nurmagomedov
12. Ricky Simon
13. Jonathan Martinez
14. Adrian Yanez
15. Chris Gutierrez
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Max Holloway
2. Yair Rodriguez
3. Brian Ortega
4. Arnold Allen
5. Ilia Topuria
6. Josh Emmett
7. Calvin Kattar
8. Giga Chikadze
9. Movsar Evloev
10. Bryce Mitchell
11. Sodiq Yusuff
12. Dan Ige
13. Edson Barboza
14. Alex Caceres
15. Lerone Murphy
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Charles Oliveira
2. Justin Gaethje
3. Dustin Poirier
4. Beneil Dariush
5. Michael Chandler
6. Mateusz Gamrot +1
7. Rafael Fiziev -1
8. Arman Tsarukyan
9. Dan Hooker
10. Grant Dawson
11. Rafael dos Anjos
12. Jalin Turner
13. Renato Moicano
14. Matt Frevola
15. Diego Ferreira
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Leon Edwards
1. Kamaru Usman
2. Colby Covington
3. Belal Muhammed
4. Khamzat Chimaev
5. Gilbert Burns
6. Shavkat Rakhmonov
7. Stephen Thompson
8. Geoff Neal
9. Sean Brady
10. Vicente Luque
11. Ian Machado Garry
12. Jack Della Maddalena
13. Kevin Holland
14. Neil Magny
15. Michael Chiesa
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Sean Strickland
1. Israel Adesanya
2. Dricus Du Plessis
3. Robert Whittaker
4. Jared Cannonier
5. Marvin Vettori
6. Paulo Costa
7. Roman Dolidze
8. Jack Hermansson
9. Brendan Allen
10. Kelvin Gastelum
11. Nassourdine Imavov
12. Paul Craig
13. Chris Curtis
14. Andre Muniz
15. Anthony Hernandez
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jamahal Hill
1. Jiri Prochazka
2. Magomed Ankalaev
3. Alex Pereira
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Aleksandar Rakic
6. Nikita Krylov
7. Johnny Walker
8. Anthony Smith
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Ryan Spann
11. Khalil Rountree
12. Azamat Murzakanov
13. Dominick Reyes
14. Alonzo Menifield
15. Dustin Jacoby
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jon Jones
1. Ciryl Gane
2. Sergei Pavlovich
3. Stipe Miocic
4. Tom Aspinall
5. Curtis Blaydes
6. Alexander Volkov
7. Serghei Spivac
8. Tai Tuivasa
9. Jailton Almeida
10. Derrick Lewis
11. Marcin Tybura
12. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Marcos Rogerio De Lima
15. Martin Buday
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Alexa Grasso
2. Zhang Weili
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Julianna Pena
5. Erin Blanchfield
6. Manon Fiorot
7. Carla Esparza
8. Rose Namajunas
9. Yan Xiaonan
10. Tatiana Suarez
11. Taila Santos
12. Jessica Andrade
13. Raquel Pennington
14. Amanda Lemos
15. Mayra Bueno Silva
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Carla Esparza
2. Yan Xiaonan
3. Tatiana Suarez
4. Amanda Lemos
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Virna Jandiroba
7. Mackenzie Dern
8. Marina Rodriguez
9. Luana Pinheiro
10. Tabatha Ricci +1
11. Amanda Ribas -1
12. Angela Hill +1
13. Loopy Godinez +1
14. Michelle Waterson-Gomez -2
15. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexa Grasso
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Erin Blanchfield
3. Manon Fiorot
4. Talia Santos
5. Katlyn Chookagian
6. Jessica Andrade
7. Lauren Murphy
8. Maycee Barber
9. Jennifer Maia
10. Amanda Ribas
11. Viviane Araújo
12. Tracy Cortez
13. Natalia Silva
14. Casey O’Neill
15. Karine Silva
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: VACANT
1. Julianna Pena
2. Raquel Pennington
3. Mayra Bueno Silva
4. Ketlen Vieira
5. (T) Irene Aldana
5. (T) Holly Holm
7. Pannie Kianzad
8. Yana Santos
9. (T) Macy Chiasson
9. (T) Karol Rosa
11. Norma Dumont
12. Miesha Tate
13. Julia Avila
14. Josiane Nunes
15. Chelsea Chandler
You can expect these rankings to change in roughly two weeks, particularly in the lightweight division, following the UFC Vegas 80: “Dawson vs. Green” MMA event on ESPN+, going down a week from Sat. night (Oct. 7, 2023) at APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.