Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently tied a ribbon around its UFC London fight card, which took place last Sat. night (July 22, 2023) on ESPN+ from inside The O2 in London, England. It was a big night for the heavyweight division, thanks to an electric performance from 265-pound up-and-comer Tom Aspinall. The hulking Brit jumped to No. 4 in the official rankings by steamrolling Polish powerhouse Marcin Tybura.
Looks like Curtis Blaydes risked his spot in the rankings even without a rematch.
Elsewhere on the charts, it appears the promotion has finally rid itself of the women’s featherweight rankings, not that it ever really existed in the first place. But with former 145-pound titleholder Amanda Nunes retiring from MMA, there probably wasn’t enough featherweight talent to keep a spot in the weekly rankings update. Expect that to be a “huge loss” for UFC, according to this longtime veteran.
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. (T) Jon Jones
1. (T) Alexander Volkanovski
3. Islam Makhachev
4. Leon Edwards
5. Israel Adesanya
6. Aljamain Sterling
7. Charles Oliveira
8. Kamaru Usman
9. Alexandre Pantoja
10. Jiri Prochazka
11. Alex Pereira
12. Max Holloway
13. Dustin Poirier
14. Jamahal Hill
15. Brandon Moreno
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. Matt Schnell
9. Manel Kape
10. Tim Elliott
11. Muhammad Mokaev
12. Su Mudaerji
13. Tagir Ulanbekov
14. Steve Erceg
15. David Dvorak
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Aljamain Sterling
1. Merab Dvalishvili
2. Sean O’Malley
3. Henry Cejudo
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Petr Yan
6. Marlon Vera
7. Rob Font
8. Song Yadong
9. Dominick Cruz
10. Pedro Munhoz
11. Umar Nurmagomedov
12. Ricky Simon
13. Jonathan Martinez +2
14. Adrian Yanez -1
15. Chris Gutierrez -1
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. Chan Sung Jung
9. Giga Chikadze
10. Movsar Evloev
11. Sodiq Yusuff
12. Bryce Mitchell
13. Dan Ige
14. Edson Barboza
15. Alex Caceres
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Charles Oliveira
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Justin Gaethje
4. Beneil Dariush
5. Michael Chandler
6. Rafael Fiziev
7. Mateusz Gamrot
8. Arman Tsarukyan
9. Rafael dos Anjos
10. Dan Hooker
11. Grant Dawson
12. Jalin Turner
13. Renato Moicano
14. Matt Frevola +1
15. Diego Ferreira *NR
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. (T) Geoff Neal
8. (T) Sean Brady
10. Vicente Luque
11. Neil Magny
12. Michael Chiesa
13. Jack Della Maddalena
14. Ian Machado Garry
15. Michel Pereira
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Israel Adesanya
1. Dricus Du Plessis
2. Alex Pereira
3. Robert Whittaker
4. Jared Cannonier
5. Marvin Vettori
6. Sean Strickland
7. Paulo Costa
8. Derek Brunson
9. Roman Dolidze
10. Jack Hermansson
11. Brendan Allen
12. Kelvin Gastelum
13. Nassourdine Imavov
14. Paul Craig *NR
15. Chris Curtis
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jamahal Hill
1. Jiri Prochazka
2. Magomed Ankalaev
3. Jan Blachowicz
4. Aleksandar Rakic
5. Nikita Krylov
6. Johnny Walker -1
7. Anthony Smith
8. Volkan Oezdemir
9. Ryan Spann +1
10. Azamat Murzakanov +1
11. Khalil Rountree +2
12. Dominick Reyes
13. Alonzo Menifield +1
14. Dustin Jacoby +1
15. Kennedy Nzechukwu *NR
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jon Jones
1. Sergei Pavlovich
2. Ciryl Gane
3. Stipe Miocic
4. Tom Aspinall +1
5. Curtis Blaydes -1
6. Tai Tuivasa
7. Alexander Volkov
8. Serghei Spivac
9. Jailton Almeida
10. Derrick Lewis +1
11. Marcin Tybura -1
12. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Chris Daukaus
15. Marcos Rogerio De Lima *NR
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Alexa Grasso
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. Weili Zhang
4. Rose Namajunas
5. Julianna Pena
6. Carla Esparza
7. Erin Blanchfield
8. Jessica Andrade
9. Yan Xiaonan
10. Manon Fiorot
11. Taila Santos
12. Amanda Lemos
13. Raquel Pennington
14. Mayra Bueno Silva
15. Tatiana Suarez
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Carla Esparza
2. Rose Namajunas
3. Yan Xiaonan
4. Amanda Lemos
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Virna Jandiroba
7. Mackenzie Dern
8. Marina Rodriguez
9. Tecia Torres
10. Tatiana Suarez
11. Amanda Ribas
12. Luana Pinheiro
13. Michelle Waterson
14. Tabatha Ricci
15. Angela Hill
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexa Grasso
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Manon Fiorot
3. Erin Blanchfield
4. Talia Santos -1
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Katlyn Chookagian
7. Lauren Murphy
8. Maycee Barber
9. Jennifer Maia
10. Viviane Araújo
11. Amanda Ribas
12. Casey O’Neill
13. Andrea Lee
14. Tracy Cortez
15. Jasmine Jasudavicius
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: VACANT
1. Julianna Pena
2. Raquel Pennington
3. Mayra Bueno Silva
4. Ketlen Vieira
5. Irene Aldana +1
6. Holly Holm -1
7. Pannie Kianzad
8. Yana Santos
9. Karol Rosa +1
10. Macy Chiasson -1
11. Norma Dumont +1
12. Miesha Tate -1
13. Julia Avila
14. Josiane Nunes
15. Chelsea Chandler
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the lightweight division, following the UFC 291: “Poirier vs. Gaethje 2” pay-per-view (PPV) event on ESPN+ this Sat. night (July 29, 2023) at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.