New champ, new rankings.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently updated its official rankings in the wake of the UFC 297 pay-per-view (PPV) event, which took place last Sat. night (Jan. 20, 2024) at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. That’s where Dricus Du Plessis upset the 185-pound apple cart by capturing a split decision victory over Sean Strickland, sending “Tarzan” and former division kingpin, Israel Adesanya, tumbling on both the middleweight and pound-for-pound charts.
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. Islam Makhachev
2. Jon Jones
3. Alexander Volkanovski
4. Leon Edwards
5. Alex Pereira
6. Charles Oliveira
7. Sean O’Malley
8. Dricus Du Plessis *NR
9. Alexandre Pantoja +1
10. Israel Adesanya -1
11. Sean Strickland -3
12. Aljamain Sterling -1
13. Tom Aspinall -1
14. Max Holloway -1
15. Kamaru Usman -1
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexandre Pantoja
1. Brandon Moreno
2. Amir Albazi
3. Brandon Royval
4. Kai Kara France
5. Matheus Nicolau
6. Manel Kape
7. Alex Perez
8. Muhammad Mokaev
9. Matt Schnell
10. Tim Elliott
11. Tagir Ulanbekov
12. Steve Erceg
13. Su Mudaerji
14. David Dvorak
15. Tatsuro Taira
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Sean O’Malley
1. Aljamain Sterling
2. Merab Dvalishvili
3. Henry Cejudo
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Petr Yan
6. Marlon Vera
7. Song Yadong
8. Deiveson Figueiredo
9. Rob Font
10. Dominick Cruz
11. Pedro Munhoz
12. Jonathan Martinez
13. Umar Nurmagomedov
14. Mario Bautista
15. Ricky Simon
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Max Holloway
2. Yair Rodriguez
3. Ilia Topuria +2
4. Brian Ortega -1
5. Movsar Evloev +4
6. Arnold Allen -1
7. Josh Emmett -1
8. Calvin Kattar -1
9. Giga Chikadze -1
10. Bryce Mitchell
11. Edson Barboza
12. Sodiq Yusuff
13. Dan Ige
14. (T) Alex Caceres
14. (T) Lerone Murphy
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Charles Oliveira
2. Justin Gaethje
3. Dustin Poirier
4. Arman Tsarukyan
5. Michael Chandler
6. Mateusz Gamrot
7. Beneil Dariush
8. Rafael Fiziev
9. Jalin Turner
10. Dan Hooker
11. (T) Rafael dos Anjos
11. (T) Benoit Saint-Denis
13. Renato Moicano
14. Bobby Green
15. Drew Dober
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Leon Edwards
1. Kamaru Usman
2. Belal Muhammed
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov
4. Gilbert Burns
5. Colby Covington
6. (T) Stephen Thompson
6. (T) Sean Brady
8. Geoff Neal
9. Vicente Luque
10. Ian Machado Garry
11. Jack Della Maddalena
12. Neil Magny +1
13. Kevin Holland -1
14. Michael Chiesa
15. Rinat Fakhretdinov
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Dricus Du Plessis
1. Sean Strickland -1
2. Israel Adesanya -1
3. Robert Whittaker
4. Jared Cannonier
5. Marvin Vettori
6. Paulo Costa
7. Brendan Allen
8. Roman Dolidze
9. Khamzat Chimaev
10. Jack Hermansson
11. Nassourdine Imavov
12. Paul Craig
13. Chris Curtis +1
14. Anthony Hernandez -1
15. Caio Borralho
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Alex Pereira
1. Jamahal Hill
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Magomed Ankalaev
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Aleksandar Rakic
6. Nikita Krylov
7. Johnny Walker
8. Khalil Rountree
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Anthony Smith
11. Ryan Spann
12. Alonzo Menifield
13. Azamat Murzakanov
14. Dominick Reyes
15. Dustin Jacoby
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jon Jones
1. Tom Aspinall
2. Ciryl Gane
3. Sergei Pavlovich
4. Stipe Miocic
5. Curtis Blaydes
6. Alexander Volkov
7. Jailton Almeida
8. Tai Tuivasa
9. Serghei Spivac
10. Derrick Lewis
11. Marcin Tybura
12. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Rodrigo Nascimento
15. Marcos Rogerio De Lima
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Alexa Grasso
2. Zhang Weili
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Erin Blanchfield +1
5. Julianna Pena -1
6. Manon Fiorot
7. Raquel Pennington +5
8. Rose Namajunas
9. Tatiana Suarez +1
10. Yan Xiaonan -1
11. Jessica Andrade
12. Amanda Lemos +1
13. Ketlen Vieira +1
14. Irene Aldana
15. Mayra Bueno Silva *NR
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Yan Xiaonan +1
2. Tatiana Suarez +1
3. Amanda Lemos +1
4. Jessica Andrade +1
5. Virna Jandiroba +1
6. Marina Rodriguez +1
7. Mackenzie Dern +1
8. Amanda Ribas +1
9. Luana Pinheiro +1
10. Loopy Godinez +1
11. Tabatha Ricci +1
12. Angela Hill +1
13. Karolina Kowalkiewicz +1
14. Michelle Waterson-Gomez +1
15. Gillian Robertson *NR
Note: Carla Esparza removed from strawweight rankings eligibility
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexa Grasso
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Erin Blanchfield
3. Manon Fiorot
4. Katlyn Chookagian
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Maycee Barber
7. Viviane Araújo
8. Amanda Ribas
9. Natalia Silva
10. Tracy Cortez
11. Ariane Lipski
12. Karine Silva
13. Casey O’Neill
14. Andrea Lee
15. Jasmine Jasudavicius *NR
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Raquel Pennington
1. Julianna Pena
2. Mayra Bueno Silva +1
3. Ketlen Vieira +1
4. Irene Aldana +1
5. Holly Holm +1
6. Pannie Kianzad +1
7. Yana Santos +1
8. Miesha Tate +3
9. Karol Rosa
10. Macy Chiasson -1
11. Norma Dumont +1
12. Julia Avila +1
13. Josiane Nunes +1
14. Chelsea Chandler +1
15. Melissa Dixon +1
You can expect these rankings to change in roughly two weeks, particularly in the middleweight division, following the UFC Vegas 85: “Dolidze vs. Imavov” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., Feb. 3, 2024 at APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.