With UFC Vegas 99 in the books, and Anthony Hernandez scoring a technical knockout victory over middleweight bruiser Michel Pereira, the UFC rankings panel ranked “Fluffy” ahead of undefeated UFC 308 co-headliner Khamzat Chimaev.
The UFC rankings panel will not go gentle into that good night.
Despite threats from promotion CEO Dana White, who wants to fire everyone involved and replace them with artificial intelligence, the voters continue to diligently cast their ballots at the end of each week, voting for the Top 15 in every weight class.
Along with the controversial pound-for-pound rankings.
Here’s how it works:
Rankings are 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. Alex Pereira
3. Jon Jones
4. Ilia Topuria
5. Belal Muhammad
6. Dricus Du Plessis
7. Merab Dvalishvili
8. Tom Aspinall
9. Leon Edwards
10. Alexander Volkanovski
11. Max Holloway
12. Alexandre Pantoja
13. Sean O’Malley
14. Sean Strickland
15. Charles Oliveira
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexandre Pantoja
1. Brandon Royval
2. Brandon Moreno
3. Amir Albazi
4. Kai Kara France
5. Tatsuro Taira
6. Alex Perez
7. Asu Almabayev +7
8. Manel Kape +1
9. Steve Erceg -1
10. Matheus Nicolau -3
11. Tim Elliott -1
12. Tagir Ulanbekov -1
13. Bruno Silva -1
14. Cody Durden -1
15. Charles Johnson *NR
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Merab Dvalishvili
1. Sean O’Malley
2. Umar Nurmagomedov
3. Petr Yan
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Deiveson Figueiredo
6. Marlon Vera
7. Henry Cejudo
8. Song Yadong
9. (T) Mario Bautista
9. (T) Rob Font +1
11. Jose Aldo
12. Kyler Phillips
13. Jonathan Martinez
14. Dominick Cruz
15. Montel Jackson
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Ilia Topuria
1. Alexander Volkanovski
2. Max Holloway
3. Diego Lopes
4. Yair Rodriguez
5. Movsar Evloev
6. Brian Ortega
7. Arnold Allen
8. Josh Emmett
9. Aljamain Sterling
10. Calvin Kattar
11. Giga Chikadze
12. Lerone Murphy
13. Bryce Mitchell
14. Dan Ige
15. Edson Barboza
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Arman Tsarukyan
2. Charles Oliveira
3. Justin Gaethje
4. Dustin Poirier
5. Max Holloway +3
6. Dan Hooker -1
7. Michael Chandler -1
8. Beneil Dariush -1
9. Mateusz Gamrot
10. Rafael Fiziev
11. Renato Moicano
12. Benoit Saint Denis
13. Jalin Turner
14. Paddy Pimblett
15. Rafael dos Anjos -1
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Belal Muhammed
1. Leon Edwards
2. Kamaru Usman
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov
4. Jack Della Maddalena
5. Sean Brady
6. Colby Covington
7. Ian Machado Garry
8. Gilbert Burns
9. Joaquin Buckley
10. Geoff Neal
11. Stephen Thompson
12. Michael Morales
13. Michael Page
14. Vicente Luque
15. Neil Magny
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Dricus Du Plessis
1. Sean Strickland
2. Israel Adesanya
3. Robert Whittaker
4. Nassourdine Imavov
5. Caio Borralho
6. Marvin Vettori
7. Jared Cannonier
8. Brendan Allen
9. Roman Dolidze
10. Paulo Costa -1
11. Jack Hermansson
12. Anthony Hernandez +1
13. Khamzat Chimaev -1
14. Michel Pereira
15. Chris Curtis
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Alex Pereira
1. (T) Jiri Prochazka
1. (T) Magomed Ankalaev +1
3. Jamahal Hill
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Aleksandar Rakic
6. Nikita Krylov +1
7. Khalil Rountree +1
8. Volkan Oezdemir -1
9. Johnny Walker
10. Carlos Ulberg
11. Azamat Murzakanov
12. Anthony Smith
13. Dominick Reyes
14. Bogdan Guskov
15. Alonzo Menifield
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jon Jones
1. Tom Aspinall
2. Ciryl Gane
3. Alexander Volkov
4. Sergei Pavlovich
5. Curtis Blaydes
6. Jailton Almeida
7. Serghei Spivac
8. Stipe Miocic
9. (T) Marcin Tybura
9. (T) Jairzinho Rozenstruik
11. Derrick Lewis
12. Tai Tuivasa
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Marcos Rogerio De Lima
15. Rodrigo Nascimento
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Zhang Weili
3. Alexa Grasso
4. Julianna Pena
5. Manon Fiorot
6. Rose Namajunas
7. Erin Blanchfield
8. Kayla Harrison +1
9. Raquel Pennington -1
10. Tatiana Suarez
11. Yan Xiaonan
12. Virna Jandiroba
13. Natalia Silva
14. Jessica Andrade -1
15. Maycee Barber *NR
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Tatiana Suarez
2. Yan Xiaonan
3. Virna Jandiroba
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Amanda Lemos
6. Mackenzie Dern
7. Iasmin Lucindo +1
8. Amanda Ribas -1
9. Marina Rodriguez
10. Tabatha Ricci
11. Loopy Godinez
12. Angela Hill
13. Luana Pinheiro
14. Gillian Robertson
15. Tecia Pennington
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Alexa Grasso
2. Manon Fiorot
3. Erin Blanchfield
4. Maycee Barber
5. Rose Namajunas
6. Natalia Silva
7. Katlyn Cerminara
8. Jessica Andrade
9. Viviane Araújo
10. Amanda Ribas
11. Karine Silva
12. Tracy Cortez
13. Ariane Da Silva
14. Jasmine Jasudavicius
15. Casey O’Neill
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Julianna Pena
1. Raquel Pennington
2. Kayla Harrison
3. Ketlen Vieira
4. Macy Chiasson
5. Norma Dumont
6. (T) Irene Aldana
6. (T) Mayra Bueno Silva
8. Holly Holm
9. Karol Rosa
10. Yana Santos
11. Miesha Tate
12. Julia Avila
13. Germaine De Randamie
14. Ailin Perez
15. Chelsea Chandler
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the featherweight division, following the UFC 308: “Topuria vs. Holloway” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV), scheduled for Sat., Oct. 26, 2024 at Etihad Arena on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.