No one on the pound-for-pound list competed last weekend. So then why do the rankings in that category continue to fluctuate?
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returned to the airwaves last weekend (Sat., April 21, 2018) with the UFC Fight Night 128: “Barboza vs. Lee” mixed martial arts (MMA) event inside Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
That means it’s time for a new set of “official” rankings.
While we should be talking about the movement from Kevin Lee and Cub Swanson, who both saw changes in their respective positions (thanks to this), it’s hard to overlook the fact that former lightweight champion Conor McGregor is actually climbing the pound-for-pound chart.
Pretty impressive for a guy who hasn’t stepped foot inside the Octagon since Nov. 15, which further proves that timeline penalties reserved for guys like Nate Diaz — issued by promotion president Dana White — don’t apply to the 155-pound cash cow.
Hey, at least WWE lightning rod Ronda Rousey is gone from women’s bantamweight (alongside this buyout), though I’m not sure why Khabib Nurmagomedov lost a spot in the pound-for-pound list when he remains 26-0 after capturing the lightweight crown.
Here’s how the rankings work, courtesy of UFC.com:
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, *NR = Not previously ranked).
POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Georges St-Pierre
3 Stipe Miocic
3 Conor McGregor +1
5 Daniel Cormier
6 Max Holloway
7 TJ Dillashaw
8 Tyron Woodley
9 Khabib Nurmagomedov -1
10 Cris Cyborg
11 Tony Ferguson
12 Amanda Nunes
13 Robert Whittaker
14 Cody Garbrandt
15 Rose Namajunas
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Ray Borg
4 Jussier Formiga
5 Sergio Pettis
6 John Moraga
7 Brandon Moreno
8 Wilson Reis
9 Ben Nguyen
10 Dustin Ortiz
11 Matheus Nicolau
12 Alexandre Pantoja
13 Tim Elliott
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Magomed Bibulatov
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Jimmie Rivera
5 Marlon Moraes
6 John Lineker
7 John Dodson
8 Aljamain Sterling
9 Bryan Caraway
10 Pedro Munhoz
11 Cody Stamann -1
12 Rob Font
13 Thomas Almeida
14 Brett Johns
15 Eddie Wineland
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Brian Ortega
2 Jose Aldo
3 Frankie Edgar
4 Jeremy Stephens +1
5 Cub Swanson -1
6 Josh Emmett
7 Ricardo Lamas
8 Chan Sung Jung
9 Renato Moicano
10 Darren Elkins
11 Yair Rodriguez
12 Mirsad Bektic
13 Zabit Magomedsharipov +1
14 Dooho Choi -1
15 Myles Jury
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov
1 Conor McGregor
2 Tony Ferguson
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Dustin Poirier
5 Kevin Lee +1
6 Edson Barboza -1
7 Justin Gaethje
8 Nate Diaz
9 Michael Chiesa
10 Al Iaquinta
11 James Vick
12 Anthony Pettis
13 Alexander Hernandez
14 Paul Felder
15 Olivier Aubin-Mercier
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Stephen Thompson
2 Rafael Dos Anjos
3 Colby Covington
4 Robbie Lawler
5 Demian Maia
6 Jorge Masvidal
7 Kamaru Usman
8 Darren Till -1
9 Neil Magny
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Donald Cerrone
12 Gunnar Nelson
13 Alex Oliveira
14 Leon Edwards
15 Dong Hyun Kim
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Jacare Souza
3 Luke Rockhold
4 Chris Weidman
5 Kelvin Gastelum
6 Michael Bisping
7 Derek Brunson
8 David Branch
9 Vitor Belfort
10 Brad Tavares
11 Uriah Hall -1
12 Lyoto Machida +1
13 Thiago Santos -1
13 Antonio Carlos Junior +2
15 Paulo Costa -1
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Volkan Oezdemir
3 Glover Teixeira
4 Ilir Latifi
5 Jan Blachowicz
6 Jimi Manuwa
7 Mauricio Rua
7 Ovince Saint Preux +1
9 Corey Anderson +1
10 Misha Cirkunov -1
11 Patrick Cummins
12 Tyson Pedro
13 Gadzhimurad Antigulov
14 Gian Villante
15 Jordan Johnson
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Stipe Miocic
1 Francis Ngannou
2 Alistair Overeem
3 Alexander Volkov
4 Curtis Blaydes
5 Fabricio Werdum
6 Derrick Lewis
6 Mark Hunt
8 Marcin Tybura
9 Andrei Arlovski
10 Aleksei Oleinik
11 Stefan Struve
12 Tai Tuivasa
13 Shamil Abdurakhimov
14 Junior Albini
15 Justin Willis *NR
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Felice Herrig
9 Alexa Grasso
10 Cortney Casey
11 Randa Markos
12 Tatiana Suarez
13 Joanne Calderwood
14 Nina Ansaroff
15 Angela Hill
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Sijara Eubanks
3 Lauren Murphy
4 Alexis Davis
5 Roxanne Modafferi
5 Katlyn Chookagian -3
7 Barb Honchak -1
8 Liz Carmouche -1
9 Jessica-Rose Clark
10 Jessica Eye
11 Ashlee Evans-Smith
12 Mara Romero Borella
13 Paige VanZant
14 Montana De La Rosa
15 Rachael Ostovich
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Holly Holm
2 Raquel Pennington
3 Julianna Pena
4 Ketlen Vieira
5 Germaine de Randamie
6 Cat Zingano
7 Marion Reneau
8 Sara McMann
9 Aspen Ladd +1
10 Bethe Correia +1
11 Irene Aldana +1
12 Lucie Pudilova +1
13 Sarah Moras +1
14 Lina Lansberg +1
15 Gina Mazany *NR
There you have it.
You can expect these standings to change — particularly in the women’s bantamweight division — in roughly three weeks, as the promotion is set to uncork its UFC 224: “Nunes vs. Pennington” pay-per-view (PPV) fight card on Sat., May 12, 2018 inside Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (more on that fight card here).
For even more upcoming UFC events click here.