The latest UFC rankings update has been published … and it’s more bad news for Sean O’Malley fans.
Suga State Athletic Commission may be able to overturn Merab’s win over Sean O’Malley, but it can’t keep the former 135-pound champion in the pound-for-pound (P4P) Top 10 after last weekend’s UFC 306 pay-per-view (PPV) event at The Sphere in Las Vegas.
Newly-crowned bantamweight titleholder, Merab Dvalishvili, debuted at No. 7 on the P4P chart, sending O’Malley tumbling down to No. 13. Elsewhere in the rankings, Diego Lopes climbed 10 spots at featherweight with his UFC 306 victory over Brian Ortega.
Norma Dumont also cracked the Top 5 at bantamweight by slicing and dicing Irene Aldana.
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. Alex Pereira
3. Jon Jones
4. Ilia Topuria
5. Belal Muhammad +1
6. Dricus Du Plessis -1
7. Merab Dvalishvili *NR
8. Tom Aspinall
9. Leon Edwards
10. Alexander Volkanovski
11. Max Holloway
12. Alexandre Pantoja
13. Sean O’Malley -7
14. Sean Strickland -1
15. Charles Oliveira -1
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexandre Pantoja
1. Brandon Royval
2. Brandon Moreno
3. Amir Albazi
4. Kai Kara France
5. Tatsuro Taira
6. Alex Perez
7. Matheus Nicolau
8. Steve Erceg
9. Manel Kape
10. Tim Elliott
11. Tagir Ulanbekov
12. Bruno Silva
13. Cody Durden
14. (T) Matt Schnell
14. (T) Asu Almabayev +1
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Merab Dvalishvili
1. Sean O’Malley -1
2. Umar Nurmagomedov
3. Petr Yan
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Deiveson Figueiredo
6. Henry Cejudo
7. Marlon Vera
8. Song Yadong
9. Rob Font
10. Jose Aldo
11. Mario Bautista
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 +10
4. Yair Rodriguez
5. Brian Ortega -2
6. Movsar Evloev
7. Arnold Allen -2
8. Josh Emmett -1
9. Aljamain Sterling -1
10. Calvin Kattar -1
11. Giga Chikadze -1
12. Lerone Murphy -1
13. Bryce Mitchell -1
14. Dan Ige
15. Edson Barboza
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Arman Tsarukyan
2. Charles Oliveira
3. Justin Gaethje
4. Dustin Poirier
5. Dan Hooker
6. Michael Chandler
7. Beneil Dariush
8. Mateusz Gamrot
9. (T) Max Holloway
9. (T) Rafael Fiziev
11. Renato Moicano
12. Benoit Saint-Denis
13. Rafael dos Anjos
14. Jalin Turner
15. Paddy Pimblett
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Belal Muhammed
1. Leon Edwards
2. Kamaru Usman
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov
4. Jack Della Maddalena
5. Colby Covington
6. Sean Brady
7. Ian Machado Garry
8. Gilbert Burns
9. Stephen Thompson
10. Geoff Neal
11. Joaquin Buckley
12. Michael Morales
13. Michael Page
14. Vicente Luque
15. (T) Neil Magny
15. (T) Kevin Holland
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. Paulo Costa
10. Roman Dolidze
11. Jack Hermansson
12. Khamzat Chimaev
13. Anthony Hernandez
14. Michel Pereira
15. Chris Curtis
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Alex Pereira
1. Jiri Prochazka
2. Magomed Ankalaev
3. Jamahal Hill
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Aleksandar Rakic
6. Volkan Oezdemir
7. Nikita Krylov
8. Khalil Rountree
9. Johnny Walker
10. Carlos Ulberg
11. Azamat Murzakanov
12. Anthony Smith
13. Dominick Reyes
14. Bogdan Guskov
15. Roman Dolidze
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. Alexander Romanov
14. Marcos Rogerio De Lima
15. Rodrigo Nascimento
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko +2
2. Zhang Weili
3. Alexa Grasso -2
4. Manon Fiorot
5. Julianna Pena
6. Rose Namajunas
7. Erin Blanchfield
8. Raquel Pennington
9. Tatiana Suarez
10. Yan Xiaonan
11. Kayla Harrison
12. Virna Jandiroba
13. (T) Jessica Andrade
13. (T) Natalia Silva +1
15. Amanda Lemos
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Tatiana Suarez
2. Yan Xiaonan
3. Virna Jandiroba
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Amanda Lemos
6. Marina Rodriguez
7. Mackenzie Dern
8. Amanda Ribas
9. Tabatha Ricci
10. Loopy Godinez
11. Angela Hill
12. Luana Pinheiro
13. Gillian Robertson
14. Iasmin Lucindo
15. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Alexa Grasso -1
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: Raquel Pennington
1. Julianna Pena
2. Ketlen Vieira
3. Kayla Harrison
4. Macy Chiasson
5. Norma Dumont +3
6. Irene Aldana -1
7. Mayra Bueno Silva -1
8. Holly Holm -1
9. Karol Rosa
10. Yana Santos
11. Miesha Tate
12. Julia Avila
13. Germaine De Randamie
14. Chelsea Chandler
15. Ailin Perez
You can expect these rankings to change in roughly two weeks, particularly in the lightweight division, following the UFC Paris: “Moicano vs. Saint Denis” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., Sept. 28, 2024 at APEX in Las Vegas.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.