Easy come, easy go.
Sean O’Malley managed to grab the top spot in the official bantamweight rankings by narrowly defeating Petr Yan at UFC 280 last Oct. in Abu Dhabi, but today surrendered that spot to Merab Dvalishvili after “The Machine” beat “No Mercy” — more convincingly — in the UFC Las Vegas headliner last weekend in “Sin City.” O’Malley drops to No. 2 at 135 pounds while Yan falls two places to No. 4, right behind veteran bruiser Marlon Vera.
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. Jon Jones
2. Alexander Volkanovski
3. Islam Makhachev
4. Leon Edwards
5. Kamaru Usman
6. Israel Adesanya
7. Alex Pereira
8. Aljamain Sterling
9. Charles Oliveira
10. Brandon Moreno
11. Jiri Prochazka
12. Dustin Poirier
13. Jamahal Hill
14. Robert Whittaker
15. Max Holloway
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Brandon Moreno
1. Deiveson Figueiredo
2. Alexandre Pantoja
3. Kai Kara France
4. Brandon Royval
5. Matheus Nicolau
6. Alex Perez
7. Amir Albazi
8. Matt Schnell
9. Manel Kape
10. David Dvorak
11. Tim Elliott
12. Muhammad Mokaev
13. Su Mudaerji
14. Tagir Ulanbekov
14. Bruno Silva *NR
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Aljamain Sterling
1. Merab Dvalishvili +2
2. Sean O’Malley -1
3. Marlon Vera +1
4. Petr Yan -2
5. Cory Sandhagen
6. Rob Font
7. Dominick Cruz
8. Song Yadong
9. Ricky Simon +1
10. Pedro Munhoz -1
11. Umar Nurmagomedov
12. Adrian Yanez
13. Chris Gutierrez
14. Jonathan Martinez *NR
15. Jack Shore
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Interim Champion Yair Rodriguez
2. Max Holloway
3. Brian Ortega
4. Arnold Allen
5. Josh Emmett
6. Chan Sung Jung
7. Calvin Kattar
8. Giga Chikadze
9. Ilia Topuria
10. Movsar Evloev
11. Bryce Mitchell
12. Sodiq Yusuff
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. Jalin Turner
11. Dan Hooker
12. Damir Ismagulov
13. Renato Moicano
14. Drew Dober
15. Grant Dawson
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Leon Edwards
1. Kamaru Usman
2. Colby Covington
3. Khamzat Chimaev
4. Belal Muhammed
5. Gilbert Burns
6. Shavkat Rakhmonov
7. Stephen Thompson
8. Geoff Neal
9. Sean Brady
10. Vicente Luque
11. Jorge Masvidal
12. Neil Magny
13. Michael Chiesa
14. Jack Della Maddalena
15. Michel Pereira
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Alex Pereira
1. Israel Adesanya
2. Robert Whittaker
3. Jared Cannonier
4. Marvin Vettori
5. Paulo Costa
6. Dricus Du Plessis
7. Sean Strickland
8. Derek Brunson
9. Roman Dolidze
10. Jack Hermansson
11. Nassourdine Imavov
12. Brendan Allen
13. Andre Muniz
14. Chris Curtis
15. Kelvin Gastelum
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jamahal Hill
1. Jiri Prochazka
2. Magomed Ankalaev
3. Jan Blachowicz
4. Aleksandar Rakic
5. Anthony Smith
6. Nikita Krylov
7. Johnny Walker
8. Volkan Oezdemir +1
9. Paul Craig +1
10. Ryan Spann -2
11. Dominick Reyes
12. Jim Crute
13. Khalil Rountree
14. Dustin Jacoby -1
15. Azamat Murzakanov
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jon Jones
1. Ciryl Gane
2. Stipe Miocic -1
3. Sergei Pavlovich
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Tom Aspinall +1
6. Tai Tuivasa -1
7. Alexander Volkov +1
8. Serghei Spivac -1
9. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
10. Marcin Tybura
11. Derrick Lewis
12. Chris Daukaus
13. Jailton Almeida
14. Blagoy Ivanov +1
15. Alexandr Romanov -1
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Alexa Grasso
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Weili Zhang
5. Rose Namajunas
6. Julianna Pena
7. Carla Esparza
8. Jessica Andrade
9. Erin Blanchfield
10. Amanda Lemos
11. Manon Fiorot
12. Taila Santos
13. Raquel Pennington
14. Marina Rodriguez
15. Holly Holm
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Carla Esparza
2. Rose Namajunas
3. Amanda Lemos
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Marina Rodriguez
6. Yan Xiaonan
7. Mackenzie Dern
8. Tecia Torres
9. Virna Jandiroba
10. Michelle Waterson
11. Amanda Ribas
12. Tatiana Suarez
13. Angela Hill
14. Luana Pinheiro
15. Tabatha Ricci
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexa Grasso
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Manon Fiorot
3. Talia Santos
4. Erin Blanchfield
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Katlyn Chookagian
7. Lauren Murphy
8. Jennifer Maia
9. Amanda Ribas
10. Viviane Araújo
11. Andrea Lee
12. Casey O’Neill
13. Maycee Barber
14. Tracy Cortez
15. Cynthia Calvillo
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1. Julianna Pena
2. Raquel Pennington
3. (T) Holly Holm
3. (T) Ketlen Vieira
5. Irene Aldana
6. Yana Kunitskaya
7. Pannie Kianzad
8. Macy Chiasson
9. Karol Rosa
10. Mayra Bueno Silva
11. Miesha Tate
12. Julia Avila
13. Norma Dumont
14. Josiane Nunes
15. Chelsea Chandler
There you have it.
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the welterweight division, following the UFC 286: “Edwards vs. Usman 3” pay-per-view (PPV) event on ESPN+, which takes place this Sat. night (March 18, 2023) from inside The O2 in London, England.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.