Out with the old and in with the new.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently updated its official rankings in the wake of the UFC Vegas 25 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, which took place last Sat. night (May 1, 2021) inside the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Not surprisingly, Jiri Prochazka climbed to the No. 2 spot, thanks to a brutal elbow finish over former light heavyweight title contender Dominick Reyes (highlights here). In addition, kickboxing standout Giga Chikadze cracked the Top 10 by folding featherweight veteran Cub Swanson (replay here).
Here’s how the rankings are compiled:
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. Kamaru Usman
3. Alexander Volkanovski
4. Israel Adesanya
5. Francis Ngannou
6. Dustin Poirier
7. Stipe Miocic
8. Jan Blachowicz
9. Max Holloway
10. Deiveson Figueiredo
11. Robert Whittaker
12. (T) Justin Gaethje
12. (T) Petr Yan
14. Aljamain Sterling
15. Conor McGregor
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo
1. Brandon Moreno
2. Askar Askarov
3. Alexandre Pantoja
4. Alex Perez
5. Joseph Benavidez
6. Brandon Royval
7. Kai Kara France
8. Matt Schnell
9. Rogerio Bontorin
10. Tim Elliott
11. David Dvorak
12. Raulian Paiva
13. Su Mudaerji
14. Matheus Nicolau
14. Amir Albazi
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Aljamain Sterling
1. Petr Yan
2. Cory Sandhagen
3. Rob Font
4. Cody Garbrandt
5. Jose Aldo
6. Marlon Moraes
7. Frankie Edgar
8. Pedro Munhoz
9. Dominick Cruz
10. Raphael Assuncao
11. Merab Dvalishvili +1
12. Jimmie Rivera -1
13. Cody Stamann
14. Kyler Phillips
15. Marlon Vera
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI
1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. Yair Rodriguez
4. Chan Sung Jung
5. Calvin Kattar
6. Josh Emmett
7. Arnold Allen
8. Dan Ige
9. Shane Burgos
10. Giga Chikadze +4
11. Sodiq Yusuff -1
12. Bryce Mitchell -1
13. Edson Barboza -1
14. Movsar Evloev -1
15. Hakeem Dawodu *NR
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: VACANT
1. Dustin Poirier
2. Justin Gaethje
3. Charles Oliveira
4. Michael Chandler
5. Tony Ferguson
6. Conor McGregor
7. Rafael dos Anjos
8. Dan Hooker
9. Beneil Dariush
10. Paul Felder
11. Islam Makhachev
12. Diego Ferreira
13. Kevin Lee
14. Gregor Gillespie
15. Donald Cerrone
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: KAMARU USMAN
1. Colby Covington
2. Gilbert Burns
3. Leon Edwards
4. Stephen Thompson
5. Jorge Masvidal
6. (T) Vicente Luque
6. (T) Michael Chiesa +1
8. Demian Maia
9. Neil Magny
10. Geoff Neal
11. Li Jingliang
12. Belal Muhammed
13. Sean Brady
14. Robbie Lawler
15. Khamzat Chimaev
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: ISRAEL ADESANYA
1. Robert Whittaker
2. Paulo Costa
3. Marvin Vettori
4. Jared Cannonier
5. Derek Brunson
6. Darren Till
7. Jack Hermansson
8. Uriah Hall
9. Kelvin Gastelum
10. Edmen Shahbazyan
11. Sean Strickland +4
12. Chris Weidman -1
13. Kevin Holland
14. Omari Akhmedov -2
15. Brad Tavares -1
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jan Blachowicz
1. Glover Teixeira
2. Jiri Prochazka +3
3. Aleksandar Rakic -1
4. Thiago Santos
5. Dominick Reyes -2
6. Anthony Smith
7. Magomed Ankalaev
8. Volkan Oezdemir
9. Nikita Krylov
10. Johnny Walker
11. Ryan Spann
12. Misha Cirkunov
13. Jim Crute
14. Paul Craig
15. Jamall Hill
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Francis Ngannou
1. Stipe Miocic
2. Derrick Lewis
3. Curtis Blaydes
4. Ciryl Gane
5. Alexander Volkov
6. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
7. Shamil Abdurakhimov
8. Walt Harris
9. Augusto Sakai
10. Chris Daukaus
11. Blagoy Ivanov
12. Marcin Tybura
13. Tom Aspinall
14. Sergei Pavlovich
15. Aleksei Oleinik
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. Rose Namajunas
4. Weili Zhang
5. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
6. Jessica Andrade
7. Germaine De Randamie
8. Holly Holm
9. Aspen Ladd
10. Katlyn Chookagian
11. Yan Xiaonan
12. Mackenzie Dern
13. Carla Esparza
14. Cynthia Calvillo
15. Claudia Gadelha
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: ROSE NAMAJUNAS
1. Zhang Weili
2. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
3. Yan Xiaonan
4. Carla Esparza
5. Mackenzie Dern
6. Marina Rodriguez
7. Nina Nunes
8. Claudia Gadelha
9. Michelle Waterson
10. Tecia Torres
11. Amanda Ribas
12. Angela Hill
13. Virna Jandiroba
14. Amanda Lemos
15. Felice Herrig
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO
1. Jessica Andrade
2. Katlyn Chookagian
3. Lauren Murphy
4. Jennifer Maia
5. Cynthia Calvillo
6. Joanne Calderwood
7. Viviane Araujo
8. Jessica Eye
9. Roxanne Modafferi
10. Alexa Grasso
11. Andrea Lee
12. Antonina Shevchenko
13. Talia Santos
14. Maycee Barber
15. Miranda Maverick
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: AMANDA NUNES
1. Germaine de Randamie
2. Holly Holm
3. Aspen Ladd
4. Irene Aldana
5. Yana Kunitskaya
6. Julianna Pena
7. Ketlen Vieira
8. Sara McMann
9. Macy Chiasson
10. Lina Lansberg
11. Pannie Kianzad
12. Marion Reneau
13. Sijara Eubanks
14. Karol Rosa
15. Julia Avila
There you have it.
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week — particularly in the women’s strawweight division — following the UFC Vegas 26: “Rodriguez vs. Waterson” event on Sat., May 8, 2021 from inside APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
See you next week!