Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight submission specialist, Charles Oliveira, is finally getting the recognition he deserves from the official rankings panel, cracking the Top 10 at 155 pounds after submitting Kevin Lee in the UFC Fight Night 170 main event last weekend in Brasilia.
A fight that took place behind closed doors.
Similarly, welterweight phenom Gilbert Burns climbed all the way to No. 6 at 170 pounds after wrecking veteran grappler Demian Maia. The 18-3 “Durinho” has now won five straight and could be a one or two wins from title contention.
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, T = tie, *NR = Not previously ranked).
MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Jon Jones
2. Khabib Nurmagomedov
3. Henry Cejudo
4. Stipe Miocic
5. Israel Adesanya
6. Daniel Cormier
7. Kamaru Usman
8. Alexander Volkanovski
9. Conor McGregor
10. Tony Ferguson
11. Max Holloway
12. Dustin Poirier
13. Tyron Woodley
14. Robert Whittaker
15. Dominick Reyes
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: VACANT
1. Deiveson Figueiredo
2. Joseph Benavidez
3. Jussier Formiga
4. Alexandre Pantoja
5. Brandon Moreno
6. Askar Askarov
7. Kai Kara France
8. Rogerio Bontorin
9. Alex Perez
10. Matt Schnell
11. Tim Elliott
12. Jordan Espinosa
13. Raulian Paiva
14. Mark De La Rosa
15. David Dvorak *NR
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: HENRY CEJUDO
1. Marlon Moraes
2. Aljamain Sterling
3. Petr Yan
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Raphael Assuncao
6. Jose Aldo
7. Pedro Munhoz
8. Jimmie Rivera
9. Cody Garbrandt
10. Rob Font
11. Cody Stamann
12. John Dodson
13. Song Yadong
14. Marlon Vera
15. Raoni Barcelos
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI
1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. Zabit Magomedsharipov
4. Chan Sung Jung
5. Yair Rodriguez
6. Frankie Edgar
7. Jeremy Stephens +1
8. Josh Emmett +1
9. Calvin Kattar +1
10. Shane Burgos +2
11. Jose Aldo
12. Arnold Allen +3
13. Sodiq Yosef +1
14. Ryan Hall -1
15. Dan Ige *NR
Note: Renato Moicano removed after moving to lightweight
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV
1. Tony Ferguson
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Conor McGregor
4. Justin Gaethje
5. Dan Hooker
6. Donald Cerrone
7. Paul Felder
8. Charles Oliveira +5
9. Al Iaquinta
10. Kevin Lee -2
11. Edson Barboza -1
12. Diego Ferreira -1
13. Gregor Gillespie -1
14. Islam Makhachev
15. Alexander Hernandez
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: KAMARU USMAN
1. Tyron Woodley
2. Colby Covington
3. Jorge Masvidal
4. Leon Edwards
5. Stephen Thompson +1
6. Gilbert Burns +6
7. Demian Maia -2
8. Michael Chiesa -1
9. Rafael dos Anjos -1
10. Nate Diaz -1
11. Robbie Lawler
12. Geoff Neal -2
13. Vicente Luque +1
14. Conor McGregor +1
15. Anthony Pettis -2
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: ISRAEL ADESANYA
1. Robert Whittaker
2. Paulo Costa
3. Jared Cannonier
4. Yoel Romero
5. Darren Till
6. Jack Hermansson
7. Kelvin Gastelum
8. Derek Brunson
9. Edmen Shahbazyan
10. Uriah Hall
11. Brad Tavares
12. Omari Akhmedov
13. Ian Heinisch
14. Antonio Carlos Junior
15. Anderson Silva
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: JON JONES
1. Dominick Reyes
2. Thiago Santos
3. Anthony Smith
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Corey Anderson
6. Volkan Oezdemir
7. Alexander Gustafsson
8. Glover Teixeira
9. Aleksandar Rakic
10. Nikita Krylov +2
11. Johnny Walker -1
12. Misha Cirkunov -1
13. Magomed Ankalaev
14. Ronaldo Souza
15. Mauricio Rua
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: STIPE MIOCIC
1. Daniel Cormier
2. Francis Ngannou
3. Curtis Blaydes
4. Junior dos Santos
5. Derrick Lewis
6. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
7. Alexander Volkov
8. Alistair Overeem
9. Walt Harris
10. Shamil Abdurakhimov
11. Blagoy Ivanov
12. Aleksei Oleinik
13. Augusto Sakai
14. Sergei Pavlovich
15. Ciryl Gane
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Weili Zhang
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
6. Rose Namajunas
7. Tatiana Suarez
8. Holly Holm
9. Germaine De Randamie
10. Aspen Ladd
11. Katlyn Chookagian
12. Jessica Eye
13. Julianna Pena
14. Nina Ansaroff
15. Claudia Gadelha
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: WEILI ZHANG
1. Jessica Andrade
2. Rose Namajunas
3. Tatiana Suarez
4. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
5. Nina Ansaroff
6. Claudia Gadelha
7. Carla Esparza
8. Michelle Waterson
9. Marina Rodriguez
10. Cynthia Calvillo
11. Yan Xiaonan
12. Tecia Torres +1
13. Felice Herrig -1
14. Alexa Grasso
15. Amanda Ribas *NR
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO
1. Jessica Eye
2. Katlyn Chookagian
3. Joanne Calderwood
4. Jennifer Maia
5. Roxanne Modafferi
6. Lauren Murphy
7. Viviane Araujo
8. Andrea Lee
9. Maycee Barber
10. Alexis Davis
11. Montana De La Rosa
12. Antonina Shevchenko
13. Ji Yeon Kim
14. Molly McCann
15. Poliana Botelho
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: AMANDA NUNES
1. Germaine de Randamie
2. Holly Holm
3. Aspen Ladd
4. Julianna Pena
5. Irene Aldana
6. Raquel Pennington
7. Ketlen Vieira
8. Yana Kunitskaya
9. Sara McMann
10. Marion Reneau
11. Lina Lansberg
12. Macy Chiasson
13. Bethe Correia
14. Nicco Montano
15. Sijara Eubanks
There you have it.
The UFC rankings will likely stay the same for awhile, as the promotion has postponed its next three events in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The next major update is expected in the wake of UFC 249: “Khabib vs. Ferguson” once that fight finally finds a home.
For more UFC Brasilia results click here.