Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently updated its official rankings in the wake of the UFC Vegas 64 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, which took place last Sat. night (Nov. 5, 2022) inside the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. That’s where strawweight contender Amanda Lemos blasted her way into the division Top 5 with a third-round technical knockout victory over fellow 115-pound Brazilian Marina Rodriguez (see it again here). Not surprisingly, “Amandinha” is now calling for the next strawweight title shot.
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. Alexander Volkanovski
2. Israel Adesanya
3. (T) Islam Makhachev
3. (T) Kamaru Usman
5. Leon Edwards
6. Francis Ngannou
7. Charles Oliveira
8. Aljamain Sterling
9. Jiri Prochazka
10. Deiveson Figueiredo
11. Dustin Poirier
12. Jon Jones
13. Max Holloway
14. Brandon Moreno
15. Robert Whittaker
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo
1. Brandon Moreno *Interim Champion
2. Alexandre Pantoja
3. Kai Kara France
4. Brandon Royval
5. Alex Perez
6. Matheus Nicolau
7. Matt Schnell
8. David Dvorak
9. Amir Albazi
10. Tim Elliott
11. Su Mudaerji +1
12. Manel Kape -1
13. Jeffrey Molina
14. Muhammad Mokaev
14. Tagir Ulanbekov *NR
Note: Askar Askarov, previously ranked No. 4, released from UFC.
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Aljamain Sterling
1. Sean O’Malley
2. Merab Dvalishvili
3. Petr Yan -1
4. Marlon Vera
5. T.J. Dillashaw
6. Cory Sandhagen
7. Rob Font
8. Dominick Cruz
9. Pedro Munhoz
10. Song Yadong
11. Ricky Simon
12. Frankie Edgar
13. Umar Nurmagomedov
14. Adrian Yanez
15. Jack Shore
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Max Holloway
2. Yair Rodriguez
3. Brian Ortega
4. Arnold Allen
5. Josh Emmett
6. Chan Sung Jung
7. Calvin Kattar
8. Giga Chikadze
9. Bryce Mitchell
10. Movsar Evloev
11. Sodiq Yusuff
12. Dan Ige
13. Edson Barboza
14. Ilia Topuria
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. Rafael dos Anjos
8. Mateusz Gamrot
9. Arman Tsarukyan
10. Jalin Turner
11. Damir Ismagulov
12. Dan Hooker
13. Conor McGregor
14. Tony Ferguson
15. Grant Dawson +1
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Leon Edwards
1. Kamaru Usman
2. Colby Covington
3. Khamzat Chimaev
4. Belal Muhammed
5. Gilbert Burns
6. (T) Geoff Neal
6. (T) Stephen Thompson +1
8. Sean Brady
9. Vicente Luque
10. Shavkat Rakhmonov
11. Jorge Masvidal
12. Michael Chiesa
13. Neil Magny
14. Michel Pereira +1
15. Daniel Rodriguez -1
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Israel Adesanya
1. Robert Whittaker
2. Jared Cannonier
3. Marvin Vettori
4. Alex Pereira
5. Derek Brunson
6. Paulo Costa
7. Sean Strickland
8. Jack Hermansson
9. Darren Till
10. Andre Muniz
11. Kelvin Gastelum
12. Nassourdine Imavov
13. Dricus Du Plessis
14. Chris Curtis
15. Brad Tavares
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jiri Prochazka
1. Glover Teixeira
2. Jan Blachowicz
3. Magomed Ankalaev
4. Aleksandar Rakic
5. Anthony Smith
6. Jamahal Hill
7. Dominick Reyes
8. Nikita Krylov
9. Paul Craig
10. Volkan Oezdemir
11. Johnny Walker
12. Ryan Spann
13. Jim Crute
14. Khalil Rountree
15. Dustin Jacoby
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Francis Ngannou
1. Ciryl Gane
2. Stipe Miocic
3. Curtis Blaydes
4. Tai Tuivasa
5. Sergei Pavlovich
6. Tom Aspinall
7. Derrick Lewis
8. Alexander Volkov
9. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
10. Marcin Tybura
11. Chris Daukaus
12. Serghei Spivac
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Blagoy Ivanov
15. Shamil Abdurakhimov
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. Julianna Pena
4. Carla Esparza -1
5. Rose Namajunas
6. Weili Zhang
7. Jessica Andrade
8. Marina Rodriguez
9. Holly Holm
10. Amanda Lemos *NR
11. (T) Taila Santos +1
11. (T) Katlyn Chookagian -1
13. Ketlen Vieira -2
14. Manon Fiorot
15. Yan Xiaonan -1
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Carla Esparza
1. Rose Namajunas
2. Zhang Weili
3. Amanda Lemos +4
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Marina Rodriguez -2
6. Yan Xiaonan -1
7. Mackenzie Dern -1
8. Tecia Torres
9. Amanda Ribas
10. Virna Jandiroba
11. Michelle Waterson
12. Angela Hill
13. Emily Ducote
14. Luana Pinheiro
15. Joanna J?drzejczyk *NR
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Manon Fiorot
2. Talia Santos
3. Katlyn Chookagian
4. Lauren Murphy
5. Alexa Grasso
6. Jessica Andrade
7. Viviane Araujo
8. Jennifer Maia
9. Andrea Lee
10. Casey O’Neill
11. Maycee Barber
12. Erin Blanchfield
13. Tracy Cortez
14. Cynthia Calvillo
15. Molly McCann
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1. Julianna Pena
2. Ketlen Vieira
3. Holly Holm
4. Irene Aldana
5. Raquel Pennington
6. Yana Kunitskaya
7. Pannie Kianzad
8. Macy Chiasson
9. Karol Rosa
10. Miesha Tate
11. Julia Avila
12. Lina Lansberg
13. Norma Dumont
14. Mayra Bueno Silva
15. Josiane Nunes
There you have it.
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the middleweight and strawweight divisions, following the UFC 281: “Adesanya vs. Pereira” mixed martial arts (MMA) event scheduled for this Sat. night (Nov. 12, 2022) on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.