The “official” UFC rankings have been updated in the wake of the promotion’s UFC Vegas 17 event last weekend at APEX, where welterweight contender Stephen Thompson captured a five-round unanimous decision victory over 170-pound bruiser Geoff Neal
Both fighters held on to their respective spots in this week’s update.
Elsewhere on the charts, former bantamweight No. 1 contender Marlon Moraes dropped out of the Top 5 following his second straight loss, a technical knockout defeat to rising slugger Rob Font. The Bostonian climbed six spots to No. 5 by spoiling “Magic.”
Here’s a refresher on 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. Khabib Nurmagomedov
2. Jon Jones
3. Israel Adesanya
4. Stipe Miocic
5. Kamaru Usman
6. Alexander Volkanovski
7. Dustin Poirier
8. Max Holloway
9. Deiveson Figueiredo
10. Petr Yan
11. Justin Gaethje
12. Conor McGregor
13. Robert Whittaker
14. Francis Ngannou
15. Jan Blachowicz
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo
1. Brandon Moreno
2. Joseph Benavidez
3. Askar Askarov
4. Alex Perez
5. Alexandre Pantoja
6. Brandon Royval
7. Rogerio Bontorin
8. Kai Kara France
9. Matt Schnell
10. Raulian Paiva
11. David Dvorak
12. Tim Elliott
13. Tyson Nam
14. Jordan Espinosa
15. Amir Albazi
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Petr Yan
1. Aljamain Sterling
2. Cory Sandhagen
3. Cody Garbrandt +1
4. Frankie Edgar +1
5. Rob Font +6
6. Jose Aldo +1
7. Marlon Moraes -4
8. Pedro Munhoz -3
9. Jimmie Rivera -1
10. Raphael Assuncao -1
11. Dominick Cruz -1
12. Merab Dvalishvili
13. Cody Stamann
14. Song Yadong
15. Marlon Vera
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI
1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. Zabit Magomedsharipov
4. Yair Rodriguez
5. Chan Sung Jung
6. Calvin Kattar
7. Josh Emmett
8. Jeremy Stephens
9. Arnold Allen
10. Sodiq Yusuff
11. Dan Ige
12. Shane Burgos
13. Ryan Hall
14. Bryce Mitchell
15. Edson Barboza
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV
1. Justin Gaethje
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Charles Oliveira
4. Conor McGregor +1
5. Tony Ferguson -1
6. Dan Hooker
7. Rafael dos Anjos
8. Paul Felder
9. Diego Ferreira
10. Al Iaquinta
11. Kevin Lee
12. Beneil Dariush
13. Islam Makhachev
14. Gregor Gillespie
15. Drew Dober
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: KAMARU USMAN
1. Colby Covington
2. Gilbert Burns
3. Leon Edwards
4. Jorge Masvidal
5. Stephen Thompson
6. Tyron Woodley
7. Demian Maia
8. Michael Chiesa
9. Neil Magny
10. Vicente Luque
11. Geoff Neal
12. Anthony Pettis
13. Belal Muhammed
14. Robbie Lawler
15. Khamzat Chimaev
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: ISRAEL ADESANYA
1. Robert Whittaker
2. Paulo Costa
3. Jared Cannonier
4. Darren Till
5. Marvin Vettori
6. Jack Hermansson
7. Derek Brunson
8. Kelvin Gastelum
9. Uriah Hall
10. Kevin Holland
11. Chris Weidman
12. Edmen Shahbazyan
13. Omari Akhmedov
14. Brad Tavares
15. Ian Heinisch
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jan Blachowicz
1. Glover Teixeira
2. Thiago Santos
3. Dominick Reyes
4. Aleksandar Rakic
5. Jiri Prochazka
6. Anthony Smith
7. Volkan Oezdemir
8. Nikita Krylov
9. Johnny Walker
10. Misha Cirkunov
11. Magomed Ankalaev
12. Jim Crute
13. Ryan Spann -1
14. Paul Craig
15. Jamall Hill
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: STIPE MIOCIC
1. Francis Ngannou
2. Curtis Blaydes
3. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
4. Derrick Lewis
5. Alistair Overeem
6. Alexander Volkov
7. Ciryl Gane
8. Shamil Abdurakhimov
9. Augusto Sakai
10. Aleksei Oleinik +1
11. Junior dos Santos -1
12. Walt Harris
13. Blagoy Ivanov +1
14. Sergei Pavlovich -1
15. Marcin Tybura *NR
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. Weili Zhang
4. Rose Namajunas
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
7. Germaine De Randamie
8. Holly Holm
9. Aspen Ladd
10. Katlyn Chookagian
11. Nina Ansaroff
12. Yan Xiaonan
13. Cynthia Calvillo
14. Claudia Gadelha
15. Julianna Pena
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: WEILI ZHANG
1. Rose Namajunas
2. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
3. Yan Xiaonan
4. Carla Esparza
5. Nina Ansaroff
6. Claudia Gadelha
7. Michelle Waterson
8. Marina Rodriguez
9. (T) Tecia Torres
9. (T) Amanda Ribas
11. Mackenzie Dern
12. Angela Hill
13. Virna Jandiroba
14. Felice Herrig
15. Livinha Souza
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO
1. Jessica Andrade
2. Katlyn Chookagian
3. Lauren Murphy
4. Jennifer Maia
5. Cynthia Calvillo
6. Jessica Eye
7. Joanne Calderwood
8. Roxanne Modafferi
9. Viviane Araujo
10. Maycee Barber
11. Andrea Lee
12. Alexis Davis
13. Talia Santos *NR
14. Antonina Shevchenko
15. Montana De La Rosa
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: AMANDA NUNES
1. Germaine de Randamie
2. Holly Holm
3. Aspen Ladd
4. Raquel Pennington
5. Irene Aldana
6. Ketlen Vieira
7. Julianna Pena
8. Yana Kunitskaya
9. Sara McMann
10. Marion Reneau
11. Lina Lansberg
12. Macy Chiasson
13. Pannie Kianzad +1
14. Sijara Eubanks -1
15. Julia Avila
There you have it.
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next month, particularly in the featherweight division, following the UFC Fight Island 7: “Holloway vs. Kattar” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+ (and possibly ABC) from Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.