Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently updated its official rankings in the wake of the UFC 276 pay-per-view (PPV) event, which took place last Sat. night (July 2, 2022) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Making his debut on the middleweight chart is Brazilian striking sensation Alex Pereira, who landed at No. 6 with his first-round knockout win over Sean Strickland. “Tarzan” dropped to three places to No. 7.
Elsewhere in the rankings, former featherweight champion Max Holloway lost some ground on the pound-for-pound list, getting demoted to No. 8 after suffering his third loss to current champion Alex Volkanovski. In addition, Maycee Barber cracked the flyweight Top 10 by defeating longtime veteran Jessica Eye, while 155-pound prospects Jalin Turner and Damir Ismagulov both found their way into the lightweight Top 15.
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. Kamaru Usman
2. Alexander Volkanovski
3. Israel Adesanya
4. Charles Oliveira
5. Francis Ngannou
6. Dustin Poirier +1
7. Aljamain Sterling +1
8. Max Holloway -2
9. Jiri Prochazka +1
10. Deiveson Figueiredo
11. Jon Jones -2
12. Stipe Miocic
13. Petr Yan
14. Robert Whittaker
15. Glover Teixeira
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo
1. Brandon Moreno
2. Kai Kara France
3. Askar Askarov
4. Alexandre Pantoja
5. Brandon Royval
6. Alex Perez
7. Matheus Nicolau
8. Matt Schnell
9. David Dvorak
10. Tim Elliott
11. Su Mudaerji
12. Amir Albazi
13. Manel Kape
14. Tagir Ulanbekov
15. Jeffrey Molina
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Aljamain Sterling
1. Petr Yan
2. T.J. Dillashaw
3. Jose Aldo
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Marlon Vera
6. Merab Dvalishvili
7. Rob Font
8. Dominick Cruz
9. Pedro Munhoz
10. Song Yadong
11. Ricky Simon +1
12. Frankie Edgar -1
13. Sean O’Malley
14. Jack Shore
15. (T) Umar Nurmagomedov
15. (T) Adrian Yanez *NR
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. (T) Yair Rodriguez
3. (T) Josh Emmett +1
5. (T) Calvin Kattar
5. (T) Arnold Allen +1
7. Chan Sung Jung
8. Giga Chikadze
9. Bryce Mitchell
10. Dan Ige
11. Sodiq Yusuff
12. Edson Barboza
13. Movsar Evloev
14. Shane Burgos
15. Ilia Topuria
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: VACANT
1. Charles Oliveira
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Justin Gaethje
4. Islam Makhachev
5. Michael Chandler
6. Beneil Dariush
7. Rafael dos Anjos
8. Mateusz Gamrot
9. Tony Ferguson
10. Rafael Fiziev
11. Arman Tsarukyan
12. Conor McGregor
13. Dan Hooker
14. Jalin Turner *NR
15. Damir Ismagulov *NR
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Kamaru Usman
1. Colby Covington
2. Leon Edwards
3. Khamzat Chimaev
4. Gilbert Burns
5. Belal Muhammed
6. Vicente Luque
7. Stephen Thompson
8. Jorge Masvidal
9. Sean Brady
10. Shavkat Rakhmonov
11. Michael Chiesa
12. Neil Magny
13. Geoff Neal
14. Li Jingliang
15. Michel Pereira
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Israel Adesanya
1. Robert Whittaker
2. (T) Jared Cannonier
2. (T) Marvin Vettori +1
4. Derek Brunson +1
5. Paulo Costa +1
6. Alex Pereira *NR
7. Sean Strickland -3
8. Jack Hermansson -1
9. Darren Till -1
10. Andre Muniz +3
11. Kelvin Gastelum -1
12. Uriah Hall -3
13. Nassourdine Imavov -2
14. Dricus Du Plessis *NR
15. Brad Tavares -3
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jiri Prochazka
1. Glover Teixeira
2. Jan Blachowicz
3. Aleksandar Rakic
4. Magomed Ankalaev
5. Anthony Smith
6. Thiago Santos
7. Dominick Reyes
8. Paul Craig
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Jamahal Hill
11. Nikita Krylov
12. Ryan Spann
13. Johnny Walker
14. Jim Crute
15. Dustin Jacoby
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Francis Ngannou
1. Ciryl Gane
2. Stipe Miocic
3. Tai Tuivasa
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Derrick Lewis
6. Tom Aspinall
7. Alexander Volkov
8. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
9. Chris Daukaus
10. Marcin Tybura
11. Sergei Pavlovich
12. Shamil Abdurakhimov
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Augusto Sakai
15. Blagoy Ivanov
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Amanda Nunes
3. Julianna Pena
4. Rose Namajunas
5. Weili Zhang
6. Carla Esparza
7. Jessica Andrade
8. Marina Rodriguez
9. Holly Holm
10. Katlyn Chookagian
11. Ketlen Vieira
12. Yan Xiaonan
13. Mackenzie Dern
14. Taila Santos
15. Raquel Pennington
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Carla Esparza
1. Rose Namajunas
2. Zhang Weili
3. Marina Rodriguez
4. Mackenzie Dern
5. Yan Xiaonan
6. Jessica Andrade
7. Nina Nunes
8. Tecia Torres
9. Amanda Ribas
10. Michelle Waterson
11. Amanda Lemos
12. Virna Jandiroba
13. Angela Hill
14. Jessica Penne
15. Luana Pinheiro
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Katlyn Chookagian
2. Talia Santos
3. Lauren Murphy
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Alexa Grasso
6. Viviane Araujo
7. Manon Fiorot
8. Jennifer Maia
9. Andrea Lee
10. Maycee Barber +3
11. Cynthia Calvillo -1
12. Casey O’Neill
13. Jessica Eye -3
14. Erin Blanchfield
15. Tracy Cortez
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Julianna Pena
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Ketlen Vieira
3. Holly Holm
4. Irene Aldana
5. Raquel Pennington
6. Yana Kunitskaya
7. Aspen Ladd
8. Sara McMann
9. Pannie Kianzad
10. Miesha Tate
11. Macy Chiasson
12. Lina Lansberg
13. Karol Rosa
14. Julia Avila
15. Norma Dumont
There you have it.
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the lightweight division, following the UFC Vegas 58: “Dos Anjos vs. Fiziev” mixed martial arts (MMA) event scheduled for this Sat. night (July 9, 2022) inside APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.