Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
In addition, Jussier Formiga — the last man to defeat flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo — has been scratched from the flyweight rankings after parting ways with UFC.
The “official” UFC rankings have been updated in the wake of the promotion’s UFC Vegas 14 event last weekend at APEX, and former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos made his triumphant return to the 155-pound lineup after outlasting veteran bruiser Paul Felder in the five-round main event.
In defeat, “The Irish Dragon” slips one spot to No. 8.
Elsewhere on the charts, Nate Diaz was removed from the welterweight rankings due to inactivity and along with the departure of Dos Anjos, Belal Muhammed and Khamzat Chimaev were able to grab the open 170-pound slots at No. 13 and No. 15, respectively.
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. Petr Yan
10. Justin Gaethje
11. Conor McGregor
12. Robert Whittaker
13. Tony Ferguson
14. Deiveson Figueiredo
15. Francis Ngannou
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo
1. Joseph Benavidez
2. Brandon Moreno
3. Askar Askarov
4. Alex Perez
5. Alexandre Pantoja
6. Brandon Royval
7. Kai Kara France +1
8. Rogerio Bontorin +1
9. Matt Schnell +1
10. Raulian Paiva +1
11. David Dvorak +1
12. Tim Elliott +1
13. Jordan Espinosa +2
14. Tyson Nam
15. Amir Albazi *NR
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Petr Yan
1. Aljamain Sterling
2. Cory Sandhagen
3. Marlon Moraes
4. Cody Garbrandt
5. Frankie Edgar
6. Pedro Munhoz
7. Jose Aldo
8. Jimmie Rivera
9. Raphael Assuncao
10. Dominick Cruz
11. Rob Font
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. (T) Jeremy Stephens
8. (T) 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. Tony Ferguson
4. Conor McGregor
5. Dan Hooker
6. Charles Oliveira
7. Rafael dos Anjos *NR
8. Paul Felder -1
9. Diego Ferreira -1
10. Al Iaquinta -1
11. Kevin Lee -1
12. Beneil Dariush -1
13. Islam Makhachev -1
14. Gregor Gillespie -1
15. Drew Dober -1
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: KAMARU USMAN
1. Colby Covington
2. Gilbert Burns
3. Leon Edwards
4. Jorge Masvidal
5. Stephen Thompson
6. Tyron Woodley +1
7. Demian Maia -1
8. Michael Chiesa
9. Neil Magny
10. Vicente Luque
11. Geoff Neal
12. Anthony Pettis +2
13. Belal Muhammed *NR
14. Robbie Lawler -1
15. Khamzat Chimaev *NR
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: ISRAEL ADESANYA
1. Robert Whittaker
2. Paulo Costa
3. Jared Cannonier
4. Jack Hermansson
5. Yoel Romero
6. Darren Till
7. Derek Brunson
8. Kelvin Gastelum
9. Uriah Hall
10. Chris Weidman
11. Edmen Shahbazyan
12. Omari Akhmedov
13. Marvin Vettori
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. Ryan Spann
13. Jim Crute
14. Mauricio Rua
15. Paul Craig
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: STIPE MIOCIC
1. Francis Ngannou
2. Curtis Blaydes
3. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
4. Derrick Lewis
5. Alistair Overeem
6. Alexander Volkov
7. Junior dos Santos
8. Shamil Abdurakhimov
9. Augusto Sakai
10. Aleksei Oleinik
11. Walt Harris
12. Sergei Pavlovich
13. (T) Ciryl Gane
13. (T) Blagoy Ivanov
15. Andrei Arlovski
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Weili Zhang
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Rose Namajunas
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
7. Germaine De Randamie
8. Holly Holm
9. Aspen Ladd
10. Cynthia Calvillo
11. Nina Ansaroff
12. Katlyn Chookagian
13. Yan Xiaonan
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 +1
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. Jennifer Maia
4. Cynthia Calvillo
5. Lauren Murphy
6. Jessica Eye
7. Joanne Calderwood
8. Roxanne Modafferi
9. Viviane Araujo
10. Andrea Lee
11. Maycee Barber
12. Gillian Robertson
13. Alexis Davis
14. Montana De La Rosa
15. Antonina Shevchenko
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: AMANDA NUNES
1. Germaine de Randamie
2. Holly Holm
3. Aspen Ladd
4. Raquel Pennington
5. Irene Aldana
6. Julianna Pena
7. Ketlen Vieira
8. Yana Kunitskaya
9. Sara McMann
10. Marion Reneau
11. Lina Lansberg
12. Macy Chiasson
13. Sijara Eubanks
14. Pannie Kianzad
15. Julia Avila
There you have it.
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the flyweight division, following this weekend’s UFC 255: “Figueiredo vs. Perez” pay-per-view (PPV) event on ESPN+ from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.