Undefeated bantamweight sensation Umar Nurmagomedov secured the next crack at the 135-pound title by turning away longtime contender Cory Sandhagen as part of the UFC Abu Dhabi mixed martial arts (MMA) event last weekend on ABC. His performance was good enough to land Nurmagomedov at No. 2 in the bantamweight rankings, right below wrestling phenom Merab Dvalishvili, who battles Sean O’Malley for the division strap at Noche UFC next month in Las Vegas.
This week’s official rankings update also saw Deiveson Figueiredo crack the bantamweight Top 5 after his unanimous decision victory over former title challenger Marlon Vera. “Chito” slipped three spots to No. 7 in the wake of his UFC Abu Dhabi loss, his second straight. You’ll notice some unusual activity in several weight classes, like ties and movement from fighters who didn’t compete in recent weeks, which suggests the rankings panel was missing some voters for this latest update.
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. Islam Makhachev
2. Alex Pereira
3. Jon Jones
4. Ilia Topuria
5. Belal Muhammad +1
6. Sean O’Malley -1
7. Leon Edwards
8. Alexander Volkanovski
9. Tom Aspinall
10. Max Holloway
11. Dricus Du Plessis
12. Alexandre Pantoja
13. Israel Adesanya
14. Sean Strickland
15. Charles Oliveira
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexandre Pantoja
1. Brandon Royval
2. Brandon Moreno
3. Amir Albazi
4. Kai Kara France
5. Tatsuro Taira
6. Alex Perez
7. Steve Erceg
8. Matheus Nicolau
9. Manel Kape
10. Tim Elliott
11. Matt Schnell
12. Tagir Ulanbekov
13. Bruno Silva
14. Asu Almabayev
15. Cody Durden
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Sean O’Malley
1. Merab Dvalishvili
2. Umar Nurmagomedov +8
3. Petr Yan
4. Cory Sandhagen -2
5. Deiveson Figueiredo +1
6. Henry Cejudo -1
7. Marlon Vera -3
8. Song Yadong -1
9. Jose Aldo -1
10. Rob Font -1
11. (T) Kyler Phillips
11. (T) Mario Bautista +1
13. Dominick Cruz
14. Jonathan Martinez
15. Montel Jackson
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Ilia Topuria
1. Alexander Volkanovski
2. Max Holloway
3. Brian Ortega
4. Yair Rodriguez
5. Arnold Allen
6. Movsar Evloev -1
7. Josh Emmett
8. Aljamain Sterling
9. Calvin Kattar
10. Giga Chikadze
11. Lerone Murphy
12. (T) Diego Lopes
12. (T) Bryce Mitchell +1
14. Dan Ige
15. Edson Barboza
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Arman Tsarukyan
2. Charles Oliveira
3. Justin Gaethje
4. Dustin Poirier
5. Mateusz Gamrot
6. Michael Chandler
7. Beneil Dariush
8. Rafael Fiziev
9. Max Holloway
10. Renato Moicano
11. Dan Hooker
12. Benoit Saint-Denis
13. Rafael dos Anjos +1
14. Jalin Turner -1
15. Paddy Pimblett
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Belal Muhammed
1. Leon Edwards
2. Kamaru Usman
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov
4. Colby Covington
5. Jack Della Maddalena
6. Gilbert Burns
7. Ian Machado Garry
8. Sean Brady
9. Stephen Thompson
10. Geoff Neal
11. Joaquin Buckley
12. Neil Magny
13. Vicente Luque
14. Michael Page
15. Kevin Holland
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Dricus Du Plessis
1. Sean Strickland
2. Israel Adesanya
3. Robert Whittaker
4. Nassourdine Imavov
5. Jared Cannonier
6. Marvin Vettori
7. Brendan Allen
8. Paulo Costa
9. Jack Hermansson
10. Roman Dolidze
11. Khamzat Chimaev
12. Caio Borralho
13. Michel Pereira
14. Anthony Hernandez
15. Chris Curtis
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Alex Pereira
1. Jiri Prochazka
2. Magomed Ankalaev
3. Jamahal Hill
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Aleksandar Rakic
6. (T) Nikita Krylov
6. (T) Volkan Oezdemir +1
8. Khalil Rountree
9. Johnny Walker
10. Carlos Ulberg
11. Azamat Murzakanov +3
12. Anthony Smith -1
13. Bogdan Guskov -1
14. Dominick Reyes -1
15. Roman Dolidze *NR
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jon Jones
1. Tom Aspinall
2. Ciryl Gane
3. Alexander Volkov
4. Sergei Pavlovich
5. Curtis Blaydes
6. Stipe Miocic
7. Jailton Almeida
8. Marcin Tybura
9. Serghei Spivac
10. Tai Tuivasa
11. Derrick Lewis
12. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Marcos Rogerio De Lima
15. Rodrigo Nascimento
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Alexa Grasso
2. Zhang Weili
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Manon Fiorot
5. (T) Julianna Pena
5. (T) Raquel Pennington +1
7. Rose Namajunas
8. Erin Blanchfield
9. Tatiana Suarez
10. Yan Xiaonan
11. Jessica Andrade
12. Kayla Harrison
13. Virna Jandiroba
14. Ketlen Vieira
15. Amanda Lemos
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Tatiana Suarez
2. Yan Xiaonan
3. Virna Jandiroba
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Amanda Lemos
6. Marina Rodriguez
7. Amanda Ribas +1
8. Mackenzie Dern -1
9. Angela Hill
10. Loopy Godinez
11. Tabatha Ricci
12. Luana Pinheiro
13. Gillian Robertson
14. Iasmin Lucindo
15. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexa Grasso
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Manon Fiorot
3. Erin Blanchfield
4. Maycee Barber
5. Rose Namajunas
6. Jessica Andrade
7. Katlyn Cerminara
8. Natalia Silva
9. Viviane Araújo +1
10. Amanda Ribas -1
11. Karine Silva
12. Tracy Cortez
13. Ariane Da Silva
14. Jasmine Jasudavicius
15. Casey O’Neill
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Raquel Pennington
1. Julianna Pena
2. Ketlen Vieira
3. Kayla Harrison
4. Irene Aldana
5. Macy Chiasson
6. Mayra Bueno Silva
7. Holly Holm
8. (T) Karol Rosa
8. (T) Norma Dumont +2
8. (T) Miesha Tate +1
11. Pannie Kianzad
12. Yana Santos
13. Julia Avila
14. Chelsea Chandler
15. Germaine De Randamie
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the heavyweight division, following the UFC Vegas 95: “Tybura vs. Spivac 2” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN and ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., Aug. 10, 2024 at APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.