It was a busy week for the “official” UFC rankings in the wake of the UFC Vegas 50 mixed martial arts (MMA) event last Sat. night (March 12, 2022) inside APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, with big moves from rising contenders Song Yadong and Magomed Ankalaev.
Yadong improved his position to No. 9 with his second-round finish over bantamweight veteran Marlon Moraes. “Magic” plummeted four spots to No. 14. As for Ankalaev, he broke into the light heavyweight Top 5 with his ho-hum decision victory over Thiago Santos.
“Marreta” fell to No. 6.
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. Israel Adesanya
3. Alexander Volkanovski
4. Francis Ngannou
5. Charles Oliveira
6. Max Holloway
7. Jon Jones
8. Dustin Poirier
9. Petr Yan
10. Glover Teixeira
11. Deiveson Figueiredo
12. Stipe Miocic
13. Brandon Moreno
14. Robert Whittaker
15. Jan Blachowicz
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo
1. Brandon Moreno
2. Askar Askarov
3. Alexandre Pantoja
4. Alex Perez
5. Brandon Royval
6. Kai Kara France
7. Rogerio Bontorin
8. Matheus Nicolau
9. Matt Schnell
10. David Dvorak
11. Tim Elliott
12. Su Mudaerji
13. Amir Albazi
14. Manel Kape
15. Tagir Ulanbekov
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Aljamain Sterling
1. Petr Yan (Interim champion)
2. T.J. Dillashaw
3. Jose Aldo
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Rob Font
6. Merab Dvalishvili
7. Dominick Cruz
8. Marlon Vera
9. (T) Pedro Munhoz
9. (T) Song Yadong +5
11. Frankie Edgar
12. Sean O’Malley
13. Ricky Simon
14. Marlon Moraes -4
15. Raphael Assuncao
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. Yair Rodriguez
4. Chan Sung Jung
5. Calvin Kattar
6. Josh Emmett
7. Arnold Allen
8. Giga Chikadze
9. Bryce Mitchell
10. Dan Ige
11. Sodiq Yusuff +1
12. Edson Barboza -1
13. Movsar Evloev
14. Shane Burgos
15. Ilia Topuria *NR
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Charles Oliveira
1. Justin Gaethje
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Islam Makhachev
4. Beneil Dariush
5. Michael Chandler
6. Rafael dos Anjos
7. Tony Ferguson
8. Dan Hooker
9. (T) Conor McGregor
9. (T) Gregor Gillespie
11. Rafael Fiziev
12. Arman Tsarukyan
13. Mateusz Gamrot
14. Brad Riddell
15. Diego Ferreira
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Kamaru Usman
1. Colby Covington
2. Gilbert Burns
3. Leon Edwards
4. Vicente Luque
5. Belal Muhammed
6. Stephen Thompson
7. Jorge Masvidal
8. Sean Brady
9. Neil Magny
10. Michael Chiesa
11. Khamzat Chimaev
12. Geoff Neal
13. Li Jingliang
14. Santiago Ponzinibbio
15. Muslim Salikhov
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Israel Adesanya
1. Robert Whittaker
2. Jared Cannonier
3. Marvin Vettori
4. (T) Derek Brunson
4. (T) Paulo Costa
4. (T) Sean Strickland
7. Jack Hermansson
8. Darren Till
9. Uriah Hall
10. Kelvin Gastelum
11. Nassourdine Imavov
12. Brad Tavares
13. Andre Muniz
14. Chris Weidman
15. Edmen Shahbazyan
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Glover Teixeira
1. Jan Blachowicz
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Aleksandar Rakic
4. Magomed Ankalaev +2
5. Anthony Smith -1
6. Thiago Santos -1
7. Dominick Reyes
8. Volkan Oezdemir
9. Nikita Krylov
10. Jamahal Hill
11. Paul Craig
12. Johnny Walker
13. Ryan Spann
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. Alexander Volkov
7. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
8. Chris Daukaus
9. Marcin Tybura
10. Shamil Abdurakhimov
11. Tom Aspinall
12. Augusto Sakai
13. Walt Harris
14. Blagoy Ivanov
15. Serghei Spivac
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Amanda Nunes
3. Rose Namajunas
4. Julianna Pena
5. Weili Zhang
6. Jessica Andrade
7. Holly Holm
8. Carla Esparza
9. Marina Rodriguez
10. Katlyn Chookagian
11. Yan Xiaonan
12. Irene Aldana
13. Lauren Murphy
14. Mackenzie Dern
15. Aspen Ladd
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1. Zhang Weili
2. Carla Esparza
3. Marina Rodriguez
4. Yan Xiaonan
5. Mackenzie Dern
6. Nina Nunes
7. Tecia Torres
8. Michelle Waterson
9. Amanda Ribas
10. Amanda Lemos
11. Virna Jandiroba
12. Angela Hill
13. Jessica Penne
14. Brianna Van Buren
15. Luana Pinheiro
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Jessica Andrade
2. Katlyn Chookagian
3. Lauren Murphy
4. Jennifer Maia
5. Talia Santos
6. Viviane Araujo
7. Joanne Wood
8. Andrea Lee
9. Cynthia Calvillo +1
10. Jessica Eye -1
11. Alexa Grasso
12. Casey O’Neill
13. Manon Fiorot
14. Maycee Barber
15. Erin Blanchfield
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Julianna Pena
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Holly Holm
3. Irene Aldana
4. Aspen Ladd
5. Ketlen Vieira
6. Yana Kunitskaya
7. Raquel Pennington
8. Miesha Tate
9. Sara McMann
10. Macy Chiasson
11. Lina Lansberg
12. Karol Rosa
13. Pannie Kianzad
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 heavyweight division, as Alexander Volkov and Tom Aspinall collide in the UFC London main event this Sat. night (March 19) inside O2 Arena in London, England.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.