In addition, Belal Muhammad moves into the No. 4 spot at welterweight while Manon Fiorot climbs to No. 1 at women’s flyweight.
Sean O’Malley is the No. 1 bantamweight in UFC.
That’s according to the “official” UFC rankings update, which has “Sugar” booting former champion Petr Yan from the top spot after scoring a controversial split decision victory at the UFC 280 pay-per-view (PPV) event last weekend in Abu Dhabi.
Remember, it’s not his (expletive) fault.
The drama doesn’t stop there, as newly-crowned lightweight champion Islam Makhachev blasted his way onto the pound-for-pound chart — at the expense of ex-champ Charles Oliveira — by dropping and submitting “Do Bronx” in the UFC 280 headliner.
Respect “The Truth.”
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. Alexander Volkanovski
2. Israel Adesanya
3. Islam Makhachev *NR
4. Kamaru Usman
5. Leon Edwards +1
6. Francis Ngannou -1
7. Charles Oliveira -4
8. Aljamain Sterling -1
9. Jiri Prochazka +1
10. Deiveson Figueiredo -1
11. Dustin Poirier -3
12. Jon Jones -1
13. Max Holloway -1
14. Brandon Moreno
15. Robert Whittaker *NR
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo
1. Brandon Moreno *Interim Champion
2. Alexandre Pantoja
3. Kai Kara France
4. Askar Askarov
5. Brandon Royval
6. Alex Perez
7. Matheus Nicolau
8. Matt Schnell
9. Amir Albazi
10. David Dvorak
11. Tim Elliott
12. Su Mudaerji +1
13. Manel Kape -1
14. Jeffrey Molina
14. Muhammad Mokaev *NR
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Aljamain Sterling
1. Sean O’Malley +10
2. Petr Yan -1
3. Merab Dvalishvili +1
4. Marlon Vera +1
5. T.J. Dillashaw -3
6. Cory Sandhagen -2
7. Rob Font -1
8. Dominick Cruz -1
9. Pedro Munhoz -1
10. Song Yadong -1
11. Ricky Simon -1
12. Frankie Edgar
13. Umar Nurmagomedov
14. Adrian Yanez
15. Jack Shore
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Max Holloway
2. Yair Rodriguez
3. Brian Ortega
4. Josh Emmett
5. Calvin Kattar
6. Arnold Allen
7. Chan Sung Jung -1
8. Giga Chikadze
9. Bryce Mitchell
10. Movsar Evloev
11. Sodiq Yusuff +1
12. Dan Ige -1
13. Edson Barboza
14. Ilia Topuria
15. Alex Caceres
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Charles Oliveira
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Justin Gaethje
4. Beneil Dariush +2
5. Michael Chandler
6. Rafael Fiziev +1
7. Rafael dos Anjos +1
8. Mateusz Gamrot +1
9. Arman Tsarukyan +1
10. Jalin Turner +3
11. Damir Ismagulov
12. Dan Hooker +2
13. Conor McGregor -1
14. Tony Ferguson +1
15. Drew Dober *NR
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Leon Edwards
1. Kamaru Usman
2. Colby Covington
3. Khamzat Chimaev
4. Belal Muhammed +1
5. Gilbert Burns -1
6. Geoff Neal
7. Stephen Thompson
8. Sean Brady
9. Vicente Luque
10. Shavkat Rakhmonov
11. Jorge Masvidal
12. Michael Chiesa
13. Neil Magny
14. Daniel Rodriguez
15. Michel Pereira
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Israel Adesanya
1. Robert Whittaker
2. Jared Cannonier
3. Marvin Vettori
4. Alex Pereira
5. Derek Brunson
6. Paulo Costa
7. Sean Strickland
8. Jack Hermansson
9. Darren Till
10. Andre Muniz
11. Kelvin Gastelum
12. Nassourdine Imavov
13. Dricus Du Plessis
14. Chris Curtis
15. Brad Tavares
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jiri Prochazka
1. Glover Teixeira
2. Jan Blachowicz
3. Magomed Ankalaev
4. Aleksandar Rakic
5. Anthony Smith
6. Jamahal Hill
7. Dominick Reyes
8. Nikita Krylov +2
9. Paul Craig
10. Volkan Oezdemir -2
11. Johnny Walker
12. Ryan Spann
13. Dustin Jacoby
14. Jim Crute
15. Azamat Murzakanov
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Francis Ngannou
1. Ciryl Gane
2. Stipe Miocic
3. Curtis Blaydes
4. Tai Tuivasa
5. Sergei Pavlovich
6. Tom Aspinall
7. Derrick Lewis
8. Alexander Volkov
9. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
10. Marcin Tybura
11. Chris Daukaus
12. Serghei Spivac
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Blagoy Ivanov
15. Shamil Abdurakhimov
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. (T) Julianna Pena
3. (T) Carla Esparza +1
5. Rose Namajunas
6. Weili Zhang
7. Jessica Andrade
8. Marina Rodriguez
9. Holly Holm
10. Katlyn Chookagian
11. Ketlen Vieira
12. Taila Santos +1
13. Manon Fiorot
14. Yan Xiaonan -2
15. Irene Aldana -1
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Carla Esparza
1. Rose Namajunas
2. Zhang Weili
3. Marina Rodriguez
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Yan Xiaonan
6. Mackenzie Dern
7. Amanda Lemos
8. Tecia Torres -1
9. Amanda Ribas
10. Virna Jandiroba
11. Michelle Waterson
12. Angela Hill
13. Emily Ducote
14. Luana Pinheiro
15. Jessica Penne
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Manon Fiorot +5
2. Talia Santos
3. Katlyn Chookagian -2
4. Lauren Murphy -1
5. Alexa Grasso
6. Jessica Andrade -2
7. Viviane Araujo
8. Jennifer Maia
9. Andrea Lee
10. Casey O’Neill
11. Maycee Barber
12. Erin Blanchfield
13. Tracy Cortez
14. Cynthia Calvillo
15. Molly McCann
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1. Julianna Pena
2. Ketlen Vieira
3. Holly Holm
4. Irene Aldana
5. Raquel Pennington
6. Yana Kunitskaya
7. Pannie Kianzad
8. Macy Chiasson
9. Karol Rosa
10. Miesha Tate
11. Julia Avila
12. Lina Lansberg
13. Norma Dumont
14. Mayra Bueno Silva
15. Josiane Nunes
There you have it.
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the featherweight division, following the UFC Vegas 63: “Kattar vs. Allen” mixed martial arts (MMA) event scheduled for Sat., Oct. 29, 2022 on ESPN+ from APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.