Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently updated its “official” rankings in the wake of the UFC 296 pay-per-view (PPV) event, which took place last Sat. night (Dec. 16, 2023) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. That’s where reigning welterweight champion Leon Edwards defended his 170-pound title against longtime contender Colby Covington, who dropped two places to No. 5 with his lame-duck performance against “Rocky.”
Taking his place at No. 3 is undefeated up-and-comer Shavkat Rakhmonov, fresh off his submission victory over former title challenger Stephen Thompson. In addition, Ariane Lipski debuted on the women’s flyweight ladder following her armbar finish over 125-pound veteran Casey O’Neil. Elsdewhere on the chart, Brandon Royval slid one place to No. 3 after failing to capture the 125-pound title from Alexandre Pantoja.
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. Jon Jones
3. Alexander Volkanovski
4. Leon Edwards
5. Alex Pereira
6. Charles Oliveira
7. Sean Strickland +1
8. Sean O’Malley -1
9. Israel Adesanya
10. Alexandre Pantoja
11. Aljamain Sterling
12. Tom Aspinall
13. Max Holloway
14. Kamaru Usman
15. Jiri Prochazka
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexandre Pantoja
1. Brandon Moreno
2. Amir Albazi +1
3. Brandon Royval -1
4. Kai Kara France
5. Matheus Nicolau
6. Manel Kape
7. Alex Perez
8. Muhammad Mokaev
9. Matt Schnell
10. Tim Elliott
11. Tagir Ulanbekov +1
12. Steve Erceg -1
13. Su Mudaerji -2
14. David Dvorak
15. Tatsuro Taira *NR
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Sean O’Malley
1. Aljamain Sterling
2. Merab Dvalishvili
3. Henry Cejudo
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Petr Yan
6. Marlon Vera
7. Song Yadong
8. Deiveson Figueiredo
9. Rob Font
10. Dominick Cruz
11. Pedro Munhoz
12. Ricky Simon
13. Jonathan Martinez
14. Umar Nurmagomedov
15. Chris Gutierrez
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Max Holloway
2. Yair Rodriguez
3. (T) Brian Ortega
3. (T) Arnold Allen +1
5. Ilia Topuria
6. Josh Emmett
7. Calvin Kattar
8. Giga Chikadze
9. Movsar Evloev
10. Bryce Mitchell
11. Edson Barboza
12. Sodiq Yusuff
13. Dan Ige
14. Alex Caceres
15. Lerone Murphy
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Charles Oliveira
2. Justin Gaethje
3. Dustin Poirier
4. Arman Tsarukyan
5. Michael Chandler
6. Mateusz Gamrot
7. Beneil Dariush
8. Rafael Fiziev
9. Dan Hooker
10. Jalin Turner
11. Rafael dos Anjos
12. Benoit Saint-Denis
13. Renato Moicano
14. Bobby Green
15. Drew Dober
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Leon Edwards
1. Kamaru Usman
2. Belal Muhammed
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov +2
4. Gilbert Burns
5. Colby Covington -2
6. Stephen Thompson
7. Sean Brady
8. Geoff Neal
9. Vicente Luque
10. Ian Machado Garry
11. Jack Della Maddalena
12. Kevin Holland
13. Neil Magny
14. Michael Chiesa
15. Rinat Fakhretdinov
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Sean Strickland
1. Israel Adesanya
2. Dricus Du Plessis
3. Robert Whittaker
4. Jared Cannonier
5. Marvin Vettori
6. Paulo Costa
7. Roman Dolidze
8. Brendan Allen
9. Khamzat Chimaev
10. Jack Hermansson
11. Nassourdine Imavov
12. Paul Craig
13. Chris Curtis
14. Kelvin Gastelum
15. Anthony Hernandez
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Alex Pereira
1. Jamahal Hill
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Magomed Ankalaev
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Aleksandar Rakic
6. Nikita Krylov +1
7. Johnny Walker -1
8. Khalil Rountree
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Anthony Smith
11. Ryan Spann
12. Alonzo Menifield +2
13. Azamat Murzakanov -2
14. Dominick Reyes -2
15. Dustin Jacoby
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jon Jones
1. Tom Aspinall
2. Ciryl Gane
3. Sergei Pavlovich
4. Stipe Miocic
5. Curtis Blaydes
6. Alexander Volkov
7. Jailton Almeida
8. Serghei Spivac
9. Tai Tuivasa
10. (T) Derrick Lewis
10. (T) Marcin Tybura
12. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Marcos Rogerio De Lima +1
15. Rodrigo Nascimento -1
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Alexa Grasso
2. Zhang Weili
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Julianna Pena
5. Erin Blanchfield
6. Manon Fiorot
7. Carla Esparza +1
8. Rose Namajunas -1
9. Yan Xiaonan
10. Tatiana Suarez
11. Jessica Andrade
12. Raquel Pennington
13. Amanda Lemos
14. Ketlen Vieira
15. Irena Aldana
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Carla Esparza
2. Yan Xiaonan
3. Tatiana Suarez
4. Amanda Lemos
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Virna Jandiroba
7. Marina Rodriguez
8. Mackenzie Dern
9. Amanda Ribas
10. Luana Pinheiro
11. Loopy Godinez
12. Tabatha Ricci
13. Angela Hill
14. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
15. Michelle Waterson-Gomez
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexa Grasso
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Erin Blanchfield
3. Manon Fiorot
4. Katlyn Chookagian
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Lauren Murphy
7. Maycee Barber
8. Viviane Araújo
9. Amanda Ribas
10. Natalia Silva +1
11. Tracy Cortez -1
12. Ariane Lipski *NR
13. Karine Silva
14. Casey O’Neill -2
15. Andrea Lee -1
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: VACANT
1. Julianna Pena
2. Raquel Pennington
3. Mayra Bueno Silva
4. Ketlen Vieira
5. Irene Aldana
6. Holly Holm -1
7. Pannie Kianzad
8. Yana Santos
9. Karol Rosa
10. Macy Chiasson
11. Miesha Tate
12. Norma Dumont
13. Julia Avila
14. Josiane Nunes
15. Chelsea Chandler
You can expect these rankings to stay the same for the next couple of weeks, as the promotion will be out of action until the UFC Vegas 84: “Ankalaev vs. Walker 2” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., Jan. 13, 2023 at APEX in Las Vegas.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.