Newly-crowned middleweight champion Alex Pereira shook up the 185-pound rankings, as well as the pound-for-pound list, by stopping former division titleholder Israel Adesanya in the UFC 281 pay-per-view (PPV) main event back on Nov. 12 in New York. That’s just one of many changes from last weekend’s wild event, which also saw Zhang Weili submit Carla Esparza for the strawweight title, Chris Gutierrez retire Frankie Edgar at bantamweight, and Dustin Poirier tap Michael Chandler at 155 pounds.
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. Islam Makhachev +1
3. Leon Edwards +2
4. Kamaru Usman -1
5. Francis Ngannou +1
6. Israel Adesanya -4
7. Charles Oliveira
8. Alex Pereira *NR
9. Aljamain Sterling -1
10. Jiri Prochazka -1
11. Dustin Poirier
12. Deiveson Figueiredo -2
13. Jon Jones -1
14. Max Holloway -1
15. Brandon Moreno -1
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo
1. Brandon Moreno *Interim Champion
2. Alexandre Pantoja
3. Kai Kara France
4. Brandon Royval
5. Alex Perez
6. Matheus Nicolau
7. Matt Schnell
8. David Dvorak
9. Amir Albazi
10. Tim Elliott
11. Su Mudaerji
12. Manel Kape
13. Jeffrey Molina
14. Muhammad Mokaev
14. Tagir Ulanbekov
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Aljamain Sterling
1. Sean O’Malley
2. Merab Dvalishvili
3. Petr Yan
4. Marlon Vera
5. T.J. Dillashaw
6. Cory Sandhagen
7. Rob Font
8. Dominick Cruz
9. Song Yadong +1
10. Pedro Munhoz -1
11. Ricky Simon
12. Umar Nurmagomedov +1
13. Chris Gutierrez *NR
14. Adrian Yanez
15. Jack Shore
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Max Holloway
2. Yair Rodriguez
3. Brian Ortega
4. Arnold Allen
5. Josh Emmett
6. Chan Sung Jung
7. Calvin Kattar
8. Giga Chikadze
9. Bryce Mitchell
10. Movsar Evloev
11. Sodiq Yusuff
12. Dan Ige
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
5. Michael Chandler
6. Rafael Fiziev
7. Rafael dos Anjos
8. Mateusz Gamrot
9. Arman Tsarukyan
10. Jalin Turner
11. Dan Hooker +1
12. Damir Ismagulov -1
13. Renato Moicano *NR
14. Conor McGregor -1
15. Tony Ferguson -1
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Leon Edwards
1. Kamaru Usman
2. Colby Covington
3. Khamzat Chimaev
4. Belal Muhammed
5. Gilbert Burns
6. (T) Geoff Neal
6. (T) Stephen Thompson
8. Sean Brady
9. Vicente Luque
10. Shavkat Rakhmonov
11. Jorge Masvidal
12. Michael Chiesa
13. Neil Magny
14. Michel Pereira
15. Daniel Rodriguez
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Alex Pereira
1. Israel Adesanya -1
2. Robert Whittaker -1
3. Jared Cannonier -1
4. Marvin Vettori -1
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. Nikita Krylov +1
8. Paul Craig +1
9. Volkan Oezdemir +1
10. Ryan Spann +2
11. Johnny Walker
12. Dominick Reyes -5
13. Jim Crute
14. Khalil Rountree
15. Dustin Jacoby
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. Weili Zhang +3
4. Julianna Pena -1
5. Rose Namajunas
6. Carla Esparza -2
7. Jessica Andrade
8. Marina Rodriguez
9. Holly Holm
10. Amanda Lemos
11. Ketlen Vieira +2
12. Taila Santos -1
13. Katlyn Chookagian -2
14. Manon Fiorot
15. Yan Xiaonan
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Carla Esparza -1
2. Rose Namajunas -1
3. Amanda Lemos
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Marina Rodriguez
6. Yan Xiaonan
7. Mackenzie Dern
8. Tecia Torres
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
2. Talia Santos
3. Katlyn Chookagian
4. Lauren Murphy
5. Alexa Grasso
6. Jessica Andrade
7. Viviane Araujo
8. Jennifer Maia
9. Andrea Lee
10. Erin Blanchfield +2
11. Casey O’Neill -1
12. Maycee Barber -1
13. Tracy Cortez
14. Cynthia Calvillo
15. Maryna Moroz *NR
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 heavyweight division, following the UFC Vegas 65: “Lewis vs. Spivac” mixed martial arts (MMA) event scheduled for this Sat. night (Nov. 19, 2022) on ESPN+ from inside the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.