Former welterweight title challenger, Colby Covington, took a big hit in the latest UFC rankings update, falling all the way down to No. 9 at 170 pounds in this week’s “official” update. That’s because “Chaos” was stopped by fast-rising welterweight striker Joaquin Buckley atop the UFC Tampa fight card last weekend in “The Sunshine State.”
“New Mansa” jumped to No. 6, one spot below Sean Brady.
Elsewhere on the charts, flyweight veteran Manel Kape rose three spots to No. 6 with his third-round finish over Brazilian bruiser Bruno Silva. “Starboy” was hoping the performance was good enough to land him a crack at the 125-pound crown; however, UFC CEO Dana White has other plans for the outspoken Kape.
Here’s how the rankings are compiled, at least until AI takes over:
Rankings are 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. Alex Pereira
4. Ilia Topuria
5. Belal Muhammad
6. Dricus Du Plessis
7. Merab Dvalishvili
8. Tom Aspinall
9. (T) Leon Edwards
9. (T) Alexandre Pantoja
11. Alexander Volkanovski
12. Max Holloway
13. Sean O’Malley
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. Manel Kape +3
7. Alex Perez -1
8. Asu Almabayev -1
9. Steve Erceg -1
10. Tim Elliott
11. Tagir Ulanbekov
12. Charles Johnson +1
13. Bruno Silva -1
14. Kai Asakura
15. Joshua Van
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Merab Dvalishvili
1. Sean O’Malley
2. Umar Nurmagomedov
3. Petr Yan
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Deiveson Figueiredo
6. Marlon Vera
7. Henry Cejudo
8. Song Yadong
9. Rob Font
10. Mario Bautista
11. Jose Aldo
12. Kyler Phillips
13. Aiemann Zahabi
14. Marcus McGhee
15. Montel Jackson
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Ilia Topuria
1. Alexander Volkanovski
2. Max Holloway
3. Diego Lopes
4. Movsar Evloev
5. Yair Rodriguez
6. Brian Ortega
7. Arnold Allen
8. Josh Emmett
9. Aljamain Sterling
10. Calvin Kattar
11. Lerone Murphy
12. Giga Chikadze
13. Bryce Mitchell
14. Dan Ige
15. Edson Barboza
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Arman Tsarukyan
2. Charles Oliveira
3. Justin Gaethje
4. Dustin Poirier
5. Max Holloway
6. Dan Hooker
7. Michael Chandler
8. Mateusz Gamrot
9. Beneil Dariush
10. Renato Moicano
11. Rafael Fiziev
12. Benoit Saint Denis
13. Paddy Pimblett
14. Jalin Turner
15. Rafael dos Anjos
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Belal Muhammed
1. Leon Edwards
2. Shavkat Rakhmonov
3. Kamaru Usman
4. Jack Della Maddalena
6. Sean Brady
6. Joaquin Buckley +3
7. Ian Machado Garry
8. Gilbert Burns
9. Colby Covington -3
10. Stephen Thompson
11. Geoff Neal
12. Michael Morales
13. Carlos Prates
14. Vicente Luque
15. Michael Page
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Dricus Du Plessis
1. Sean Strickland
2. Israel Adesanya
3. Khamzat Chimaev
4. Robert Whittaker
5. Nassourdine Imavov
6. Caio Borralho
7. Marvin Vettori
8. Jared Cannonier
9. Brendan Allen
10. Roman Dolidze
11. Paulo Costa
12. Jack Hermansson
13. Anthony Hernandez
14. Shara Magomedov
15. Michel Pereira
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Alex Pereira
1. Magomed Ankalaev
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Jamahal Hill
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Aleksandar Rakic
6. Khalil Rountree
7. Carlos Ulberg
8. Nikita Krylov
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Johnny Walker
11. Dominick Reyes
12. Azamat Murzakanov
13. Bogdan Guskov
14. Anthony Smith
15. Alonzo Menifield
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jon Jones
1. Tom Aspinall
2. Ciryl Gane
3. Alexander Volkov
4. Sergei Pavlovich
5. Curtis Blaydes
6. Jailton Almeida
7. Serghei Spivac
8. Marcin Tybura
9. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
10. Derrick Lewis
11. Tai Tuivasa
12. Marcos Rogerio De Lima
13. Waldo Cortes Acosta
14. Mick Parkin
15. Shamil Gaziev
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Zhang Weili
3. Alexa Grasso
4. Julianna Pena
5. Manon Fiorot
6. Erin Blanchfield
7. Kayla Harrison
8. Rose Namajunas
9. Raquel Pennington
10. Tatiana Suarez
11. Yan Xiaonan
12. Virna Jandiroba
13. Jessica Andrade
14. Natalia Silva
15. Maycee Barber
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Tatiana Suarez
2. Yan Xiaonan
3. Virna Jandiroba
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Amanda Lemos
6. Mackenzie Dern
7. Iasmin Lucindo
8. Amanda Ribas
9. Marina Rodriguez
10. Tabatha Ricci
11. Loopy Godinez
12. Gillian Robertson
13. Angela Hill
14. Luana Pinheiro
15. Tecia Pennington
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Alexa Grasso
2. Manon Fiorot
3. Erin Blanchfield
4. Maycee Barber
5. Natalia Silva
6. Rose Namajunas
7. Katlyn Cerminara
8. Jessica Andrade
9. Viviane Araújo
10. Amanda Ribas
11. Tracy Cortez
12. Jasmine Jasudavicius +1
13. Karine Silva -1
14. Ariane Da Silva
15. Miranda Maverick *NR
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Julianna Pena
1. Raquel Pennington
2. Kayla Harrison
3. Ketlen Vieira
4. (T) Macy Chiasson
4. (T) Norma Dumont
6. (T) Irene Aldana
6. (T) Mayra Bueno Silva
8. Holly Holm
9. Karol Rosa
10. Yana Santos
11. Miesha Tate
12. Julia Avila
13. Ailin Perez
14. Jacqueline Cavalcanti
15. Chelsea Chandler
You can expect these rankings to remain the same until early January, when the promotion returns with the UFC Vegas 101: “Dern vs. Ribas 2” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., Jan. 11, 2025 at APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.