It’s been a rough couple of days for Li Jingliang.
The welterweight “Leech” got caught up in the UFC 279 weight-cutting drama orchestrated by Khamzat Chimaev and was pulled from his Tony Ferguson bout in favor of a showdown opposite the heavier Daniel Rodriguez, who was preparing for a catchweight bout against Kevin Holland.
“Trailblazer” instead fought Khamzat Chimaev (and got smeshed).
Jingliang also bought a fancy new suit for the UFC 279 press conference but never got to show it off, since Chimaev was part of a backstage kerfuffle that led the cancelation of the pre-fight presser. To make matters worse, “The Leech” then lost a controversial split decision to Rodriguez and got tossed from the rankings.
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. Charles Oliveira
4. Kamaru Usman
5. Francis Ngannou
6. Leon Edwards
7. Aljamain Sterling
8. Dustin Poirier
9. Deiveson Figueiredo
10. Jiri Prochazka
11. Jon Jones +1
12. Max Holloway -1
13. Petr Yan +1
14. Brandon Moreno +1
15. Stipe Miocic -2
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 +1
10. David Dvorak -1
11. Tim Elliott
12. Manel Kape
13. Su Mudaerji
14. Jeffrey Molina
14. Tagir Ulanbekov
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Aljamain Sterling
1. Petr Yan
2. T.J. Dillashaw
3. Merab Dvalishvili
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Marlon Vera
6. Jose Aldo
7. Rob Font
8. Dominick Cruz
9. Pedro Munhoz
10. Song Yadong
11. Ricky Simon
12. Frankie Edgar
13. Sean O’Malley
14. Umar Nurmagomedov
15. Jack Shore
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Max Holloway
2. Yair Rodriguez
3. Brian Ortega
4. Josh Emmett
5. Calvin Kattar
6. (T) Arnold Allen
6. (T) Chan Sung Jung +1
8. Giga Chikadze
9. Bryce Mitchell
10. Dan Ige
11. Sodiq Yusuff
12. Edson Barboza
13. Movsar Evloev
14. Ilia Topuria
15. Alex Caceres
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: VACANT
1. Charles Oliveira
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Justin Gaethje
4. Islam Makhachev
5. Michael Chandler
6. Beneil Dariush
7. Rafael Fiziev
8. Rafael dos Anjos
9. Mateusz Gamrot
10. Arman Tsarukyan
11. Conor McGregor +1
12. Damir Ismagulov +3
13. Jalin Turner
14. Dan Hooker
15. Tony Ferguson -4
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Leon Edwards
1. Kamaru Usman
2. Colby Covington
3. Khamzat Chimaev
4. Gilbert Burns
5. Belal Muhammed
6. Geoff Neal
7. Stephen Thompson
8. Sean Brady
9. Jorge Masvidal
10. Vicente Luque
11. Shavkat Rakhmonov
12. Michael Chiesa
13. Neil Magny
14. Daniel Rodriguez *NR
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. Uriah Hall
13. Nassourdine Imavov
14. Dricus Du Plessis
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. Volkan Oezdemir
9. Paul Craig +1
10. Nikita Krylov +1
11. Johnny Walker +2
12. Ryan Spann
13. Dustin Jacoby +1
14. Jim Crute +1
15. Azamat Murzakanov *NR
Note: Thiago Santos recently parted ways with UFC, opening up the No. 9 spot.
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 +1
15. Shamil Abdurakhimov -1
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. Julianna Pena
4. Carla Esparza
5. Rose Namajunas
6. Weili Zhang
7. Jessica Andrade
8. Marina Rodriguez
9. Holly Holm
10. Katlyn Chookagian
11. Ketlen Vieira
12. Taila Santos
13. Mackenzie Dern
14. Yan Xiaonan
15. (T) Lauren Murphy
15. (T) Irene Aldana *NR
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Carla Esparza
1. Rose Namajunas
2. Zhang Weili
3. Marina Rodriguez
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Mackenzie Dern
6. Yan Xiaonan
7. Tecia Torres
8. Amanda Lemos
9. Nina Nunes
10. Amanda Ribas
11. Virna Jandiroba
12. Michelle Waterson
13. Angela Hill
14. Emily Ducote
15. Luana Pinheiro
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Katlyn Chookagian
2. Talia Santos
3. Lauren Murphy
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Alexa Grasso
6. Viviane Araujo
7. Manon Fiorot
8. Jennifer Maia
9. Andrea Lee
10. Maycee Barber +1
11. Casey O’Neill -1
12. Cynthia Calvillo
13. Erin Blanchfield
14. Tracy Cortez
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. Aspen Ladd
8. Sara McMann
9. Pannie Kianzad
10. Macy Chiasson
11. Karol Rosa +1
12. Miesha Tate -1
13. Lina Lansberg -1
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 bantamweight division, following the UFC Vegas 60: “Sandhagen vs. Song” mixed martial arts (MMA) event scheduled for this Sat. night (Sept. 17, 2022) on ESPN+ from APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.