In addition, Jalin Turner blasted his way into the lightweight Top 10 by crushing 155-pound “King” Bobby Green.
Welcome to the Top 5.
Arman Tsarukyan took one step closer to a potential 155-pound title shot with his emphatic victory over longtime contender Beneil Dariush in the UFC Austin main event last weekend on ESPN. As a result, “Ahalkalakets” took over the No. 4 spot in the lightweight rankings, sending the skidding Dariush down three places to No. 7.
Elsewhere on the charts, former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo debuted at No. 8 in the 135-pound rankings, thanks to his unanimous decision victory over veteran bruiser Rob Font. In addition, former middleweight challenger Kelvin Gastelum stumbled in his return to welterweight, falling to No. 13 after tapping to Sean Brady.
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 O’Malley
8. Sean Strickland
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. Brandon Royval +2
3. Amir Albazi +1
4. Kai Kara France +1
5. Matheus Nicolau +1
6. Manel Kape +2
7. Alex Perez
8. Matt Schnell +1
9. Muhammad Mokaev +1
10. Tim Elliott +1
11. Su Mudaerji +1
12. Steve Erceg +2
13. Tagir Ulanbekov +1
14. David Dvorak +1
15. Cody Durden *NR
Note: Deiveson Figueiredo removed from flyweight rankings after jump to bantamweight.
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 *NR
9. Rob Font -1
10. Dominick Cruz -1
11. Pedro Munhoz -1
12. Ricky Simon +1
13. Jonathan Martinez -1
14. Umar Nurmagomedov -2
15. Chris Gutierrez -1
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Max Holloway
2. Yair Rodriguez
3. Brian Ortega
4. Arnold Allen
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. Lerone Murphy
15. Alex Caceres
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Charles Oliveira
2. Justin Gaethje
3. Dustin Poirier
4. Arman Tsarukyan +4
5. Michael Chandler
6. Mateusz Gamrot +1
7. Beneil Dariush -3
8. Rafael Fiziev -1
9. Dan Hooker
10. Jalin Turner +2
11. Rafael dos Anjos -1
12. Benoit Saint-Denis -1
13. Renato Moicano +1
14. Bobby Green -1
15. Drew Dober
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Leon Edwards
1. Kamaru Usman
2. Belal Muhammed
3. Colby Covington
4. Gilbert Burns
5. Shavkat Rakhmonov
6. Stephen Thompson
7. Sean Brady +2
8. Geoff Neal -1
9. Vicente Luque -1
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 +1
12. Paul Craig +1
13. Chris Curtis +1
14. Kelvin Gastelum -3
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
7. Johnny Walker
8. Anthony Smith
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Ryan Spann
11. Khalil Rountree
12. Azamat Murzakanov
13. Dominick Reyes
14. Alonzo Menifield
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. Rodrigo Nascimento
15. Marcos Rogerio De Lima
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Alexa Grasso
2. Zhang Weili
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Julianna Pena
5. Erin Blanchfield
6. Manon Fiorot
7. Rose Namajunas
8. Carla Esparza
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. Tracy Cortez
11. Natalia Silva
12. Casey O’Neill
13. Karine Silva
14. Andrea Lee
15. Joanna Wood
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: VACANT
1. Julianna Pena
2. Raquel Pennington
3. Mayra Bueno Silva
4. Ketlen Vieira
5. (T) Irene Aldana
5. (T) Holly Holm
7. Pannie Kianzad
8. Yana Santos
9. Karol Rosa
10. Macy Chiasson
11. Miesha Tate +1
12. Norma Dumont -1
13. Julia Avila
14. Josiane Nunes
15. Chelsea Chandler
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the bantamweight division, following the UFC Vegas 83: “Song vs. Gutierrez” MMA event on ESPN+, going down this Sat. night (Dec. 9, 2023) at APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.