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UFC Rankings: Latest Top 10 At Heavyweight, Flyweight, Welterweight And More

ufc rankings
Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

UFC rankings are viewed by many fight fans as a listing of the very best fighters in each major division in mixed martial arts. However, which competitors get ranked and where is always a source of much debate. Ringside Intel is here to further the subjective discourse with our rundown of the top fighters in the UFC.

Also Read: UFC tonight – Get watch times and odds for Saturday’s UFC card

This space will be your one-stop shop for the top 10 in the UFC rankings, from the men’s flyweight division to the women’s pound-for-pound list. Scroll down and feast your eyes on the latest rankings.

Men’s pound-for-pound UFC rankings

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Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Fourteen straight victories are part of why UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is at the top of our current pound-for-pound UFC rankings. However, it is also how dominant he has been in his victories over UFC legends Charles Oliveira, Alexander Volkanovski, and Dustin Poirier that place him head and shoulders above any other fighters in the promotion right now.

RankFighterRecordLast 3 Results
#1Islam Makhachev26-1W-W-W
#2Alex Pereira12-2W-W-W
#3Ilia Topuria15-0W-W-W
#4Tom Aspinall 15-3W-W-W
#5Belal Muhammad24-3W-W-W
#6Merab Dvalishvili 18-4W-W-W
#7Alexandre Pantoja 28-5W-W-W
#8Leon Edwards22-4L-W-W
#9Max Holloway26-7W-W-L
#10Dricus Du Plessis22-2W-W-W

UFC flyweight rankings

Brazil’s Alexandre Pantoja has had a long hard road to becoming the UFC flyweight king. He toiled away inside the division for five years before he was finally able to earn a title fight at UFC 290. In his first chance at being champion, he made good by scoring a second (third unofficial) win over division king Brandon Moreno.

Since then he has defended his belt twice and turned away some of the best 125-pounders in the world. There is no clear challenger that will be able to knock “The Cannibal” off his thrown.

RankFighterRecordLast 3 Results
#1Alexandre Pantoja28-5W-W-W
#2Brandon Royval17-7W-W-L
#3Amir Albazi17-1W-W-W
#4Brandon Moreno21-8-2L-L-W
#5Tatsuro Taira16-1L-W-W
#6Kai Kara-France25-11W-L-L
#7Manel Kape19-7L-W-W
#8Steve Erceg12-3L-W-W
#9Tim Elliott20-13-1W-L-W
#10Alex Perez25-9L-W-L

UFC bantamweight rankings

merab dvalishvili
Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

What had the potential to be a dominant title reign was unceremoniously cut short by Merab Dvalishvili. The Ray Longo student had little trouble handling everything Sean O’Malley threw his way at UFC 306. Save for a few moments in the final round, “The Machine” controlled the entire 25 minutes and left no doubts when the decision was read.

RankFighterRecordLast 3 Results
#1Merab Dvalishvili18-4W-W-W
#2Sean O’Malley17-2-1L-W-W
#3Umar Nurmagomedov18-0W-W-W
#4Cory Sandhagen17-4L-W-W
#5Petr Yan17-5W-L-L
#6Deiveson Figueiredo24-3-1W-W-W
#7Marlon Vera23-8-1L-L-W
#8Yadong Song21-8L-W-W
#9Henry Cejudo16-4L-L-W
#10Jose Aldo32-9L-W-L

UFC featherweight rankings

After five straight wins to start his UFC career, Ilia Topuria became one of the new rising stars at 145 pounds. Then big wins over Bryce Mitchell and former interim championship challenger Josh Emmett cemented his place as not just an impressive talent but a true world title contender.

In February, he stamped his place in division history when he was able to be the first man to not only hang an L on Alexander Volkanovski at featherweight but also dramatically finish him. At just 27, Topuria is set up to begin a lengthy and dominant title run of his own over the next few years.

RankFighterRecordLast 3 Results
#1Ilia Topuria15-0W-W-W
#2Alexander Volkanovski26-4L-L-W
#3Max Holloway25-7W-W-L
#4Josh Emmett18-4W-L-L
#5Movsar Evloev18-0W-W-W
#6Yair Rodriguez19-5L-L-W
#7Arnold Allen20-3W-L-L
#8Aljamain Sterling23-4W-L-W
#9Brian Ortega16-3W-L-L
#10Diego Lopes25-6W-W-W

What are MMA rankings?

MMA rankings are just like rankings for boxers of NFL teams. It is a list of the best fighters in a particular weight class or overall in the sport of mixed martial arts.

UFC lightweight rankings

Islam Makhachev, like his friend and mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov, has been a dominant force in the UFC lightweight division. He won 10 straight and has one of the best back-to-back title defenses in weight class history when he defeated former champ Charles Oliveria and featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski. He has added a second win over the Aussie and a submission victory over Dustin Poirier since.

RankFighterRecordLast 3 Results
#1Islam Makhachev25-1W-W-W
#2Arman Tsarukyan21-3W-W-W
#3Charles Oliveira34-9W-L-W
#4Justin Gaethje25-4W-W-L
#5Dustin Poirier29-8W-L-W
#6Beniel Dariush22-6-1L-W-W
#7Michael Chandler23-8L-W-L
#8Rafael Fiziev12-2L-W-W
#9Dan Hooker24-12W-W-W
#10Mateusz Gamrot24-2L-W-W

UFC welterweight rankings

ufc rankings
Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY SportsCredit: Craig Kidwell-USA TODAY Sports

You can no longer doubt the talents of Belal Muhammad. He has beaten high-level fighters like Demian Maia, Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque, and Gilbert Burns, and now can call himself world champion after defeating Leon Edwards at UFC 304.

His rise to the top is one of the best stories in the UFC. Now, he must solidify his place among the best welterweights ever and get a few defenses under his golden belt.

RankFighterRecordLast 3 Results
#1Belal Muhammad24-3W-W-W
#2Leon Edwards22-4L-W-W
#3Shavkat Rakhmonov18-0W-W-W
#4Ian Garry15-0W-W-W
#5Sean Brady17-1W-W-L
#6Jack Della Maddalena17-2W-W-W
#7Stephen Thompson17-7-1L-W-L
#8Joaquin Buckley19-6W-W-W
#9Kamaru Usman20-4L-L-L
#10Gilbert Burns22-8L-L-L

UFC middleweight rankings

At UFC 293, Sean Strickland stunned the MMA world by beating division legend Israel Adesanya despite being a +440 underdog entering fight night. It was a stunning moment that forever changed opinions about who is the division GOAT and opened up the top of the division to all sorts of possibilities in the months ahead.

However, his reign at the top was short-lived as history was made in his first title defense when Dricus Du Plessis defeated him to be the first South African-born fighter to win a UFC championship. With the fall of Adesanya, the division is as wide open as it’s been in years.

RankFighterRecordLast 3 Results
#1Dricus Du Plessis22-2W-W-W
#2Robert Whittaker26-7W-W-L
#3Sean Strickland29-6W-L-W
#4Israel Adesanya24-4L-L-W
#5Nassourdine Imavov15-4W-W-W
#6Brendan Allen24-6L-W-W
#7Caio Borralho17-1W-W-W
#8Jared Cannonier17-8L-L-W
#9Marvin Vettori19-7-1L-W-L
#10Paulo Costa14-4L-L-W

UFC light heavyweight rankings

ufc rankings
Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Alex Pereira’s UFC story is becoming legendary. After nine fights, he became a two-division champion and scored destructive wins over some of the best fighters of this era, middleweight and light heavyweight. The 37-year-old has been a revelation for the company and connected with the MMA fanbase with an approach to fighting similar to cage-fighting icon Fedor Emelianenko.

At UFC 307 he showed his championship magic when he battled through early adversity from Khalil Rountree, wore his foe down, and earned another spectacular TKO finish. The Brazilian is the best light heavyweight in the world and by far.

RankFighterRecordLast 3 Results
#1Alex Pereira12-2W-W-W
#2Magomed Ankalaev19-1-1W-D-W
#3Jamahal Hill12-2L-W-W
#4Jiri Prochazka30-5-1L-W-L
#5Jan Blachowicz29-10-1W-D-W
#6Nikita Krylov30-9W-W-W
#7Khalil Rountree13-6L-W-W
#8Aleksandar Rakic14-4L-L-W
#9Azamat Murzakanvo13-0W-W-W
#10Carlos Ulberg10-1W-W-W

UFC heavyweight rankings

ufc rankings
Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Englishman Tom Aspinall is the best heavyweight in the UFC. While the current title he holds is an interim belt, with all due respect to lineal champion Jon Jones, Aspinall has beaten many of the best fighters in the division for the last three years instead of a great win in one fight.

His lone defeat in the company came after he tore knee ligaments against Curtis Blaydes, otherwise, he has met little resistance during eight bouts in the Octagon and he stamped his place as the best in the class with a destructive championship win over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295.

RankFighterRecordLast 3 Results
#1Tom Aspinall15-3W-W-W
#2Jon Jones27-1W-W-W
#3Ciryl Gane12-2W-L-W
#4Alexander Volkov38-10W-W-W
#5Curtis Blaydes18-5L-W-L
#6Sergei Pavlovich18-3L-L-W
#7Jailton Almeida20-3L-W-W
#8Serghei Spivac17-4W-L-W
#9Derrick Lewis28-12W-L-W
#10Jairzinho Rozenstruik15-5W-W-L

Women’s UFC pound for pound rankings

ufc rankings
Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

With Amanda Nunes walking away from the sport, the women’s pound-for-pound rankings are now wide open. In the wake of the GOAT’s departure and Valentina Shevchenko’s shocking loss, Chinese superstar Zhang Weili jumped into the top spot. At UFC 292 she showed why she is one of the best female fighters alive with a dominant win as she used a complete attack to beat Amanda Lemos.

Also Read: New UFC Rumor Claims Joanna Jedrzejczyk To End Her Retirement And Create First Women’s BMF Belt

RankFighterRecordLast 3 Results
#1Zhang Weili25-3W-W-W
#2Valentina Shevchenko24-4-1W-D-L
#3Alexa Grasso16-4-1L-D-W
#4Manon Fiorot12-1W-W-W
#5Yan Xiaonan17-4L-W-W
#6Rose Namajunas13-6W-W-L
#7Erin Blanchfield11-2L-W-W
#8Julianna Pena12-5L-W-W
#9Tatiana Suarez10-0W-W-W
#10Raquel Pennington15-8W-W-W

Where is Islam Makhachev ranked?

UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is ranked in two categories in our current UFC rankings and the Russian star lands in the top spot for both. Makhachev is No. 1 in our latest lightweight and pound-for-pound rankings.

Who is the best pound for pound MMA history?

Deciding who is the greatest MMA fighter ever is very subjective. But if one had to be chosen, either light heavyweight great Jon Jones, welterweight legend Georges St. Pierre, and flyweight icon Demetrious Johnson would be the likely choices for many fight fans.

After earning his journalism degree in 2017, Jason Burgos served as a contributor to several sites, including MMA Sucka ... More about Jason Burgos
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