In deciding where to rank fighters, the actual results are most important, not how I personally feel about the fighters or who I think would win hypothetical matchups. I examine head-to-head bouts first, then primarily results over the last three years, giving more credence to recent bouts. The level of competition is always considered, activity is important and MMA math only plays a small part in the process.
MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
|
* dB rankings 1. Alexander Volkanovski (C) 2. Israel Adesanya (C) 3. Charles Oliveira 4. Leon Edwards (C) 5. Kamaru Usman 6. Francis Ngannou (C) 7. Aljamain Sterling (C) 8. Deiveson Figueiredo (C) 9. Brandon Moreno (IC) 10. Petr Yan 11. Jiri Prochazka (C) 12. Robert Whittaker +2 13. Max Holloway -1 14. Glover Teixeira -1 15. Colby Covington |
* UFC rankings 1. Alexander Volkanovski (C) 2. Israel Adesanya (C) 3. Charles Oliveira 4. Kamaru Usman 5. Francis Ngannou (C) 6. Leon Edwards (C) 7. Aljamain Sterling (C) 8. Dustin Poirier 9. Deiveson Figueiredo (C) 10. Jiri Prochazka (C) 11. Jon Jones +1 12. Max Holloway -1 13. Petr Yan +1 14. Brandon Moreno (IC) +1 15. Stipe Miocic -2 |
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: Not many changes this time overall, as few ranked fighters were in the Octagon over the last month. That will change in October, especially with UFC 280, which might very well be the most stacked card of the year. If Oliveira beats Makhachev, especially in impressive fashion, he would have a strong claim to the top spot. Plus, Sterling has a chance to prove he’s more than legit by ousting ex-champ Dillashaw, who probably doesn’t deserve to fight for a title anyway after taking performance-enhancing drugs.
FLYWEIGHT
|
* dB rankings C: Deiveson Figueiredo IC: Brandon Moreno 2. Alexandre Pantoja 3. Kai Kara France 4. Askar Askarov 5. Brandon Royval 6. Alex Perez 7. Matt Schnell 8. Matheus Nicolau 9. David Dvorak 10. Manel Kape 11. Tim Elliott 12. Amir Albazi 13. Sumudaerji 14. Jeff Molina 15. Muhammad Mokaev |
* UFC rankings C: Deiveson Figueiredo IC: Brandon Moreno 2. Alexandre Pantoja 3. Kai Kara France 4. Askar Askarov 5. Brandon Royal 6. Alex Perez 7. Matheus Nicolau 8. Matt Schnell 9. Amir Albazi +1 10. David Dvorak -1 11. Tim Elliott 12. Manel Kape 13. Sumudaerji 14. Jeff Molina 15. Tagir Ulanbekov |
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: No fights of consequence this month, though Figueiredo vs. Moreno 4 seems set for January in Brazil. Keep an eye on Albazi, who looked great during his last time out, and after a long layoff, as he has the potential to quickly climb the ladder and become a contender for the title.
BANTAMWEIGHT
|
* dB rankings C: Aljamain Sterling 1. Petr Yan 2. T.J. Dillashaw 3. Merab Dvalishvili 4. Marlon Vera +1 5. Cory Sandhagen +1 6. Rob Font +1 7. Yadong Song +1 8. Ricky Simon +1 9. Dominick Cruz +1 10. Frankie Edgar +1 11. Pedro Munhoz +1 12. Sean O’Malley +1 13. Adrian Yanez +1 14. Umar Nurmagomedov +1 15. Vacant |
* UFC rankings C: Aljamain Sterling 1. Petr Yan 2. T.J. Dillashaw 3. Merab Dvalishvili 4. Cory Sandhagen 5. Marlon Vera 6. Rob Font +1 7. Dominick Cruz +1 8. Pedro Munhoz +1 9. Yadong Song +1 10. Ricky Simon +1 11. Frankie Edgar +1 12. Sean O’Malley +1 13. Umar Nurmagomedov +1 14. Adrian Yanez * 15. Jack Shore |
* New entrant into rankings
Out of dB/UFC rankings: Jose Aldo (retired)
X: What can we say about Jose Aldo that hasn’t been said before? The man has nothing left to prove, as he’s still the FW GOAT in my book and could have been the P4P best by winning a BW belt. Still not sure why the UFC has Munhoz ranked three spots above a fighter he suffered a loss to in Edgar. My top two candidates to replace Aldo in the rankings when we vote again are Shore and Said Nurmagomedov.
|
* dB rankings C: Alexander Volkanovski 1. Max Holloway 2. Josh Emmett 3. Yair Rodriguez 4. Brian Ortega 5. Arnold Allen 6. Calvin Kattar 7. Chan Sung Jung 8. Gigi Chikadze 9. Bryce Mitchell 10. Movsar Evloev 11. Dan Ige 12. Edson Barboza 13. Sodiq Yusuff 14. Ilia Topuria 15. Damon Jackson * |
* UFC rankings C: Alexander Volkanovski 1. Max Holloway 2. Yair Rodriguez 3. Brian Ortega 4. Josh Emmett 5. Calvin Kattar 6. Arnold Allen 7. Chan Sung Jung 8. Giga Chikadze 9. Bryce Mitchell 10. Movsar Evloev 11. Dan Ige 12. Sodiq Yusuff 13. Edson Barboza 14. Ilia Topuria 15. Alex Caceres |
* New entrant into rankings
Out of dB rankings: Hakeem Dowodu
Out of UFC rankings: None
X: Jackson’s rise from being a lowly 0-1-1-1 in the UFC to his current 5-1 run is impressive, especially after smoking Pat Sabatini to end his six-fight winning streak – and Jackson did it only days after his brother’s untimely death. That’s a stud right there, and one who deserves to be ranked above Bruce Leeroy. Looking forward to seeing if Allen deserves a shot at the FW belt when he takes on Kattar.
LIGHTWEIGHT
|
* dB rankings C: Vacant 1. Charles Oliveira 2. Islam Makhachev 3. Dustin Poirier 4. Justin Gaethje 5. Michael Chandler 6. Beneil Dariush 7. Rafael Fiziev 8. Mateusz Gamrot 9. Arman Tsarukyan 10. Damir Ismagulov 11. Rafael dos Anjos 12. Jalin Turner +3 13. Mark Madsen +1 14. Grant Dawson * 15. Huram Kutateladze * |
* UFC rankings C: 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 +1 14. Dan Hooker -1 15. Tony Ferguson -4 |
* New entrant into rankings
Out of dB rankings: Tony Ferguson, Conor McGregor
Out of UFC rankings: None
X: It had to happen sooner or later, but it still feels weird to not have Ferguson and McGregor ranked; Tony because he just fought at 170 and has lost five in a row, Conor because he last won a fight at 155 pounds in 2016. (That was against former champ Eddie Alvarez, who since then has been signed to and released by One Championship.) I’ve had the 18-1-1 Dawson ranked before at LW, and the 12-3 Kutateladze has a recent win over the high-flying Gamrot and only a loss to the underrated Ismagulov.
WELTERWEIGHT
|
* dB rankings C: Leon Edwards 1. Kamaru Usman 2. Colby Covington 3. Khamzat Chimaev +1 4. Belal Muhammad -1 5. Gilbert Burns 6. Sean Brady 7. Shavkat Rakmonov 8. Stephen Thompson 9. Geoff Neal 10. Vicente Luque 11. Michael Chiesa 12. Jorge Masvidal 13. Neil Magny 14. Michel Pereira +1 15. Daniel Rodriguez * 15. Daniel Rodriguez * |
* UFC rankings C: Leon Edwards 1. Kamaru Usman 2. Colby Covington 3. Khamzat Chimaev 4. Gilbert Burns 5. Belal Muhammad 6. Geoff Neal 7. Stephen Thompson 8. Sean Brady 9. Jorge Masvidal 10. Vicente Luque 11. Shavkat Rakmonov 12. Michael Chiesa 13. Neil Magny 14. Daniel Rodriguez * 15. Michel Pereira 15. Michel Pereira |
* New entrant into rankings
Out of dB/UFC rankings: Li Jingliang
X: I hate putting Rodriguez in the rankings after he had a 10-pound advantage over Jingliang, and many observers think Li won anyway, but a W is a W – and a spot in the top 15. Rodriguez can show he deserves it against Magny later this year. Chimaev’s weight cut failure against Nate Diaz – man, we’re going to miss him and those tossed water bottles in the UFC – puts his future weight class up in the air.
|
* dB rankings C: Israel Adesanya 1. Robert Whittaker 2. Paulo Costa +2 3. Jared Cannonier -1 4. Marvin Vettori -1 5. Alex Pereira 6. Derek Brunson 7. Sean Strickland 8. Jack Hermansson 9. Andre Muniz 10. Nassourdine Imavov +2 11. Darren Till -1 12. Kelvin Gastelum -1 13. Dricus Du Plessis 14. Brad Tavares 15. Krzysztof Jotko |
* UFC rankings C: Israel Adesanya 1. Robert Whittaker 2. Jared Cannonier 3. Marvin Vettori -1 4. Alex Pereira +1 5. Derek Brunson -1 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. Brad Taveras 15. Chris Curtis |
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: Costa showed enough against Rockhold to stay a top contender, but I’d like to see him fight someone with better cardio before he gets another crack at the belt. Strickland vs. Cannonier in December should be barnburner, and it could decide who gets to fight the winner of Adesanya vs. Pereira in November.
|
* dB rankings C: Jiri Prochazka 1. Glover Teixeira 2. Magomed Ankalaev 3. Jan Blachowicz 4. Aleksandar Rakic 5. Anthony Smith 6. Dominick Reyes 7. Volkan Oezdemir 8. Paul Craig 9. Jamahal Hill 10. Nikita Krylov +1 11. Johnny Walker +1 12. Ryan Spann +1 13. Dustin Jacoby +1 14. Azamat Murakanov +1 15. Jimmy Crute * |
* UFC rankings C: 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. Jimmy Crute +1 15. Azamat Murakanov * |
* New entrant into rankings
Out of dB/UFC rankings: Thiago Santos (signed with PFL)
X: The Prochazka vs. Teixeira rematch should be fun in December, but we need some more LHW bookings. And I guess you can’t blame Santos for trying to get that $1 million PFL tournament prize.
|
* dB rankings C: Francis Ngannou 1. Ciryl Gane +1 2. Curtis Blaydes +2 3. Stipe Miocic -2 4. Tai Tuivasa -1 5. Tom Aspinall 6. Sergei Pavlovich 7. Derrick Lewis 8. Alexander Volkov 9. Marcin Tybura 10. Alexandr Romanov 11. Jairzinho Rozenstruik 12. Chris Daukaus 13. Serghei Spivac +1 14. Blagoy Ivanov * 15. Jailton Almeida |
* UFC rankings C: Francis Ngannou 1. Ciryl Gane 2. Stipe Miocic 3. Curtis Blaydes +1 4. Tai Tuivasa -1 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 |
* New entrant into rankings
Out of dB rankings: Walt Harris
Out of UFC rankings: None
X: Tuivasa showed his limitations, while Gane may not have any. Harris finally leaves my top 15 – his win over Spivac kept him there – due to inactivity, giving Ivanov another chance at climbing the ranks.
|
* dB rankings 1. Amanda Nunes (C) 2. Valentina Shevchenko (C) 3. Carla Esparza (C) 4. Rose Namajunas 5. Julianna Pena 6. Weili Zhang 7. Jessica Andrade 8. Taila Santos 9. Marina Rodriquez 10. Katlyn Chookagian 11. Lauren Murphy 12. Ketlen Viera 13. Holly Holm 14. Raquel Pennington 15. Irene Aldana |
* UFC rankings 1. Amanda Nunes (C) 2. Valentina Shevchenko (C) 3. Julianna Pena 4. Carla Esparza (C) 5. Rose Namajunas 6. Weili Zhang 7. Jessica Andrade 8. Marina Rodriquez 9. Holly Holm 10. Katlyn Chookagian 11. Ketlen Viera 12. Taila Santos 13. Mackenzie Dern 14. Xiaonan Yan 15. Lauren Murphy 15. Irene Aldana * |
* New entrant into rankings
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: To repeat – with no other title fights booked yet among women fighters for the rest of 2022 at 125 and 135 pounds, Nunes vs. Shevchenko 3 is a more viable option than ever. Why not?
|
* dB rankings C: Carla Esparza 1. Rose Namajunas 2. Weili Zhang 3. Jessica Andrade 4. Marina Rodriguez 5. Xiaonan Yan 6. Amanda Ribas 7. Mackenzie Dern 8. Virna Jandiroba 9. Amanda Lemos 10. Tecia Torres 11. Michelle Waterson-Gomez 12. Luana Pinheiro 13. Kanaoko Murata 14. Emily Ducote 15. Angela Hill |
* UFC rankings C: 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. Amanda Ribas 10. Virna Jandiroba 11. Michelle Waterson-Gomez 12. Angela Hill 13. Emily Ducote 14. Luana Pinheiro 15. Jessica Penne |
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: The winner of Rodriguez vs. Lemos could become the No. 1 contender after Esparza matches up with Weili in November. Namajunas is thinking about 125 pounds, but I hope she stays put at WSW and makes another run for the belt, as Shevchenko has her outsized and out-techniqued. Saturday night’s main event matchup between Dern and Xiaonan will separate one contender from the other pretender.
|
* dB rankings C: Valentina Shevchenko 1. Talia Santos 2. Jessica Andrade 3. Katlyn Chookagian 4. Lauren Murphy 5. Alexa Grasso 6. Manon Fiorot 7. Jennifer Maia 8. Viviane Araujo 9. Casey O’Neill 10. Andrea Lee 11. Maycee Barber 12. Tracy Cortez 13. Erin Blanchfield 14. Maryna Moroz 15. Miranda Maverick |
* UFC rankings C: 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. Casey O’Neill 11. Maycee Barber 12. Erin Blanchfield 13. Tracy Cortez 14. Cynthia Calvillo 15. Molly McCann |
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: No changes. I still can’t rank McCann yet since she lost to the unranked Procopio just last year. And Grasso might be up next for a title shot if she can upend Araujo later this year.
|
* dB rankings C: Amanda Nunes 1. Julianna Pena 2. Ketlen Vieira 3. Holly Holm 4. Raquel Pennington 5. Irene Aldana 6. Aspen Ladd 7. Yana Kunitskaya 8. Sara McMann 9. Pannie Kianzad 10. Lina Lansberg 11. Macy Chiasson 12. Julia Avila 13. Karol Rosa 14. Mayra Bueno Silva 15. Josiane Nunes |
* UFC rankings C. 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. Miesha Tate 11. Karol Rosa +1 13. Lina Lansberg 14. Julia Avila 15. Norma Dumont |
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: I’d still like to see Pena beat someone else, like Andrade, rather than get an immediate trilogy with Nunes, who showed her mettle by changing her style and whitewashing Pena to regain her belt. Aldana might be a fun matchup, but only if Nunes elects to keep it standing. And wherefore art thou, Tate?
|
C: Amanda Nunes No divisional rankings. |
UPCOMING FIGHTS
Focusing on those that affect rankings the most
Oct. 1 – UFC Fight Night
Xiaonan Yan vs. Mackenzie Dern
Krzysztof Jotko vs. Brendan Allen
Jessica Penne vs. Tabatha Ricci
Oct. 15 – UFC Fight Night
Alexa Grasso vs. Viviane Araujo
Cub Swanson vs. Jonathan Martinez
Brandon Davis vs. Mana Martinez
Oct. 22 – UFC 280
Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev for LW title
Aljamain Sterling vs. T.J. Dillashaw for BW title
Petr Yan vs. Sean O’Malley
Oct. 29 – UFC Fight Night
Arnold Allen vs. Calvin Kattar
Edson Barboza vs. Ilia Topuria
Dustin Jacoby vs. Khalil Rountree
Updated rankings for October will be posted before the UFC Fight Night on Nov. 5. Until then, enjoy the fights.
For comments, questions and suggestions, email dbrown@cherokeescout.com or hit me up on Twitter @daviddbstroh.