In deciding how to rank, I look at head-to-head matchups first, then fights over the last few years, giving more credence to recent ones. The level of competition is considered, and MMA math only plays a small part in the process.
MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
dB rankings 1. Khabib Nurmagomedov (C) 2. Jon Jones 3. Israel Adesanya (C) 4. Kamaru Usman (C) 5. Stipe Miocic (C) 6. Alexander Volkanovski (C) 7. Deiveson Figueiredo (C) 8. Petr Yan (C) 9. Jan Blachowicz (C) 10. Robert Whittaker 11. Dustin Poirier 12. Max Holloway 13. Francis Ngannou 14. Justin Gaethje 15. Colby Covington |
UFC rankings 1. Khabib Nurmagomedov (C) 2. Jon Jones 3. Israel Adesanya (C) 4. Stipe Miocic (C) 5. Kamaru Usman (C) 6. Alexander Volkanovski (C) 7. Dustin Poirier 8. Max Holloway 9. Deiveson Figueiredo (C) 10. Petr Yan (C) 11. Justin Gaethje 12. Conor McGregor 13. Robert Whittaker 14. Francis Ngannou 15. Jan Blachowicz (C) |
X: Debating pound-for-pound rankings is a waste of time, but Blachowicz – champion of a premier division, even though Jones is still the best LHW in the world – should be ranked above non-champs like Holloway, who is 1-3 in his last four. McGregor doesn’t deserve a P4P slot since he only has one win since 2016, while Covington has stomped everyone not named Usman.
dB rankings Champion: DEIVESON FIGUEIREDO 1. Brandon Moreno 2. Askar Askarov 3. Joseph Benavidez 4. Alex Perez 5. Brandon Royval 6. Alexandre Pantoja 7. Kai Kara France 8. Matt Schnell 9. Rogerio Bontorin 10. David Dvorak 11. Tim Elliott 12. Raulian Paiva 13. Zhalgas Zhumagulov 14. Tyson Nam 15. Tagir Ulanbekov |
UFC rankings Champion: DEIVESON FIGUEIREDO 1. Brandon Moreno 2. Joseph Benavidez 3. Askar Askarov 4. Alex Perez 5. Alexandre Pantoja 6. Brandon Royval 7. Rogerio Bontorin 8. Kai Kara France 9. Matt Schnell 10. Raulian Paiva 11. David Dvorak 12. Tim Elliott 13. Tyson Nam 14. Jordan Espinosa 15. Amir Albazi |
X: Small differences until you get the bottom. Espinosa (15-8) has lost 3 of 4, only beating an unranked fighter. Meanwhile, Zhumagulov had four solid wins in a row before losing a decision to Paiva, including being the only fighter to defeat Ulanbekov (13-1).
BANTAMWEIGHT
dB rankings Champion: PETR YAN 1. Aljamain Sterling 2. Cory Sandhagen 3. Jose Aldo 4. Frankie Edgar 5. Rob Font 6. Marlon Moraes 7. Pedro Munhoz 8. Cody Garbrandt 9. Jimmie Rivera 10. Cody Stamann 11. Raphael Assuncao 12. Casey Kenney 13. Merab Dvalishvili 14. Song Yadong 15. Marlon Vera |
UFC rankings Champion: PETR YAN 1. Aljamain Sterling 2. Cory Sandhagen 3. Cody Garbrandt 4. Frankie Edgar 5. Rob Font 6. Jose Aldo 7. Marlon Moraes 8. Pedro Munhoz 9. Jimmie Rivera 10. Raphael Assuncao 11. Dominick Cruz 12. Merab Dvalishvili 13. Cody Stamann 14. Song Yadong 15. Marlon Vera |
X: This weight class starts a trend of some voters treating the rankings like a lifetime achievement award instead of a snapshot of who really deserves the number today. Former champ Garbrandt is over-ranked based on his resume, considering he has only one win since 2016 and was knocked out by Munhoz just last year. With two clear wins over him, Aldo has earned a higher spot than Edgar. Another former champ, Cruz, doesn’t deserve a slot since his last win was in 2016.
dB rankings Champion: ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI 1. Max Holloway 2. Brian Ortega 3. Zabit Magomedsharipov 4. Yair Rodriguez 5. Chan Sung Jung 6. Calvin Kattar 7. Arnold Allen 8. Jeremy Stephens 9. Josh Emmett 10. Shane Burgos 11. Sodiq Yusuff 12. Dan Inge 13. Edson Barboza 14. Bryce Mitchell 15. Ryan Hall |
UFC rankings Champion: ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI 1. Max Holloway 2. Brian Ortega 3. Zabit Magomedsharipov 4. Yair Rodriguez 5. Chan Sung Jung 6. Calvin Kattar 7. Josh Emmett 8. Jeremy Stephens 9. Arnold Allen 10. Sodiq Yusuff 11. Dan Ige 12. Shane Burgos 13. Ryan Hall 14. Bryce Mitchell 15. Edson Barboza |
X: Not many differences here, but Stephens should be ranked above Emmett because he KO’d him in 2018.
LIGHTWEIGHT
dB rankings Champion: KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV 1. Dustin Poirier 2. Justin Gaethje 3. Charles Oliveira 4. Tony Ferguson 5. Dan Hooker 6. Rafael dos Anjos 7. Paul Felder 8. Diego Ferreira 9. Conor McGregor 10. Michael Chandler 11. Al Iaquinta 12. Kevin Lee 13. Beneil Dariush 14. Drew Dober 15. Islam Makhachev |
UFC rankings Champion: KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV 1. Justin Gaethje 2. Dustin Poirier 3. Charles Oliveira 4. Conor McGregor 5. Tony Ferguson 6. Dan Hooker 7. Rafael dos Anjos 8. Paul Felder 9. Diego Ferreira 10. Al Iaquinta 11. Kevin Lee 12. Beneil Dariush 13. Islam Makhachev 14. Gregor Gillespie 15. Drew Dober |
X: Not sure why Poirier isn’t ranked above Gaethje since he knocked him out in 2019. McGregor’s last win at LW was in 2016; though he deserves credit for giving Khabid a good fight and making Cerrone look silly at WW, No. 4 is too high. Gillespie hasn’t won a fight in two years and has been inactive. Meanwhile, Chandler has won 8 of his last 10, and in his last fight was the first person to KO former UFC champ Ben Henderson, clearly making him one of the top 15 in the world despite not plying his trade in the UFC.
WELTERWEIGHT
dB rankings Champion: KAMARU USMAN 1. Colby Covington 2. Gilbert Burns 3. Leon Edwards 4. Tyron Woodley 5. Stephen Thompson 6. Demian Maia 7. Jorge Masvidal 8. Michael Chiesa 9. Vicente Luque 10. Neil Magny 11. Geoff Neal 12. Belal Muhammad 13. James Krause 14. *Anthony Pettis 15. Sean Brady * Miguel Baeza |
UFC rankings Champion: KAMARU USMAN 1. Colby Covington 2. Gilbert Burns 3. Leon Edwards 4. Jorge Masvidal 5. Stephen Thompson 6. Tyron Woodley 7. Demian Maia 8. Michael Chiesa 9. Neil Magny 10. Vicente Luque 11. Geoff Neal 12. *Anthony Pettis 13. Belal Muhammad 14. Robbie Lawler 15. Khamzat Chimaev |
X: Masvidal is ranked lower because he has losses to the two fighters directly in front of him, and his two most recent wins are against fighters (Askren and Diaz) no long even eligible to be ranked. Lawler is 0-4 since 2017, which is why I picked the surging Krause, who has won nine in a row at LW/WW when not moonlighting at MW, and Brady (13-0) over him. Pettis was ranked before he signed with the PFL, which accounts for the asterisk. In his place I would have chosen Baeza, who is 10-0 and coming off back-to-back impressive stoppage wins. Results against good competition, not hype, are what should earn a spot in the rankings, which is why Chimaev is not in my top 15.
dB rankings Champion: ISRAEL ADESANYA 1. Robert Whittaker 2. Paulo Costa 3. Jared Cannonier 4. Marvin Vettori 5. Jack Hermansson 6. Darren Till 7. Kelvin Gastelum 8. Derek Brunson 9. Uriah Hall 10. Kevin Holland 11. Jacare Souza 12. Chris Weidman 13. Omari Akhmedov 14, Edmen Shahbazyan 15. Ian Heinisch |
UFC rankings Champion: ISRAEL ADESANYA 1. Robert Whittaker 2. Paulo Costa 3. Jared Cannonier 4. Darren Till 5. Marvin Vettori 6. Jack Hermansson 7. Derek Brunson 8. Kelvin Gastelum 9. Uriah Hall 10. Kevin Holland 11. Chris Weidman 12, Edmen Shahbazyan 13. Omari Akhmedov 14, Brad Tavares 15. Ian Heinisch |
X: Despite his recent KO loss, Jacare still deserves to be ranked at MW since he KO’d Weidman in 2018 and has only lost to top contenders since then. Meanwhile, Tavares is 0-2 in that same time.
dB rankings Champion: JAN BLACHOWICZ 1. Glover Teixeira 2. Thiago Santos 3. Dominick Reyes 4. Jiri Prochazka 5. Aleksandar Rakic 6. Anthony Smith 7. Volkan Oezdemir 8. Nikita Krylov 9. Johnny Walker 10. Magomed Ankalaev 11. Misha Cirkunov 12. Jimmy Crute 13. Ryan Spann 14. Paul Craig 15. Jamahal Hill |
UFC rankings Champion: JAN BLACHOWICZ 1. Glover Teixeira 2. Thiago Santos 3. Dominick Reyes 4. Aleksandar Rakic 5. Jiri Prochazka 6. Anthony Smith 7. Volkan Oezdemir 8. Nikita Krylov 9. Johnny Walker 10. Misha Cirkunov 11. Magomed Ankalaev 12. Jimmy Crute 13. Ryan Spann 14. Paul Craig 15. Jamahal Hill |
X: Pretty straightforward rankings at LHW, though it still feels weird not seeing Jones at the top.
dB rankings Champion: STIPE MIOCIC 1. Francis Ngannou 2. Curtis Blaydes 3. Jairzinho Rozenstruik 4. Derrick Lewis 5. Alistair Overeem 6. Alexander Volkov 7. Ciryl Gane 8. Augusto Sakai 9. Shamil Abdurakhimov 10. Walt Harris 11. Aleksei Oleinik 12. Marcin Tybura 13. Sergei Pavlovich 14. Junior dos Santos 15. Blagoy Ivanov |
UFC rankings Champion: STIPE MIOCIC 1. Francis Ngannou 2. Curtis Blaydes 3. Jairzinho Rozenstruik 4. Derrick Lewis 5. Alistair Overeem 6. Alexander Volkov 7. Ciryl Gane 8. Shamil Abdurakhimov 9. Augusto Sakai 10. Aleksei Oleinik 11. Junior dos Santos 12. Walt Harris 13. Blagoy Ivanov 14. Sergei Pavlovich 15. Marcin Tybyra |
X: Pretty straightforward rankings at HW, too, though Dos Santos is a bit high coming off four consecutive TKO losses and Tybura deserves more credit for his four-fight win streak.
dB rankings 1. Amanda Nunes 2. Valentina Shevchenko 3. Weili Zhang 4. Rose Namajunas 5. Joanna Jedrzejczyk 6. Jessica Andrade 7. Germaine De Randamie 8. Holly Holm 9. Aspen Ladd 10. Katlyn Chookagian 11. Jennifer Maia 12. Lauren Murphy 13. Cynthia Calvillo 14. Yan Xiaonan 15. Joanne Calderwood |
UFC rankings 1. Amanda Nunes 2. Valentina Shevchenko 3. Weili Zhang 4. Rose Namajunas 5. Jessica Andrade 6. Joanna Jedrzejczyk 7. Germaine De Randamie 8. Holly Holm 9. Aspen Ladd 10. Katlyn Chookagian 11. Nina Ansaroff 12. Yan Xiaonan 13. Cynthia Calvillo 14. Claudia Gadelha 15. Julianna Pena |
X: Debating pound-for-pound rankings is a waste of time for women fighters, too, but having Calvillo in P4P and not Murphy, even though Murphy is ranked higher at 125, is plain dumb. Also, Jedrzejczyk has a clear win over Andrade and should be ranked above her.
dB rankings Champion: WEILI ZHANG 1. Rose Namajunas 2. Joanna Jedrzejczyk 3. Yan Xiaonan 4. Nina Ansaroff 5. Claudia Gadelha 6. Carla Esparza 7. Marina Rodriguez 8. Michelle Waterson 9. Amanda Ribas 10. Mackenzie Dern 11. Tecia Torres 12. Virna Jandiroba 13. Angela Hill 14. Brianna Van Buren 15. Livinha Souza |
UFC rankings Champion: WEILI ZHANG 1. Rose Namajunas 2. Joanna Jedrzejczyk 3. Yan Xiaonan 4. Carla Esparza 5. Nina Ansaroff 6. Claudia Gadelha 7. Michelle Waterson 8. Marina Rodriguez 9. Tecia Torres 9. Amanda Ribas 11. Mackenzie Dern 12. Angela Hill 13. Virna Jandiroba 14. Felice Herrig 15. Livinha Souza |
X: Mild differences here, particularly at the bottom, though Gadelha does have a split-decision win over Esparza. More indefensible is having Herrig ranked, as she has lost three in a row since her last win in 2017 and is recovering from multiple surgeries. Meanwhile, Van Buren has won six of seven, including an eye-opening victory over former Invicta champ Souza.
dB rankings Champion: VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO 1. Jessica Andrade 2. Katlyn Chookagian 3. Jennifer Maia 4. Lauren Murphy 5. Cynthia Calvillo 6. Joanne Calderwood 7. Jessica Eye 8. Viviane Araujo 9. Roxanne Modafferi 10. Andrea Lee 11. Antonina Shevchenko 12. Montana De La Rosa 13. Maycee Barber 14. Talia Santos 15. Alexa Grasso |
UFC rankings Champion: VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO 1. Jessica Andrade 2. Katlyn Chookagian 3. Lauren Murphy 4. Jennifer Maia 5. Cynthia Calvillo 6. Jessica Eye 7. Joanne Calderwood 8. Roxanne Modafferi 9. Viviane Araujo 10. Maycee Barber 11. Andrea Lee 12. Alexis Davis 13. Talia Santos 14. Antonina Shevchenko 15. Montana De La Rosa |
X: Davis (19-10) has had a fine career, but she is 0-3 since her last win in 2017 and has been inactive, while Grasso (12-3) was impressive in her UFC debut at FLW last year.
dB rankings Champion: AMANDA NUNES 1. Germaine de Randamie 2. Holly Holm 3. Aspen Ladd 4. Raquel Pennington 5. Irene Aldana 6. Ketlen Vieira 7. Yana Kunitskaya 8. Julianna Pena 9. Marion Reneau 10. Sara McMann 11. Lina Lansberg 12. Macy Chiasson 13. Pannie Kianzad 14. Sijara Eubanks 15. Julia Avila |
UFC rankings Champion: AMANDA NUNES 1. Germaine de Randamie 2. Holly Holm 3. Aspen Ladd 4. Raquel Pennington 5. Irene Aldana 6. Ketlen Vieira 7. Julianna Pena 8. Yana Kunitskaya 9. Sara McMann 10. Marion Reneau 11. Lina Lansberg 12. Macy Chiasson 13. Pannie Kianzad 14. Sijara Eubanks 15. Julia Avila |
X: Not too much to debate here, other than McMann being ranked directly above the last person to beat her in Reneau.
Champion: AMANDA NUNES No divisional rankings. |