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. Robert Whittaker 13. Francis Ngannou 14. Jan Blachowicz (C) 15. Conor McGregor -3 |
X: Poirier moves up based on being the uncrowned LW champion after kicking McGregor’s legs numb before the KO; the trilogy can’t be far away.
dB rankings Champion: DEIVESON FIGUEIREDO 1. Brandon Moreno 2. Askar Askarov 3. Joseph Benavidez 4. Alex Perez 5. Alexandre Pantoja +1 6. Brandon Royval -1 7. Manel Kape * 8. Matt Schnell 9. Kai Kara France -2 10. Rogerio Bontorin -1 11. David Dvorak -1 12. Tim Elliott -1 13. Raulian Paiva -1 14. Amir Albazi * 15. Su Mudaerji * |
UFC rankings Champion: DEIVESON FIGUEIREDO 1. Brandon Moreno 2. Joseph Benavidez 3. Askar Askarov 4. Alex Perez 5. Alexandre Pantoja 6. Brandon Royval 7. Matt Schnell 8. Kai Kara France 9. Rogerio Bontorin 10. David Dvorak 11. Raulian Paiva 12. Tim Elliott 13. Amir Albazi 14. Su Mudaerji 15. Tyson Nam |
Out of the rankings: Zhalgas Zhumagulov, Tyson Nam, Tagir Ulanbekov
X: Three new faces are in as UFC continues rebuilding the FLW division with new talent. I might have Kape too high after his UFC debut, but he gave Pantoja all he could handle.
BANTAMWEIGHT
dB rankings Champion: PETR YAN 1. Aljamain Sterling 2. Cory Sandhagen 3. Rob Font +2 4. Marlon Moraes +2 5. Jose Aldo -2 6. Frankie Edgar -2 7. Pedro Munhoz 8. Cody Garbrandt 9. Jimmie Rivera 10. Cody Stamann 11. Raphael Assuncao 12. Ricky Simon * 13. Merab Dvalishvili 14. Song Yadong 15. Marlon Vera |
UFC rankings Champion: PETR YAN 1. Aljamain Sterling 2. Cory Sandhagen 3. Rob Font 4. Cody Garbrandt 5. Jose Aldo 6. Marlon Moraes 7. Frankie Edgar 8. Pedro Munhoz 9. Raphael Assuncao 10. Jimmie Rivera 11. Dominick Cruz 12. Merab Dvalishvili 13. Cody Stamann 14. Song Yadong 15. Marlon Vera |
Out of the rankings: Casey Kenney
Closing in on rankings: Raoni Barcelos
Note: T.J. Dillashaw is still not eligible to be ranked coming off suspension.
X: Simon makes a big jump, but he looked great against Kelleher and already has a win over Dvalishvili.
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. Movsar Evloev * |
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. Dan Ige 10. Sodiq Yusuff 11. Arnold Allen 12. Shane Burgos 13. Bryce Mitchell 14. Edson Barboza 15. Movsar Evloev |
Out of the rankings: Ryan Hall
Closing in on rankings: Giga Chikadze
X: Evloev earn the nod over Hall by staying unbeaten while the other stays inactive.
LIGHTWEIGHT
dB rankings Champion: KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV 1. Dustin Poirier 2. Justin Gaethje 3. Charles Oliveira 4. Tony Ferguson 5. Michael Chandler +5 6. Rafael dos Anjos 7. Conor McGregor +2 8. Beneil Dariush +5 9. Diego Ferreira -1 10. Dan Hooker -5 11. Paul Felder -4 12. Al Iaquinta -1 13. Kevin Lee -1 14. Drew Dober 15. Islam Makhachev |
UFC rankings Champion: KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV 1. Dustin Poirier 2. Justin Gaethje 3. Charles Oliveira 4. Michael Chandler 5. Tony Ferguson 6. Conor McGregor 7. Rafael dos Anjos 8. Dan Hooker 9. Beneil Dariush 10. Paul Felder 11. Kevin Lee 12. Diego Ferreira 13. Al Iaquinta 14. Islam Makhachev 15. Gregor Gillespie |
Closing in on rankings: Leonardo Santos, Rafael Fiziev
X: Dariush deservedly re-enters the top 10 years after his first appearance with a second win over Ferreira, while Chandler’s rise pushes hooker and Felder back. Why UFC has Lee ranked two spots higher than Iaquinta – who beat him twice, and both have been inactive – is a mystery.
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. Geoff Neal +1 11. Neil Magny -1 12. Li Jingliang * 13. Belal Muhammad 14. James Krause 15. Santiago Ponzinibbio * |
UFC rankings Champion: KAMARU USMAN 1. Colby Covington 2. Gilbert Burns 3. Leon Edwards 4. Jorge Masvidal 5. Stephen Thompson 6. Michael Chiesa 7. Tyron Woodley 8. Demian Maia 9. Neil Magny 10. Vicente Luque 11. Geoff Neal 12. Li Jingliang 13. Belal Muhammad 14. Khamzat Chimaev 15. Robbie Lawler |
Out of the rankings: Anthony Pettis (signed with PFL)
Closing in on rankings: Sean Brady, Miguel Baeza
X: Ponzinibbio barely re-enters the rankings after two years off and a loss, but his seven-fight win streak before that keeps him hanging. Meanwhile, Li re-enters the top 15 with momentum.
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. Brad Tavares * |
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 Taveras 15. Sean Strickland |
X: Tavares re-enters the top 15 with a win Heinisch’s loss to Gastelum, who I admittedly might have ranked too high, but Brunson, Hall and/or Holland are poised to jump ahead with anther W.
dB rankings Champion: JAN BLACHOWICZ 1. Glover Teixeira 2. Thiago Santos 3. Dominick Reyes 4. Jiri Prochazka 5. Aleksandar Rakic 6. Magomed Ankalaev +4 7. Anthony Smith -1 8. Volkan Oezdemir -1 9. Nikita Krylov -1 10. Johnny Walker -1 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. Magomed Ankalaev 8. Volkan Oezdemir 9. Nikita Krylov 10. Johnny Walker 11. Misha Cirkunov 12. Jimmy Crute 13. Ryan Spann 14. Paul Craig 15. Jamahal Hill |
dB rankings Champion: STIPE MIOCIC 1. Francis Ngannou 2. Derrick Lewis +2 3. Curtis Blaydes -1 4. Jairzinho Rozenstruik 5. Alexander Volkov +1 6. Alistair Overeem -1 ** 7. Ciryl Gane 8. Augusto Sakai 9. Shamil Abdurakhimov 10. Walt Harris 11. Marcin Tybura +1 12. Sergei Pavlovich +1 13. Junior dos Santos +1 ** 14. Chris Daukaus * 15. Tom Aspinall * |
UFC rankings Champion: STIPE MIOCIC 1. Francis Ngannou 2. Derrick Lewis 3. Curtis Blaydes 4. Ciryl Gane 5. Alexander Volkov 6. Jairzinho Rozenstruik 7. Alistair Overeem 8. Shamil Abdurakhimov 9. Augusto Sakai 10. Chris Daukaus 11. Walt Harris 12. Junior dos Santos 13. Sergei Pavlovich 14. Blagoy Ivanov 15. Marcin Tybyra |
X: You could justify ranking “The Black Beast” No. 1 since he has a win over Ngannou, but that was hardly impressive and you can’t overlook the way Ngannou has thrashed his competition since then. Gane was solid but unspectacular in bearing the listless Rozenstruik. Daukaus kicks Oleinik out of the rankings, while Aspinall cuts short Arlovski’s latest rebirth.
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. Yana Kunitskaya * |
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. Xiaonan Yan 13. Carla Esparza 14. Cynthia Calvillo 15. Claudia Gadelha |
Out of the rankings: Joanne Calderwood
X: Kunitskaya doesn’t look spectacular in the cage, but you can’t argue with her results, as the former Invicta title holder is 4-1 at BW in the UFC.
dB rankings Champion: WEILI ZHANG 1. Rose Namajunas 2. Joanna Jedrzejczyk 3. Xiaonan Yan 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: No changes this month.
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. Alexa Grasso +5 11. Antonina Shevchenko 12. Alexis Davis * ** 13. Andrea Lee -3 14. Talia Santos 15. Maycee Barber -2 |
UFC rankings Champion: VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO 1. Jessica Andrade 2. Katlyn Chookagian 3. Lauren Murphy 4. Jennifer Maia 5. Cynthia Calvillo 6. Joanne Calderwood 7. Viviane Araujo 8. Jessica Eye 9. Roxanne Modafferi 10. Alexa Grasso 11. Alexis Davis 12. Andrea Lee 13. Antonina Shevchenko 14. Talia Santos 15. Maycee Barber |
Out of the rankings: Montana De La Rosa
Closing in on rankings: Miranda Maverick
X: Grasso continues marching up the FLW rankings, this time at Barber’s expense, while Davis returns.
dB rankings Champion: AMANDA NUNES 1. Germaine de Randamie 2. Holly Holm 3. Aspen Ladd 4. Irene Aldana +1 5. Yana Kunitskaya +2 6. Ketlen Vieira 7. Julianna Pena +1 8. Marion Reneau +1 9. Sara McMann +1 10. Lina Lansberg +1 11. Macy Chiasson +1 12. Pannie Kianzad +1 13. Karol Rosa * 14. Sijara Eubanks 15. Julia Avila |
UFC rankings Champion: AMANDA NUNES 1. Germaine de Randamie 2. Holly Holm 3. Aspen Ladd 4. Irene Aldana 5. Yana Kunitskaya 6. Julianna Pena 7. Ketlen Vieira 8. Sara McMann 9. Marion Reneau 10. Macy Chiasson 11. Lina Lansberg 12. Pannie Kianzad 13. Sijara Eubanks 14. Karol Rosa 15. Julia Avila |
Out of the rankings: Raquel Pennington (suspension)
Closing in on rankings: Tracy Cortez
X: Kunitskaya leapfrogs into the top 5 with her hard-nosed victory over Vieira. The fact that Aldana KO’d Vieira keeps her a notch above Kunitskaya in the rankings.
Champion: AMANDA NUNES No divisional rankings. |
IMPORTANT UPCOMING FIGHTS FOR RANKINGS
March 6 – UFC 259
Jan Blachowicz vs.Israel Adesanya for LHW title
Amanda Nunes vs. Megan Anderson for FW title
Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling for BW title
Islam Makhachev vs. Drew Dober
Thiago Santos vs. Aleksandar Rakic
March 13 – UFC Fight Night 187
Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad
March 20 – UFC on ESPN 21
Derek Brunson vs. Kevin Holland
Paul Craig vs. Jamahal Hill
Marion Reneau vs. Macy Chiasson
March 27 – UFC 260
Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou for HW title
Alexander Volkanovski vs. Brian Ortega for FW title
Anthony Smith vs. Jimmy Crute
Tyron Woodley vs. Vincente Luque
The updated March rankings will be posted after UFC 260. Until then, enjoy the fights.