FEBRUARY 2023
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. I make my votes public monthly in the spirit of openness and transparency.
MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
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dB rankings 1. Islam Makhachev (C) +1 2. Alexander Volkanovski (C) -1 3. Leon Edwards (C) 4. Kamaru Usman 5. Alex Pereira (C) 6. Israel Adesanya 7. Charles Oliveira 8. Aljamain Sterling (C) 9. Brandon Moreno (C) 10. Jamahal Hill (C) 11. Jiri Prochazka 12. Robert Whittaker 13. Deiveson Figueiredo 14. Dustin Poirier 15. Ciryl Gane |
UFC rankings 1. Alexander Volkanovski (C) 2. Islam Makhachev (C) 3. Leon Edwards (C) 4. Kamaru Usman 5. Israel Adesanya 6. Alex Pereira (C) 7. Aljamain Sterling (C) +1 8. Charles Oliveira -1 9. Brandon Moreno (C) 10. Jon Jones +1 11. Jiri Prochazka -1 12. Dustin Poirier 13. Jamahal Hill (C) 14. Robert Whittaker 15. Max Holloway * |
* New entrant into rankings
Out of dB rankings: None
Out of UFC rankings: Deiveson Figueiredo
X: Volkanovski and Makhachev showed us what a real superfight actually looks like, but it’s good to hear there will not be an immediate rematch. Come Saturday, Jones will have a chance to go from the basement to the penthouse if he can top Gane. Why UFC voters kicked off Figueiredo for Holloway, who hasn’t fought during that time, is another MMA mystery.
FLYWEIGHT
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dB rankings C: Brandon Moreno 1. Deiveson Figueiredo 2. Alexandre Pantoja 3. Kai Kara France 4. Matheus Nicolau 5. Manel Kape 6. Brandon Royval 7. Alex Perez 8. Amir Albazi 9. Matt Schnell 10. David Dvorak 11. Tim Elliott 12. Sumudaerji 13. Tagir Ulanbekov 14. Muhammad Mokaev 15. Tyson Nam * |
UFC rankings C: Brandon Moreno 1. Deiveson Figueiredo 2. Alexandre Pantoja 3. Kai Kara France 4. Brandon Royal 5. Matheus Nicolau 6. Alex Perez 7. Amir Albazi 8. Matt Schnell 9. Manel Kape 10. David Dvorak 11. Tim Elliott 12. Muhammad Mokaev 13. Sumudaerji 14. Tagir Ulanbekov 15. Tyson Nam |
* New entrant into rankings
Out of dB rankings: Charles Johnson
Out of UFC rankings: None
X: Little movement this month. While Pantoja seems next in line, the winner of Kape vs. Perez could be just one more win away from getting their own title shot at the end of the year. Looking forward to seeing some new blood at 125 pounds.
BANTAMWEIGHT
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dB rankings C: Aljamain Sterling 1. Marlon Vera 2. Merab Dvalishvili 3. Sean O’Malley 4. Petr Yan 5. Cory Sandhagen 6. Rob Font 7. Yadong Song 8. Ricky Simon 9. Dominick Cruz 10. Umar Nurmagomedov 11. Adrian Yanez 12. Chris Gutierrez 13. Jack Shore 14. Said Nurmagomedov 15. Pedro Munhoz |
UFC rankings C: Aljamain Sterling 1. Sean O’Malley 2. Petr Yan 3. Merab Dvalishvili 4. Marlon Vera 5. Cory Sandhagen 6. Rob Font 7. Dominick Cruz 8. Yadong Song 9. Pedro Munhoz 10. Ricky Simon 11. Umar Nurmagomedov 12. Chris Gutierrez 13. Adrian Yanez 14. Said Nurmagomedov 15. Jack Shore |
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: Little movement this month at BW, too. Still not sure why UFC voters have Munhoz in the top 10, considering he has won only one of his last six fights. Henry Cejudo’s return for a shot at the belt means O’Malley has to wait for his time to come, which may not be a bad thing as he must tighten up his wrestling to beat either the King of Cringe or Sterling.
FEATHERWEIGHT
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dB rankings C: Alexander Volkanovski IC. Yair Rodriguez +3 2. Max Holloway -1 3. Arnold Allen 4. Brian Ortega +1 5. Josh Emmett -3 6. Calvin Kattar 7. Chan Sung Jung 8. Gigi Chikadze 9. Ilia Topuria 10. Movsar Evloev 11. Bryce Mitchell 12. Sodiq Yusuff 13. Dan Ige 14. Edson Barboza 15. Jonathan Pearce |
UFC rankings C: Alexander Volkanovski IC: Yair Rodriguez +1 2. Max Holloway -1 3. Brian Ortega 4. Arnold Allen 5. Josh Emmett 6. Chan Sung Jung 7. Calvin Kattar 8. Giga Chikadze 9. Ilia Topuria 10. Movsar Evloev 11. Bryce Mitchell 12. Sodiq Yusuff 13. Dan Ige 14. Edson Barboza 15. Alex Caceres |
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: While there was also little movement this month at 145 pounds, Rodriguez put on the best performance of his career by rolling over Emmett to earn an interim belt and the next crack at Volkanovski. If Allen can take down Holloway next month, we’ll have another contender with an excellent resume lined up before the champ can go to 155 pounds again.
LIGHTWEIGHT
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dB rankings C: Islam Makhachev 1. Charles Oliveira 2. Beneil Dariush 3. Dustin Poirier 4. Justin Gaethje 5. Michael Chandler 6. Rafael Fiziev 7. Mateusz Gamrot 8. Arman Tsarukyan 9. Damir Ismagulov 10. Jalin Turner 11. Dan Hooker 12. Grant Dawson 13. Renato Moicano 14. Drew Dober 15. Joel Alvarez |
UFC rankings C: Islam Makhachev 1. Charles Oliveira 2. Dustin Poirier 3. Justin Gaethje 4. Beneil Dariush 5. Michael Chandler 6. Rafael Fiziev 7. Mateusz Gamrot 8. Arman Tsarukyan 9. Rafael dos Anjos 10. Jalin Turner 11. Dan Hooker 12. Damir Ismagulov 12. Renato Moicano 14. Drew Dober 15. Grant Dawson |
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: LW is yet another weight class with few ranked fighters going at it during the last month. That will change in a hurry, as the winners of Gaethje vs. Fiziev and Oliveira vs. Dariush will clamor for title shots. Then we have the returning Conor McGregor vs. the always exciting Chandler to look forward to after they serve as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter.
WELTERWEIGHT
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dB rankings C: Leon Edwards 1. Kamaru Usman 2. Belal Muhammad 3. Colby Covington 4. Khamzat Chimaev 5. Gilbert Burns 6. Shavkat Rakmonov 7. Stephen Thompson 8. Sean Brady 9. Geoff Neal 10. Vicente Luque 11. Michael Chiesa 12. Neil Magny 13. Jack Della Maddalena +2 14. Michel Pereira 15. Jorge Masvidal +2 |
UFC rankings C: Leon Edwards 1. Kamaru Usman 2. Colby Covington 3. Khamzat Chimaev 4. Belal Muhammad 5. Gilbert Burns 6. Stephen Thompson 7. Geoff Neal 8. Sean Brady 9. Vicente Luque 9. Shavkat Rakmonov +1 11. Jorge Masvidal 12. Michael Chiesa 12. Neil Magny +1 14. Jack Della Maddalena * 15. Michel Pereira -1 |
* New entrant into rankings
Out of dB rankings: None
Out of UFC rankings: Jingliang Li
X: As we wait for another rematch to settle the 1-1 score between Edwards and Usman, Rakmonov has a chance to sneak into the title picture with a finish of Neal, while the winner of Burns vs. Masvidal will undoubtedly want to serve up a three piece and a soda somewhere down the Octagon road. Since both Chimaev and Maddalena look like the real deal, fighters like Covington better get off the shelf before they’re passed by welterweight’s burgeoning youth movement.
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dB rankings C: Alex Pereira 1. Israel Adesanya 2. Robert Whittaker 3. Jared Cannonier 4. Marvin Vettori 5. Paulo Costa 6. Derek Brunson 7. Sean Strickland 8. Roman Dolidze +1 9. Jack Hermansson +1 10. Dricus Du Plessis +1 11. Nassourdine Imavov +1 12. Chris Curtis +1 13. Brenda Allen * 14. Andre Muniz -5 15. Kelvin Gastelum |
UFC rankings C: Alex Pereira 1. Israel Adesanya 2. Robert Whittaker 3. Jared Cannonier 4. Marvin Vettori 5. Derek Brunson 6. Paulo Costa 7. Sean Strickland 8. Roman Dolidze 9. Jack Hermansson 10. Dricus Du Plessis 11. Nassourdine Imavov +1 12. Brenda Allen * 13. Andre Muniz -2 14. Chris Curtis 15. Kelvin Gastelum -2 |
* New entrant into rankings
Out of dB/UFC rankings: Darren Till (released)
X: Big props to Allen, who finally showed everything he was made of in dominating Muniz – who once upon a time broke Jacare’s arm with a submission – on both the feet and on the ground. Not exactly sure what Adesanya will do differently this time around vs. Pereira, but he better have been working on his clinch game and wrestling. And why do I get the feeling Till wanted to be released so he could get some additional medical help not available with USADA around?
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dB rankings C: Jamahal Hill 1. Jiri Prochazka 2. Magomed Ankalaev +1 3. Jan Blachowicz +1 4. Aleksandar Rakic +1 5. Anthony Smith +1 6. Nikita Krylov +1 7. Volkan Oezdemir +1 8. Johnny Walker +1 9. Ryan Spann +1 10. Paul Craig +1 11. Azamat Murakanov +1 12. Khalil Rountree Jr. +1 13. Dustin Jacoby +1 14. Jimmy Crute +1 15. Dominick Reyes * |
UFC rankings C: Jamahal Hill 1. Jiri Prochazka 2. Magomed Ankalaev 3. Jan Blachowicz 4. Aleksandar Rakic 5. Anthony Smith +1 6. Nikita Krylov +1 7. Johnny Walker +1 8. Ryan Spann +2 9. Volkan Oezdemir 10. Paul Craig +1 11. Dominick Reyes +1 12. Jimmy Crute +1 13. Khalil Rountree Jr. +1 13. Dustin Jacoby +2 15. Azamat Murakanov * |
* New entrant into rankings
Out of dB/UFC rankings: Glover Teixeira (retired)
X: Saying goodbye to Teixeira and Shogun on the same night kinda felt like we also were saying goodbye to Pride and the WEC, God bless ‘em both. Can’t wait for Hill and Prochazka to finally get it on, but in the meantime Ankalaev and Blachowicz almost feel destined to run back their majority draw, even though it wasn’t particularly exciting to watch.
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dB rankings C: Vacant 1. Ciryl Gane 2. Curtis Blaydes 3. Sergei Pavlovich 4. Stipe Miocic 5. Tai Tuivasa 6. Tom Aspinall 7. Alexander Volkov +1 8. Marcin Tybura +2 9. Serghei Spivac +3 10. Jairzinho Rozenstruik -1 11. Derrick Lewis -4 12. Alexandr Romanov -1 13. Jailton Almeida 14. Blagoy Ivanov 15. Marcos Rogerio de Lima |
UFC rankings C: Vacant 1. Ciryl Gane 2. Stipe Miocic 3. Sergei Pavlovich 4. Curtis Blaydes 5. Tai Tuivasa 6. Tom Aspinall 7. Serghei Spivac +5 8. Alexander Volkov 9. Jairzinho Rozenstruik 10. Marcin Tybura 11. Derrick Lewis -4 12. Chris Daukaus -1 13. Alexandr Romanov 14. Jailton Almeida 15. Blagoy Ivanov |
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: Of all the fighters in the UFC, I hate watching Lewis lose the most – partly because he’s a funky dude you can’t help but like, even without his compelling Instagram page; and partly because when he does lose, it looks mighty rough. Spivac and Pavlovich both seem ready for a shot at the HW elite, although Blaydes may still be the most formidable foe.
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dB rankings 1. Amanda Nunes (C) 2. Valentina Shevchenko (C) 3. Rose Namajunas 4. Weili Zhang 5. Julianna Pena +1 6. Erin Blanchfield * 7. Jessica Andrade -2 8. Amanda Lemos -1 9. Taila Santos -1 10. Manon Fiorot -1 11. Carla Esparza -1 12. Marina Rodriquez -1 13. Raquel Pennington -1 14. Katlyn Chookagian -1 15. Ketlen Viera |
UFC rankings 1. Amanda Nunes (C) 2. Valentina Shevchenko (C) 3. Weili Zhang (C) 4. Rose Namajunas +1 5. Julianna Pena -1 6. Carla Esparza 7. Jessica Andrade 8. Erin Blanchfield * 9. Amanda Lemos 10. Taila Santos -1 11. Manon Fiorot +1 12. Marina Rodriquez -4 13. Raquel Pennington 14. Holly Holm -2 15. Tatiana Suarez * |
* New entrant into rankings
Out of dB rankings: Lauren Murphy
Out of UFC rankings: Katlyn Chookagian, Ketlen Viera
X: More up-and-coming fighters are taking over the women’s P4P rankings, now joined by Suarez, which is great to see, as we’re not still sure yet how much fighters like Nunes, Namajunas, Pena, Esparza and Holm have left in their tanks.
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dB rankings C: Weili Zhang 1. Jessica Andrade 2. Amanda Lemos 3. Rose Namajunas 4. Carla Esparza 5. Marina Rodriguez 6. Xiaonan Yan 7. Amanda Ribas 8. Mackenzie Dern 9. Virna Jandiroba 10. Tatiana Suarez * 11. Tecia Torres -1 12. Michelle Waterson-Gomez -1 13. Luana Pinheiro -1 14. Angela Hill -1 15. Kanaoko Murata -1 |
UFC rankings C: Zhang Weili 1. Carla Esparza 2. Rose Namajunas 3. Amanda Lemos 4. Jessica Andrade +2 5. Marina Rodriguez -1 6. Yan Xiaonan -1 7. Mackenzie Dern 8. Tecia Torres 9. Amanda Ribas 10. Virna Jandiroba 11. Michelle Waterson-Gomez 12. Angela Hill 13. Tatiana Suarez * 14. Luana Pinheiro -1 15. Emily Ducote -1 |
* New entrant into rankings
Out of dB rankings: Emily Ducote
Out of UFC rankings: Polyana Viana
X: I have Murata ranked over Ducote for an obvious reason – she beat her head to head. The returning Suarez looks positioned for three quick wins and a title shot after picking up a W at 125 pounds in her return from a long injury layoff. Sorry to see Ribas stay at FLW, as she was just a win or two away from getting a chance to fight for the belt at SW.
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dB rankings C: Valentina Shevchenko 1. Erin Blanchfield +11 2. Talia Santos -1 3. Manon Fiorot -1 4. Jessica Andrade -2 5. Katlyn Chookagian +1 6. Alexa Grasso -1 7. Lauren Murphy -1 8. Jennifer Maia -1 9. Viviane Araujo -1 10. Casey O’Neill -1 11. Andrea Lee -1 12. Tracy Cortez -1 13. Maycee Barber 14. Miranda Maverick 15. Maryna Moroz |
UFC rankings C: Valentina Shevchenko 1. Manon Fiorot 2. Talia Santos 3. Erin Blanchfield +7 4. Jessica Andrade -1 5. Katlyn Chookagian -1 6. Alexa Grasso -1 7. Lauren Murphy -1 8. Viviane Araujo -1 9. Jennifer Maia -1 10. Andrea Lee -1 11. Casey O’Neill 12. Maycee Barber 13. Tracy Cortez 14. Cynthia Calvillo 15. Miranda Maverick * |
* New entrant into rankings
Out of dB rankings: None
Out of UFC rankings: Amanda Ribas
X: Blanchfield’s crushing victory over Andrade, preceded by Fiorot’s win over Chookagian, have given this division new life. Throw in Grasso and Santos, who gave Shevchenko everything she could handle, and FLW has exciting new blood.
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
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dB rankings C: Amanda Nunes 1. Julianna Pena 2. Raquel Pennington 3. Ketlen Vieira 4. Holly Holm 5. Irene Aldana 6. Karol Rosa 7. Pannie Kianzad 8. Yana Santos 9. Macy Chiasson 10. Mayra Bueno Silva +1 11. Julia Avila -1 12. Josiane Nunes 13. Stephanie Egger 14. Chelsea Chandler * 15. Tamires Vidal * |
UFC rankings C. Amanda Nunes 1. Julianna Pena 2. Raquel Pennington 3. Holly Holm 3. Ketlen Vieira +1 5. Irene Aldana 6. Yana Santos 7. Pannie Kianzad 8. Macy Chiasson 9. Karol Rosa 10. Miesha Tate 11. Julia Avila 12. Mayra Bueno Silva +2 13. Norma Dumont 14. Josiane Nunes +1 15. Chelsea Chandler * |
* New entrant into rankings
Out of dB rankings: Lina Lansberg, Miesha Tate
Out of UFC rankings: Lina Lansberg (retired)
X: I simply can’t vote for Dumont at BW since she can’t make the weight, and Tate last fought at 125 pounds and hasn’t given any indication that she’s going to return to the Octagon, so with Lansberg retiring it was time to shake up the rankings, even if that means voting for a couple of fighters with only one bout in the UFC. Sad to say, the 135-pound division is not anywhere close to what it was when Ronda Rousey ruled the earth and gave women a shot in the UFC.
WOMEN’S FEATHERWEIGHT
C: Amanda Nunes
No divisional rankings. There are still a few women fighters on the roster at 145 pounds, though none notable.
UPCOMING FIGHTS TO WATCH
March 4 – UFC 285
Cyril Gane vs. Jon Jones for vacant HW title
Valentina Shevchenko vs. Alexa Grasso for FLW title
Shavkat Rakmonov vs. Geoff Neal
March 11 – UFC Fight Night 221
Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan
Alexander Volkov vs. Alexandr Romanov
Said Nurmagomedov vs. Jonathan Martinez
March 18 – UFC 286
Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman for WW title
Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev
Marvin Vettori vs. Roman Dolidze
March 25 – UFC on ESPN 43
Marlon Vera vs. Cory Sandhagen
Holly Holm vs. Yana Santos
Manuel Tape vs. Alex Perez
Updated rankings for March – which has four consecutive weeks of top-notch cards – will be posted before UFC 287 on April 8, when Israel Adesanya will get a fourth shot at defeating Alex Pereira. Until then, enjoy the 5-ounce glove fights.
For comments, questions and suggestions, email dbrown@cherokeescout.com or hit me up on Twitter @daviddbstroh.