In deciding where to rank fighters, I look at head-to-head matchups first, then results over the last three years, giving more credence to recent bouts. The level of competition is always considered, even outside the UFC, activity is important and MMA math plays a small part in the process.
MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
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dB rankings 1. Jon Jones 2. Kamaru Usman (C) 3. Francis Ngannou (C) 4. Stipe Miocic 5. Jan Blachowicz (C) 6. Israel Adesanya (C) 7. Deiveson Figueiredo (C) 8. Alexander Volkanovski (C) 9. Dustin Poirier 10. Max Holloway 11. Robert Whittaker 12. Charles Oliveira (C) * 13. Aljamain Sterling (C) 14. Petr Yan 15. Justin Gaethje -3 |
UFC rankings 1. Jon Jones 2. Kamaru Usman (C) 3. Alexander Volkanovski (C) 4. Israel Adesanya (C) 5. Francis Ngannou (C) 6. Dustin Poirier 7. Jan Blachowicz (C) +1 8. Stipe Miocic -1 9. Max Holloway 10. Deiveson Figueiredo (C) 11. Charles Oliveira (C) * 12. Robert Whittaker -1 13. Petr Yan -1 14. Justin Gaethje -2 15. Aljamain Sterling (C) -1 |
Out of dB rankings: Colby Covington
Out of UFC rankings: Conor McGregor
X: It’s a welcome sight to see both Covington and McGregor off these lists.
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dB rankings C: Deiveson Figueiredo 1. Brandon Moreno 2. Askar Askarov 3. Alex Perez 4. Alexandre Pantoja 5. Joseph Benavidez 6. Brandon Royval 7. Kai Kara France 8. Rogerio Bontorin +1 9. David Dvorak +1 10. Matt Schnell -2 11. Tim Elliott 12. Raulian Paiva 13. Amir Albazi 14. Su Mudaerji 15. Matheus Nicolau |
UFC rankings C: Deiveson Figueiredo 1. Brandon Moreno 2. Askar Askarov 3. Alexandre Pantoja 4. Alex Perez 5. Joseph Benavidez 6. Brandon Royval 7. Kai Kara France 8. Rogerio Bontorin +1 9. Matt Schnell -1 10. Tim Elliott 11. David Dvorak 12. Raulian Paiva 13. Su Mudaerji 14. Matheus Nicolau 15. Amir Albazi |
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: Little movement this month at FLW, other than Schnell dropping a decision to an overweight Bontorin in a performance that seemed off for him.
BANTAMWEIGHT
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C: Aljamain Sterling 1. Petr Yan 2. Cory Sandhagen 3. Rob Font 4. Marlon Moraes 5. Jose Aldo 6. Frankie Edgar 7. Pedro Munhoz 8. Cody Garbrandt 9. Dominick Cruz 10. Merab Dvalishvili +3 11. Jimmie Rivera -1 12. Raphael Assuncao -1 13. Ricky Simon -1 14. Kyler Phillips +1 15. Raoni Barcelos * |
UFC rankings C: Aljamain Sterling 1. Petr Yan 2. Cory Sandhagen 3. Rob Font 4. Cody Garbrandt 5. Jose Aldo 6. Marlon Moraes 7. Frankie Edgar 8. Pedro Munhoz 9. Dominick Cruz 10. Merab Dvalishvili +2 11. Raphael Assuncao -1 12. Jimmie Rivera -1 13. Cody Stamann 14. Kyler Phillips 15. Marlon Vera |
Out of dB rankings: Cody Stamann
Out of UFC rankings: None
Closing in on rankings: T.J. Dillashaw, Casey Kenney, Sean O’Malley, Song Yadong
X: Dvalishvili continues his wet-blanket climb up the ladder, finally reaching the top 10. Simon continues to get little love from other rankers despite being 6-2 in UFC, with wins over Dvalishvili and Yahya, losing only to Faber and Font. Barcelos enters my rankings on the strength of a 16-1 record that includes 5-0 in UFC, while the UFC rankings keep Stamann (1-2-1 in last four fights) and Vera (1-2 in last three). Garbrandt can prove he really deserves to be in the top four against Font this weekend.
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dB rankings C: Alexander Volkanovski 1. Max Holloway 2. Brian Ortega 3. Yair Rodriguez 4. Chan Sung Jung 5. Arnold Allen 6. Calvin Kattar 7. Josh Emmett 8. Dan Inge 9. Edson Barboza +2 10. Gigi Chikadze +5 11. Sodiq Yusuff -1 12. Bryce Mitchell 13. Shane Burgos -4 14. Movsar Evloev -1 15. Hakeem Dawodu |
UFC rankings C: Alexander Volkanovski 1. Max Holloway 2. Brian Ortega 3. Yair Rodriguez 4. Chan Sung Jung 5. Calvin Kattar 6. Josh Emmett 7. Arnold Allen 8. Dan Ige 9. Edson Barboza +3 10. Giga Chikadze +4 11. Sodiq Yusuff -1 12. Bryce Mitchell -1 13. Shane Burgos -4 14. Movsar Evloev -1 15. Hakeem Dawodu * |
Out of dB rankings: None
Out of UFC rankings: Cub Swanson
X: Barboza has now been ranked in the top 10 in two divisions, FW and LW, after his methodical dismantling of Burgos, who almost stayed standing due to sheer force of will. Chikadze showed why he is one of the funnest strikers to watch with his TKO of the always tough Swanson. The only thing standing in the way of this division is inactivity at the top, with the Volkanovski vs. Ortega title fight has been delayed due to both coaching The Ultimate Fighter, Rodriguez and Jung in near-constant states of not being scheduled to fight, and Magomedsharipov already removed from the rankings after not stepping in the Octagon since November 2019.
LIGHTWEIGHT
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dB rankings C: Charles Oliveira +3 1. Dustin Poirier 2. Justin Gaethje 3. Beneil Dariush +5 4. Michael Chandler +1 5. Conor McGregor +2 6. Tony Ferguson -2 7. Rafael dos Anjos -1 8. Islam Makhachev +2 9. Dan Hooker +2 10. Paul Felder +2 11. Kevin Lee +2 12. Gregor Gillespie +2 13. Grant Dawson +2 14. Drew Dober * 15. Diego Ferreira -6 |
UFC rankings C: Charles Oliveira * 1. Dustin Poirier 2. Justin Gaethje 3. Beneil Dariush +6 4. Michael Chandler 5. Conor McGregor +1 6. Tony Ferguson -1 7. Rafael dos Anjos 8. Dan Hooker 9. Paul Felder +1 10. Islam Makhachev +1 11. Gregor Gillespie +3 12. Kevin Lee +1 13. Diego Ferreira -1 14. Drew Dober * 15. Thiago Moises * |
Out of dB rankings: None
Closing in on rankings: Ottman Azaitar, Damir Ismagulov, Arman Tsarukyan
Out of UFC rankings: Donald Cerrone
X: Watching the sheer joy of Oliveira as the LW belt was wrapped around his waist was one of my favorite moments of the year so far. For the once-gun shy grappler to TKO a very game Chandler made it that much better. Welcome to the Olive Era (stolen from Ben Fowlkes’ Q&A column). UFC ranking Moises is a bit confounding because while he’s 4-2 in the promotion, one of his losses is to the 19-1 and more deserving Ismagulov, who I may rank if he beats Rafael Alves this weekend. Meanwhile, Dawson is 17-1 and in my rankings after clubbing the previously undefeated Santos. And the inactive and allegedly going to WW Lee still stays ranked on my side thanks to his vicious KO of Gillespie, which some UFC rankers seemingly forgot about.
WELTERWEIGHT
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dB rankings C: Kamaru Usman 1. Colby Covington 2. Gilbert Burns 3. Leon Edwards 4. Stephen Thompson 5. Vicente Luque 6. Michael Chiesa +1 7. Neil Magny +3 8. Demian Maia -2 9. Jorge Masvidal -1 10. Geoff Neal -1 11. Li Jingliang 12. Belal Muhammad 13. Sean Brady 14. James Krause 15. Miguel Baeza |
UFC rankings C: Kamaru Usman 1. Colby Covington 2. Gilbert Burns 3. Leon Edwards 4. Stephen Thompson 5. Vicente Luque +1 6. Michael Chiesa +1 7. Jorge Masvidal -2 8. Neil Magny +1 9. Demian Maia -1 10. Geoff Neal 11. Li Jingliang 12. Belal Muhammad 13. Sean Brady 14. Robbie Lawler 15. Khamzat Chimaev |
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: Watching Luque, Chiesa and Magny scratch and claw their way through a gauntlet of top-notch fighters and into title contention is a victory for determination and hard work. They should inspire others who lose fights early in their careers to not give up, but put their head down and swing even harder.
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dB rankings C: Israel Adesanya 1. Robert Whittaker 2. Paulo Costa 3. Marvin Vettori 4. Jared Cannonier 5. Derek Brunson 6. Jack Hermansson 7. Darren Till 8. Kelvin Gastelum 9. Uriah Hall 10. Chris Weidman 11. Omari Akhmedov 12. Edmen Shahbazyan 13. Sean Strickland +1 14. Andre Muniz * 15. Brad Tavares -2 |
C: Israel Adesanya 1. Robert Whittaker 2. Paulo Costa 3. Marvin Vettori 4. Jared Cannonier 5. Derek Brunson 6. Darren Till 7. Jack Hermansson 8. Uriah Hall 9. Kelvin Gastelum 10. Edmen Shahbazyan 11. Sean Strickland +4 12. Chris Weidman -1 13. Omari Akhmedov 14. Kevin Holland -2 15. Brad Taveras -1 |
Out of dB rankings: Brendan Allen
Out of UFC rankings: None
X: Strickland wins his third in a a row since he returned to MW after a devastating motorcycle accident cost him two years of his career. But in this division, it’s hard not to think first of Weidman, who broke his leg on the first kick he threw at Hall; and Jacare Souza, whose arm was broken thanks to Muniz.
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dB rankings C: Jan Blachowicz 1. Glover Teixeira 2. Jiri Prochazka +2 3. Aleksandar Rakic -1 4. Magomed Ankalaev +1 5. Anthony Smith +2 6. Dominick Reyes -3 7. Thiago Santos -1 8. Volkan Oezdemir 9. Nikita Krylov 10. Johnny Walker 11. Ryan Spann 12. Misha Cirkunov 13. Jimmy Crute 14. Paul Craig 15. Jamahal Hill |
UFC rankings C: Jan Blachowicz 1. Glover Teixeira 2. Jiri Prochazka +3 3. Aleksandar Rakic -1 4. Thiago Santos 5. Dominick Reyes -2 6. Anthony Smith 7. Magomed Ankalaev 8. Volkan Oezdemir 9. Nikita Krylov 10. Johnny Walker 11. Ryan Spann 12. Misha Cirkunov 13. Jimmy Crute 14. Paul Craig 15. Jamahal Hill |
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: The Jiri Prochazka Experience might be the best thing to happen at LHW since we learned from a screaming Joe Rogan that “Houston Alexander is for real!” Let’s hope the rest of Prochazka’s career turns out a little better. The 15-1 Ankalaev deserves to be ranked higher than Santos and Reyes, both who are on three-fight losing streaks.
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dB rankings C: Francis Ngannou 1. Stipe Miocic 2. Derrick Lewis 3. Curtis Blaydes 4. Alexander Volkov 5. Ciryl Gane 6. Jairzinho Rozenstruik 7. Augusto Sakai 8. Shamil Abdurakhimov 9. Walt Harris 10. Marcin Tybura 11. Sergei Pavlovich 12. Chris Daukaus 13. Tom Aspinall 14. Blagoy Ivanov 15. Alexandr Romanov |
UFC rankings C: Francis Ngannou 1. Stipe Miocic 2. Derrick Lewis 3. Ciryl Gane +1 4. Curtis Blaydes -1 5. Alexander Volkov 6. Jairzinho Rozenstruik 7. Shamil Abdurakhimov 8. Walt Harris 9. Augusto Sakai 10. Chris Daukaus 11. Marcin Tybura +1 11. Blagoy Ivanov 13. Tom Aspinall 14. Sergei Pavlovich 15. Aleksei Oleinik |
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: Nothing new to report at HW this month, yet somehow two fighters gained a spot.
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dB rankings 1. Amanda Nunes 2. Valentina Shevchenko 3. Rose Namajunas 4. Weili Zhang 5. Joanna Jedrzejczyk 6. Germaine De Randamie 7. Holly Holm 8. Aspen Ladd 9. Jessica Andrade 10. Katlyn Chookagian 11. Jennifer Maia 12. Lauren Murphy 13. Cynthia Calvillo 14. Xiaonan Yan 15. Yana Kunitskaya |
UFC rankings 1. Amanda Nunes 2. Valentina Shevchenko 3. Rose Namajunas 4. Weili Zhang 5. Joanna Jedrzejczyk 6. Jessica Andrade 7. Germaine De Randamie 8. Holly Holm 9. Aspen Ladd 10. Katlyn Chookagian 11. Xiaonan Yan 12. Mackenzie Dern 13. Carla Esparza 14. Claudia Gadelha +1 15. Nina Nunes * |
Out of dB rankings: None
Out of UFC rankings: Cynthia Calvillo
X: N. Nunes enters the UFC P4P rankings in place of Calvillo, despite the fact that Calvillo is still ranked above her at SW. Alrighty then …
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dB rankings C: Rose Namajunas 1. Weili Zhang 2. Joanna Jedrzejczyk 3. Xiaonan Yan 4. Claudia Gadelha 5. Carla Esparza 6. Marina Rodriguez 7. Amanda Ribas 8. Mackenzie Dern 9. Nina Nunes +1 10. Michelle Waterson -1 11. Tecia Torres 12. Angela Hill 13. Virna Jandiroba 14. Amanda Lemos 15. Brianna Van Buren |
UFC rankings C: Rose Namajunas 1. Weili Zhang 2. Joanna Jedrzejczyk 3. Xiaonan Yan 4. Carla Esparza 5. Mackenzie Dern 6. Marina Rodriguez 7. Nina Nunes 8. Claudia Gadelha 9. Michelle Waterson 10. Tecia Torres 11. Amanda Ribas 12. Angela Hill 13. Virna Jandiroba 14. Amanda Lemos 15. Felice Herrig |
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: The winner of Yan vs. Esparza this weekend could also earn a title shot. Rodriguez is coming on strong after her dismantling of Waterson, whose size will likely keep her on the edge of contention.
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dB rankings C: 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 11. Andrea Lee +1 12. Talia Santos +1 13. Antonina Shevchenko -2 14. Miranda Maverick 15. Tracy Cortez |
UFC rankings C: Valentina Shevchenko 1. Jessica Andrade 2. Katlyn Chookagian 3. Lauren Murphy 4. Jennifer Maia 5. Cynthia Calvillo 6. Joanne Calderwood 7. Jessica Eye +1 8. Viviane Araujo -1 9. Roxanne Modafferi 10. Alexa Grasso 11. Andrea Lee 12. Talia Santos +1 13. Miranda Maverick +2 14. Maycee Barber 15. Antonina Shevchenko -3 |
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: Sad to say, A. Shevchenko’s lack of a ground game is going to keep her a very distant second to her dominating younger sister, who already qualifies as one of the best women’s fighters of all time. Lee did what she had to do to halt a losing streak in which all three fights were debatable.
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dB rankings C: Amanda Nunes 1. Germaine de Randamie 2. Holly Holm 3. Aspen Ladd 4. Irene Aldana 5. Yana Kunitskaya 6. Ketlen Vieira 7. Julianna Pena 8. Sara McMann 9. Lina Lansberg 10. Macy Chiasso 11. Pannie Kianzad 12. Karol Rosa 13. Marion Reneau 14. Alexis Davis 15. Sijara Eubanks |
UFC rankings C: 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. Macy Chiasson 10. Lina Lansberg 11. Pannie Kianzad 12. Marion Reneau 13. Sijara Eubanks 14. Karol Rosa 15. Julia Avila |
Out of dB/UFC rankings: None
X: No movement this month at WSW.
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Champion: Amanda Nunes No divisional rankings. |
IMPORTANT UPCOMING FIGHTS FOR RANKINGS
May 22 – UFC Fight Night 188: Font vs. Garbrandt
Rob Font vs. Cody Garbrandt
Xiaonan Yan vs. Carla Esparza
Jack Hermansson vs. Edmen Shahbazyan
June 5 – UFC Fight Night 188: Rozenstruik vs. Sakai
Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs. Augusto Sakai
Walt Harris vs. Marcin Tybura
Miguel Baeza vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
June 12 – UFC 263: Adesanya vs. Vettori 2
Israel Adesanya vs. Marvin Vettori for MW title
Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Brandon Moreno for FW title
Leon Edwards vs. Nate Diaz
The updated June rankings will be posted after UFC 263. Until then, enjoy the fights.
For comments, questions and suggestions, email dbrown@cherokeescout.com or hit me up on Twitter @daviddbstroh.