UFC Flyweight Rankings: Brandon Royval Holds On To Top 3 Spot After Hard-Fought UFC Vegas 98 Win

While injuries and failed bookings have hindered his career, Alex Perez has remained a top-15 flyweight for years. Now with his health issues addressed, the American is primed for a consistent run and some big fights at 125 pounds in the years ahead.

9. Tim Elliott (20-13-1)

While he will never compete for a UFC belt again, Tim Elliott continues to be a pesky stalwart of the flyweight top 10. He has won three of his last four and continues to be an elite level gate-keeper for future contenders at 125 pounds.

8. Steve Erceg (12-3)

Steve Erceg has been impressive since joining the UFC last year. He bumped off fast-rising prospect David Dvorak in his promotional debut and also had a win over former rankings stalwart Matt Schnell. At UFC 301 he earned a surprising title opportunity and was able to do what many other foes couldn’t and went the distance with Alexandre Pantoja.

Unfortunately, in his return, he suffered a devastating TKO loss to Kai Kara-France at UFC 305. Giving him the first back-to-back losses of his career.

7. Manel Kape (19-7)

After a rough start to his UFC career, where he lost consecutive fights to elite talent, Manel Kape has gone on a tear over his last three. Scoring highlight reel finishes in two of those bouts and he has quickly climbed up our UFC flyweight rankings. He has had difficulty in securing a fight in 2023 after two high-profile opponents dropped out of scheduled matchups this spring.

While he did not get the ranked foe he originally planned for at UFC 293 he still extended his win streak to four by scoring a win over UFC newcomer Felipe dos Santos.

6. Kai Kara-France (25-11)

After years of toiling away inside the division, New Zealand’s Kai Kara-France finally got a chance at UFC gold in 2022. Unfortunately, he had the bad luck of facing the best flyweight of this generation, Brandon Moreno.

Last year, he got his first UFC main event slot against one of the hottest fighters in the division, Amir Albazi. Unfortunately, also he came up short and suffered a second straight defeat. However, in his return at UFC 305, he scored a huge win over former title challenge Stever Erceg sending him flying up our latest UFC flyweight rankings.

UFC flyweight rankings top 5

5. Tatsuro Taira (16-1)

It has been a very long time since Japan has had a fighter representing the country at the highest levels of the sport. However, unbeaten prospect Tatsuro Taira has put the land of the rising sun back on the UFC map over the last year. He had finished 12 of his 16 wins and raised his profile to new heights with a main event win in a June fight night card.

At UFC Vegas 98 he got a huge test in former title challenger Brandon Royval. And while he was not victorious, he showed he could compete with the best of the best in a split-decision loss to the American.

4. Brandon Moreno (21-8-2)

Few flyweights have been better than Brandon Moreno over the last few years. He has defeated many of the best in the division, and his lone loss for a while was a razor-thin defeat to division beast Deiveson Figueiredo. However, it is hard to stay on top.

After years of dominance, Moreno has not lost two straight with his most recent coming in a rematch against Brandon Royval in front of his countrymen in Mexico. After this latest defeat, it could be a couple of years before “Assassin Baby” fights for gold again.

3. Amir Albazi (17-1)

Amir Albazi is one of the hottest fighters in the 125-pound division. He has won four straight since joining the UFC, with three of them being finishes. Including his most recent win, an outstanding knockout victory over Alessandro Costa.

He has long hyped himself as one of the best in the world, and he got his chance to prove it against a former interim title challenger in June. Although some question the win, he still got his hand raised against Kai Kara-France in June and scored by far the biggest victory of his career.

2. Brandon Royval (16-7)

Brandon Royval has quietly been one of the best 125-pound fighters in the world for quite some time. While he has come up short in some big fights, he owns quite a few impressive victories, including over former division king Brandon Moreno. In October he held on to his spot with a hard-fought split-decision victory against fast-rising Japanese star Tatsuro Taira.

1. Alexandre Pantoja (28-5)

Brazil’s Alexandre Pantoja has had a long hard road to becoming the UFC flyweight king. He toiled away inside the division for five years before he was finally able to earn a title fight at UFC 290. In his first chance at being champion, he made good by scoring a second (third unofficial) win over division king Brandon Moreno.

Since then he has defended his belt twice and turned away some of the best 125-pounders in the world. There is no clear challenger that will be able to knock “The Cannibal” off his thrown.