UFC Rankings: Top 10 in Every Division, Including Flyweight, Heavyweight and Pound-for-Pound

Twelve straight victories are part of why UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is at the top of our current pound-for-pound UFC rankings. However, it is also how dominant he has been, and his back-to-back wins over fellow P4P fighters Charles Oliveira and Alexander Volkanovski that place him head and shoulders above any other fighters in the promotion right now.

UFC flyweight rankings

Brazil’s Alexandre Pantoja has had a long hard road to becoming the new UFC flyweight king. He has 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. He is not just a 125-pound superstar but a pound-for-pound level competitor as well.

UFC bantamweight rankings

Sean O’Malley has had many doubters during his UFC career but he put that to rest definitively at UFC 292. His second-round technical knockout win over Aljamain Sterling proved he is not just an elite striker but a fighter with a high fight IQ. At just 28 he is the division king and at the top of our latest UFC bantamweight rankings.

UFC featherweight rankings

After five straight wins to start his UFC career, Ilia Topuria became one of the new rising stars at 145 pounds. Then big wins over Bryce Mitchell and former interim championship challenger Josh Emmett cemented his place as not just an impressive talent but a true world title contender.

In February, he stamped his place in division history when he was able to be the first man to not only hang an L on Alexander Volkanovski at featherweight but also finish him in dramatic fashion. At just 27, Topuria is set up to begin a lengthy and dominant title run of his own over the next few years.

What are MMA rankings?

MMA rankings are just like rankings for boxers of NFL teams. It is a list of the best fighters in a particular weight class or overall in the sport of mixed martial arts.

UFC lightweight rankings

Islam Makhachev, like his friend and mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov, has been a dominant force in the UFC lightweight division. He won 10 straight to land a title fight and now has one of the best back-to-back title defenses in weight class history when he defeated former champ Charles Oliveria and featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski.

UFC welterweight rankings

Fight fans were shocked when Leon Edwards shocked welterweight legend Kamaru Usman in the final seconds of their rematch in 2022. They figured it was a fluke and the champ got lazy late. Well, he proved it was no miracle in March when he defeated Usman again and landed bragging rights for their trilogy. Like it or not, “Rocky” is the cream of the UFC rankings crop at 170 pounds.

UFC middleweight rankings

At UFC 293, Sean Strickland stunned the MMA world by beating division legend Israel Adesanya despite being a +440 underdog entering fight night. It was a stunning moment that forever changed opinions about who is the division GOAT and opened up the top of the division to all sorts of possibilities in the months ahead.

However, his reign at the top was short-lived as history was made in his first title defense when Dricus Du Plessis defeated him to be the first South African-born fighter to win a UFC championship. With the fall of Adesanya, the division is as wide open as it’s been in years.

UFC light heavyweight rankings

In a short amount of time, Alex Pereira stamped his place as one of the best middleweight MMA fighters on the planet. His knockout win over former champion Israel Adesanya forever stamped his spot in division lore and he likely would have been first in line to get a chance to again beat new champion Sean Strickland. However, he switched divisions and rapidly rose to the top at light heavyweight.

At UFC 295, he proved any doubters left wrong when he scored a destructive second-round finish over former champion Jiri Prochazka. Not only is he the ninth fighter in UFC history to win titles in two divisions, but he is by far the fastest to ever achieve the legendary feat as he did it in just seven fights.

UFC heavyweight rankings

Englishman Tom Aspinall is the best heavyweight in the UFC. While the current title he holds is an interim belt, with all due respect to lineal champion Jon Jones, Aspinall has beaten many of the best fighters in the division for the last three years instead of a great win in one fight.

His lone defeat in the company came after he tore knee ligaments against Curtis Blaydes, otherwise, he has met little resistance during eight bouts in the Octagon and he stamped his place as the best in the class with a destructive championship win over Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295.

Women’s UFC pound for pound rankings

With Amanda Nunes walking away from the sport, the women’s pound-for-pound rankings are now wide open. In the wake of the GOAT’s departure and Valentina Shevchenko’s shocking loss, Chinese superstar Zhang Weili jumped into the top spot. At UFC 292 she showed why she is one of the best female fighters alive with a dominant win as she used a complete attack to beat Amanda Lemos.

Where is Islam Makhachev ranked?

UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is ranked in two categories in our current UFC rankings and the Russian star lands in the top spot for both. Makhachev is No. 1 in our latest lightweight and pound-for-pound rankings.

Who is the best pound for pound MMA history?

Deciding who is the greatest MMA fighter ever is very subjective. But if one had to be chosen, either light heavyweight great Jon Jones, welterweight legend Georges St. Pierre, and flyweight icon Demetrious Johnson would be the likely choices for many fight fans.