UFC is still rebuilding its heavyweight division.
Francis Ngannou vacated his title and signed with PFL, current heavyweight champion Jon Jones is teasing a late 2023 retirement, and No. 3-ranked contender Stipe Miocic turns 41 in August and hasn’t fought in over two years.
Jailton Almeida is here to take over.
The Brazilian phenom still has a long way to go before achieving heavyweight supremacy but he’s certainly off to a good start, bouncing 265-pound veteran Jairzinho Rozenstruik from the heavyweight Top 10 at UFC Charlotte.
More on his finish over “Bigi Boy” right here.
Here’s how UFC compiles its official rankings:
Rankings were generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings.
Take a look at what the latest rankings field looks like courtesy of UFC.com. Note: (+/- = movement in rankings, T = tie, *NR = Not previously ranked).
MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Jon Jones
2. Alexander Volkanovski
3. Islam Makhachev
4. Leon Edwards
5. Israel Adesanya
6. Aljamain Sterling
7. Kamaru Usman
8. Charles Oliveira
9. Brandon Moreno
10. Alex Pereira
11. Jiri Prochazka
12. Max Holloway
13. Dustin Poirier
14. Jamahal Hill
15. Robert Whittaker
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Brandon Moreno
1. Deiveson Figueiredo
2. Alexandre Pantoja
3. Kai Kara France
4. Brandon Royval
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. Su Mudaerji
14. Tagir Ulanbekov
14. Bruno Silva
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Aljamain Sterling
1. Merab Dvalishvili
2. Sean O’Malley
3. Henry Cejudo
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Petr Yan
6. Marlon Vera
7. Rob Font
8. Song Yadong
9. Dominick Cruz
10. Pedro Munhoz
11. Umar Nurmagomedov
12. Ricky Simon -1
13. Adrian Yanez
14. Chris Gutierrez
15. Jonathan Martinez
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Interim Champion Yair Rodriguez
2. Max Holloway
3. Brian Ortega
4. Arnold Allen
5. Josh Emmett
6. Calvin Kattar
7. Chan Sung Jung -1
8. Giga Chikadze
9. Ilia Topuria
10. Movsar Evloev
11. Bryce Mitchell
12. Sodiq Yusuff
13. Dan Ige
14. Edson Barboza
15. Alex Caceres
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: 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
13. Renato Moicano
14. Matt Frevola
15. Grant Dawson
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Leon Edwards
1. Kamaru Usman
2. Colby Covington
3. Belal Muhammed +1
4. Khamzat Chimaev -1
5. Gilbert Burns
6. Shavkat Rakhmonov
7. Stephen Thompson
8. Geoff Neal
9. Sean Brady
10. Vicente Luque
11. Neil Magny
12. Michael Chiesa
13. Ian Machado Garry *NR
14. Jack Della Maddalena -1
15. Michel Pereira -1
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Israel Adesanya
1. Alex Pereira
2. Robert Whittaker
3. Marvin Vettori
4. Jared Cannonier
5. Paulo Costa
6. Dricus Du Plessis
7. Sean Strickland
8. Derek Brunson
9. Roman Dolidze
10. Jack Hermansson
11. Kelvin Gastelum
12. Nassourdine Imavov
13. Brendan Allen
14. Chris Curtis
15. Andre Muniz
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jamahal Hill
1. Jiri Prochazka
2. Magomed Ankalaev
3. Jan Blachowicz
4. Aleksandar Rakic
5. (T) Nikita Krylov +1
5. (T) Johnny Walker +2
7. Anthony Smith -2
8. Volkan Oezdemir
9. Paul Craig
10. Ryan Spann
11. Azamat Murzakanov
12. Dominick Reyes
13. Khalil Rountree
14. Jim Crute
15. Dustin Jacoby
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jon Jones
1. Ciryl Gane
2. Sergei Pavlovich
3. Stipe Miocic
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Tom Aspinall
6. Tai Tuivasa
7. Alexander Volkov
8. Serghei Spivac
9. Jailton Almeida +3
10. Marcin Tybura
11. Derrick Lewis
12. Jairzinho Rozenstruik -3
13. Chris Daukaus
14. Alexandr Romanov +1
15. Blagoy Ivanov -1
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Alexa Grasso
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Weili Zhang
5. Rose Namajunas
6. Julianna Pena
7. Carla Esparza
8. Erin Blanchfield
9. Jessica Andrade
10. Yan Xiaonan
11. Manon Fiorot
12. Amanda Lemos
13. Taila Santos
14. Holly Holm +1
15. Raquel Pennington -1
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Carla Esparza
2. Rose Namajunas
3. Yan Xiaonan
4. Amanda Lemos
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Virna Jandiroba
7. Marina Rodriguez
8. Mackenzie Dern
9. Tecia Torres
10. Tatiana Suarez
11. Amanda Ribas -1
12. Michelle Waterson
13. Luana Pinheiro
14. Angela Hill
15. Tabatha Ricci
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexa Grasso
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Manon Fiorot
3. Talia Santos
4. Erin Blanchfield
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Katlyn Chookagian
7. Lauren Murphy
8. Jennifer Maia
9. Amanda Ribas
10. Viviane Araújo
11. Maycee Barber
12. Casey O’Neill
13. Andrea Lee
14. Tracy Cortez
15. Miranda Maverick
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1. Julianna Pena
2. Raquel Pennington
3. Holly Holm
4. Ketlen Vieira
5. Irene Aldana
6. Yana Kunitskaya
7. Pannie Kianzad
8. Macy Chiasson
9. Karol Rosa
10. Mayra Bueno Silva
11. Miesha Tate
12. Julia Avila
13. Norma Dumont
14. (T) Josiane Nunes
14. (T) Chelsea Chandler
There you have it.
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the women’s strawweight division, following the UFC Vegas 73: “Dern vs. Hill” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+ going down this Sat. (May 20, 2023) at APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
