Bo Nickal had an opportunity to break into the middleweight Top 15 when he went head-to-head with No. 13-ranked Reinier de Ridder as part of the UFC Des Moines fight card last weekend in Iowa. Unfortunately, the former collegiate wrestling standout was obliterated on the feet, falling by way of second-round technical knockout.
As a result, Nickal is unlikely to face another ranked contender for the foreseeable future, keeping him off the 185-pound leaderboard until he can work his way back up to stiffer competition. The good news for Nickal, now 7-1, is that he’s still just 29 years old and has plenty of time to realize his potential (despite this critique).
Here’s how the rankings are compiled, at least until AI takes over:
Rankings are 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. Islam Makhachev
2. Jon Jones
3. Ilia Topuria
4. Merab Dvalishvili
5. Dricus Du Plessis
6. Magomed Ankalaev
7. Belal Muhammad
8. Alex Pereira
9. Alexander Volkanovski
10. Alexandre Pantoja
11. Tom Aspinall
12. Max Holloway
13. Sean O’Malley
14. Charles Oliveira
15. Arman Tsarukyan
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexandre Pantoja
1. Brandon Royval
2. Brandon Moreno
3. Amir Albazi
4. Kai Kara France
5. Tatsuro Taira
6. Manel Kape
7. Alex Perez
8. Asu Almabayev
9. Steve Erceg
10. Tagir Ulanbekov
11. Tim Elliott
12. Bruno Silva
13. Ramazan Temirov
14. Joshua Van
15. Kai Asakura
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Merab Dvalishvili
1. Sean O’Malley
2. Petr Yan
3. Umar Nurmagomedov
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Song Yadong +1
6. Deiveson Figueiredo -1
7. Marlon Vera
8. Rob Font
9. Henry Cejudo
10. Mario Bautista
11. Jose Aldo
12. Kyler Phillips
13. Marcus McGhee
14. Montel Jackson +1
15. Aiemann Zahabi -1
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Max Holloway
2. Diego Lopes
3. Ilia Topuria
4. (T) Movsar Evloev
4. (T) Yair Rodriguez
6. Arnold Allen
7. Brian Ortega
8. Lerone Murphy
9. Aljamain Sterling
10. Josh Emmett
11. Jean Silva
12. Youssef Zalal
13. David Onama +1
14. Dan Ige -1
15. Calvin Kattar
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Arman Tsarukyan
2. Charles Oliveira
3. Justin Gaethje
4. Max Holloway
5. Dustin Poirier
6. Dan Hooker
7. Mateusz Gamrot
8. Paddy Pimblett
9. Beneil Dariush
10. Renato Moicano
11. Rafael Fiziev
12. Michael Chandler
13. Benoit Saint Denis
14. Grant Dawson
15. Joel Alvarez
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Belal Muhammed
1. Sean Brady
2. Shavkat Rakhmonov
3. Leon Edwards
4. Kamaru Usman
5. Jack Della Maddalena
6. Ian Machado Garry
7. Joaquin Buckley
8. Gilbert Burns
9. Colby Covington
10. Geoff Neal
11. Stephen Thompson
12. Michael Morales
13. Carlos Prates
14. Vicente Luque
15. Michael Page
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Dricus Du Plessis
1. Nassourdine Imavov
2. Sean Strickland
3. Khamzat Chimaev
4. Israel Adesanya
5. Robert Whittaker
6. Caio Borralho
7. Jared Cannonier
8. Roman Dolidze
9. Anthony Hernandez
10. Marvin Vettori
11. Brendan Allen
12. Paulo Costa
13. Reinier De Ridder
14. Roman Kopylov
15. Abus Magomedov
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Magomed Ankalaev
1. Alex Pereira
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Carlos Ulberg
4. Jamahal Hill
5. Jan Blachowicz
6. Aleksandar Rakic
7. Khalil Rountree
8. Dominick Reyes
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Nikita Krylov
11. Johnny Walker
12. Azamat Murzakanov
13. Zhang Mingyang +1
14. Bogdan Guskov -1
15. Alonzo Menifield
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jon Jones
1. Tom Aspinall
2. Ciryl Gane
3. Alexander Volkov
4. Sergei Pavlovich
5. Curtis Blaydes
6. Jailton Almeida
7. Serghei Spivac
8. Marcin Tybura
9. Derrick Lewis
10. Tai Tuivasa
11. Waldo Cortes Acosta
12. Shamil Gaziev
13. Mick Parkin
14. Tallison Teixeira
15. Kennedy Nzechukwu
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Zhang Weili
3. Alexa Grasso
4. Julianna Pena
5. Manon Fiorot
6. Erin Blanchfield
7. Kayla Harrison
8. Virna Jandiroba
9. Raquel Pennington
10. Rose Namajunas
11. Tatiana Suarez
12. Yan Xiaonan
13. Natalia Silva
14. Jessica Andrade
15. Maycee Barber
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Virna Jandiroba
2. Tatiana Suarez
3. Yan Xiaonan
4. Amanda Lemos
5. Jessica Andrade -1
6. Mackenzie Dern
7. Amanda Ribas
8. Iasmin Lucindo
9. Gillian Robertson +3
10. Tabatha Ricci
11. Loopy Godinez
12. Angela Hill +1
13. Tecia Pennington +1
14. Luana Pinheiro +1
15. Loma Lookboonmee *NR
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Alexa Grasso
2. Manon Fiorot
3. Erin Blanchfield
4. Maycee Barber
5. Natalia Silva
6. Rose Namajunas
7. Jessica Andrade
8. Viviane Araújo
9. Jasmine Jasudavicius
10. Tracy Cortez
11. Karine Silva
12. Miranda Maverick
13. Casey O’Neill
14. Ariane Da Silva
15. J.J. Aldrich
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Julianna Pena
1. Raquel Pennington
2. Kayla Harrison
3. Ketlen Vieira
4. Norma Dumont
5. Macy Chiasson
6. Irene Aldana
7. Ailin Perez +1
8. Mayra Bueno Silva -1
9. Yana Santos +1
10. Karol Rosa -1
11. Jacqueline Cavalcanti
12. Nora Cornolle +1
13. Miesha Tate -1
14. Joselyne Edwards
15. Chelsea Chandler
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the welterweight division, following the UFC 315: “Muhammad vs. Della Maddalena” pay-per-view (PPV) event on ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., May 10, 2025 at Bell Centre in Montreal.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
