Things are looking up for UFC middleweight contender Anthony Hernandez. For ex-bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo … not so much.
“Fluffy” cracked the division Top 10 with his co-main event victory over Brendan Allen at UFC Seattle last weekend on ESPN+. In the headlining act, “Triple C” dropped a technical decision to Song Yadong after an inadvertent eye poke brought a premature halt to the action.
Yadong rose to No. 6 while Cejudo sank to No. 9.
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. Alex Pereira
4. Ilia Topuria
5. Merab Dvalishvili
6. Dricus Du Plessis
7. Belal Muhammad
8. Tom Aspinall
9. (T) Alexandre Pantoja
9. (T) Leon Edwards +1
11. Alexander Volkanovski
12. Max Holloway
13. Sean O’Malley
14. Charles Oliveira
15. Sean Strickland
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. Tim Elliott
11. Tagir Ulanbekov
12. Charles Johnson
13. Bruno Silva
14. Kai Asakura
15. Joshua Van
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Merab Dvalishvili
1. Sean O’Malley
2. Petr Yan
3. Umar Nurmagomedov
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Deiveson Figueiredo
6. Song Yadong +2
7. Marlon Vera -1
8. Rob Font +1
9. Henry Cejudo -2
10. Mario Bautista
11. Jose Aldo
12. Kyler Phillips
13. Marcus McGhee
14. Aiemann Zahabi
15. Montel Jackson
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Ilia Topuria
1. Alexander Volkanovski
2. Max Holloway
3. Diego Lopes
4. Movsar Evloev
5. Yair Rodriguez
6. Brian Ortega
7. Arnold Allen
8. Josh Emmett
9. Aljamain Sterling
10. Lerone Murphy
11. Giga Chikadze
12. Youssef Zalal
13. Bryce Mitchell
14. Calvin Kattar
15. Dan Ige
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Arman Tsarukyan
2. Charles Oliveira
3. Justin Gaethje
4. Dustin Poirier
5. Max Holloway
6. Dan Hooker
7. Michael Chandler
8. Mateusz Gamrot
9. Beneil Dariush
10. Renato Moicano
11. Rafael Fiziev
12. Paddy Pimblett
13. Jalin Turner
14. Grant Dawson
15. Benoit Saint Denis
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Belal Muhammed
1. Leon Edwards
2. Shavkat Rakhmonov
3. Kamaru Usman
4. Jack Della Maddalena
5. Sean Brady
6. Joaquin Buckley
7. Ian Machado Garry
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. Marvin Vettori
9. Anthony Hernandez +3
10. Brendan Allen -1
11. Roman Dolidze -1
12. Paulo Costa -1
13. Michel Pereira
14. Roman Kopylov
15. Reinier De Ridder *NR
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Alex Pereira
1. Magomed Ankalaev
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Jan Blachowicz
4. Jamahal Hill
5. Aleksandar Rakic
6. Carlos Ulberg
7. Khalil Rountree
8. Nikita Krylov
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Johnny Walker
11. Dominick Reyes
12. Azamat Murzakanov
13. Bogdan Guskov
14. Alonzo Menifield +1
15. Anthony Smith -1
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. Shamil Gaziev
12. Waldo Cortes Acosta
13. Mick Parkin
14. Kennedy Nzechukwu
15. Tallison Teixeira
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. Raquel Pennington
9. Rose Namajunas
10. Yan Xiaonan
11. Tatiana Suarez
12. Virna Jandiroba
13. Natalia Silva
14. Jessica Andrade
15. Maycee Barber
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Yan Xiaonan
2. Tatiana Suarez
3. Virna Jandiroba
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Amanda Lemos
6. Mackenzie Dern
7. Iasmin Lucindo
8. Amanda Ribas
9. Marina Rodriguez
10. Tabatha Ricci
11. Loopy Godinez
12. Gillian Robertson
13. Angela Hill
14. Luana Pinheiro
15. Tecia Pennington
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. (T) Ariane Da Silva
12. (T) Miranda Maverick +1
14. Casey O’Neill
15. Mayra Bueno Silva
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. Mayra Bueno Silva
8. Ailin Perez
9. Karol Rosa
10. Yana Santos
11. Jacqueline Cavalcanti
12. Miesha Tate
13. Nora Cornolle
14. Chelsea Chandler
15. Joselyne Edwards *NR
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the flyweight division, following the UFC Vegas 103: “Kape vs. Almabayev” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., March 1, 2025 at the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
