Islam Makhachev is the top pound-for-pound fighter in UFC.
That’s according to this week’s update in the “official” UFC rankings, with the reigning lightweight champion taking the No. 1 spot from Jon Jones. “Bones” blew out his pectoral muscle late last month and was forced to withdraw from his UFC 295 heavyweight title defense against Stipe Miocic and is unlikely to return until mid-2024.
I guess Makhachev won’t have to “beat some of those records” after all.
Elsewhere in this week’s official rankings update, heavyweight hurter Jailton Almeida climbed two spots to No. 7 on the 265-pound list, thanks to a commanding (if somewhat ho-hum) performance against power punching “Beast” Derrick Lewis in the UFC Sao Paulo headliner last weekend in Brazil. In addition, former flyweight title contender Taila Santos was recently released from the promotion, forcing a pair of categories to undergo some major changes.
Mayra Bueno Silva was also removed while under drug suspension.
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. Islam Makhachev +1
2. Jon Jones -1
3. Alexander Volkanovski
4. Leon Edwards
5. Charles Oliveira
6. Sean O’Malley
7. Sean Strickland
8. Israel Adesanya
9. Alexandre Pantoja
10. Alex Pereira
11. Aljamain Sterling
12. Max Holloway
13. Jiri Prochazka +1
14. Kamaru Usman -1
15. Jamahal Hill
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexandre Pantoja
1. Brandon Moreno
2. Deiveson Figueiredo
3. Amir Albazi
4. Brandon Royval
5. Kai Kara France
6. Matheus Nicolau
7. Alex Perez
8. Manel Kape
9. Matt Schnell
10. Muhammad Mokaev
11. Tim Elliott
12. Su Mudaerji
13. Tagir Ulanbekov
14. Steve Erceg
15. David Dvorak
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Sean O’Malley
1. Aljamain Sterling
2. Merab Dvalishvili
3. Henry Cejudo
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Petr Yan
6. Marlon Vera
7. Song Yadong
8. Rob Font
9. Dominick Cruz
10. Pedro Munhoz
11. Jonathan Martinez
12. Umar Nurmagomedov
13. Ricky Simon
14. Chris Gutierrez
15. Said Nurmagomedov
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Max Holloway
2. Yair Rodriguez
3. Brian Ortega
4. Arnold Allen
5. Ilia Topuria
6. Josh Emmett
7. Calvin Kattar
8. Giga Chikadze
9. Movsar Evloev
10. Bryce Mitchell
11. Edson Barboza
12. Sodiq Yusuff
13. Dan Ige
14. Lerone Murphy
15. Alex Caceres
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Charles Oliveira
2. Justin Gaethje
3. Dustin Poirier
4. Beneil Dariush
5. Michael Chandler
6. Mateusz Gamrot
7. Rafael Fiziev
8. Arman Tsarukyan
9. Dan Hooker
10. Rafael dos Anjos
11. Jalin Turner
12. Bobby Green
13. Renato Moicano
14. Matt Frevola
15. Drew Dober
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Leon Edwards
1. Kamaru Usman
2. Belal Muhammed
3. Colby Covington
4. Gilbert Burns
5. Shavkat Rakhmonov
6. Stephen Thompson
7. Geoff Neal
8. Vicente Luque +1
9. Sean Brady -1
10. Ian Machado Garry
11. Jack Della Maddalena
12. Kevin Holland
13. Neil Magny
14. Michael Chiesa
15. Rinat Fakhretdinov
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Sean Strickland
1. Israel Adesanya
2. Dricus Du Plessis
3. Robert Whittaker
4. Jared Cannonier
5. Marvin Vettori
6. Paulo Costa
7. Roman Dolidze
8. Khamzat Chimaev +1
9. Jack Hermansson -1
10. Brendan Allen
11. Kelvin Gastelum
12. Nassourdine Imavov
13. Paul Craig
14. Chris Curtis
15. Anthony Hernandez
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jamahal Hill
1. Jiri Prochazka
2. Magomed Ankalaev
3. Alex Pereira
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Aleksandar Rakic
6. Nikita Krylov
7. Johnny Walker
8. Anthony Smith
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Ryan Spann
11. Khalil Rountree
12. Azamat Murzakanov
13. Dominick Reyes
14. Alonzo Menifield
15. Dustin Jacoby
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jon Jones
1. Ciryl Gane
2. Sergei Pavlovich
3. Stipe Miocic
4. Tom Aspinall
5. Curtis Blaydes
6. Alexander Volkov
7. Jailton Almeida +2
8. Serghei Spivac -1
9. Tai Tuivasa -1
10. (T) Derrick Lewis
10. (T) Marcin Tybura +1
12. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Marcos Rogerio De Lima
15. Rodrigo Nascimento *NR
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Alexa Grasso
2. Zhang Weili
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Julianna Pena
5. Erin Blanchfield
6. Manon Fiorot
7. Carla Esparza
8. Rose Namajunas
9. Yan Xiaonan
10. Tatiana Suarez
11. Jessica Andrade +1
12. Raquel Pennington +1
13. Amanda Lemos +1
14. Ketlen Vieira *NR
15. Irena Aldana *NR
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Carla Esparza
2. Yan Xiaonan
3. Tatiana Suarez
4. Amanda Lemos
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Virna Jandiroba
7. Mackenzie Dern
8. Marina Rodriguez
9. Luana Pinheiro
10. Tabatha Ricci
11. Amanda Ribas
12. Angela Hill
13. Loopy Godinez
14. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
15. Michelle Waterson-Gomez
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexa Grasso
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Erin Blanchfield
3. Manon Fiorot
4. Katlyn Chookagian +1
5. Jessica Andrade +1
6. Lauren Murphy +1
7. Maycee Barber +1
8. Viviane Araújo +1
9. Amanda Ribas +1
10. Tracy Cortez +1
11. Natalia Silva +1
12. Casey O’Neill +1
13. Karine Silva +1
14. Andrea Lee +1
15. Joanna Wood *NR
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: VACANT
1. Julianna Pena
2. Raquel Pennington
3. Ketlen Vieira +1
4. Holly Holm +1
5. Irene Aldana
6. Pannie Kianzad +1
7. Yana Santos +1
8. Karol Rosa +1
9. Macy Chiasson
10. Norma Dumont +1
11. Miesha Tate +1
12. Julia Avila +1
13. Josiane Nunes +1
14. Chelsea Chandler +1
15. Tainara Lisboa *NR
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the light heavyweight division, following the UFC 295: “Prochazka vs. Pereira” mixed martial arts (MMA) pay-per-view (PPV) event on ESPN+ this Sat. (Nov. 11, 2023) at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
