Men’s MMA pound-for-pound rankings: Arman Tsarukyan climbs after big win

How do the best mixed martial artists on the planet measure up against each other, regardless of division? That’s the question our USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie men’s pound-for-pound rankings aims to answer.

Coming out of UFC Fight Night 265 in Qatar, Arman Tsarukyan made a move up with his performance against Dan Hooker, as well as Belal Muhammad dropping out of the rankings altogether following his loss to Ian Machado Garry. Another fighter, Francis Ngannou, dropped out altogether due to inactivity, causing a shakeup near the bottom of the rankings.

See below to find out how the top 15 rank.

Note: Results are through Nov. 22.

More rankings: Complete USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings by division

1. Islam Makhachev

Nov 15, 2025; New York, NY, UNITED STATES; Islam Makhachev (blue gloves) fights Jack Della Maddalena (red gloves) in the welterweight championship bout during UFC 322 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

Division: Welterweight (UFC champion)

How do you replace Ilia Topuria at the top of the pound-for-pound rankings? You move up a division and make the sitting champion look silly over the course of 25 minutes for a clean sweep on the judges’ scorecards. That’s exactly what Makhachev did to Della Maddalena at UFC 322, dominating him for his 16th win in a row, a streak that dates back to 2016.

2. Ilia Topuria

Division: Lightweight (UFC champion)

Topuria was named the 2024 Male Fighter of the Year following his two knockouts of Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway to win and then defend the UFC featherweight title before vacating to moving up to lightweight to claim the vacant 155-pound title with a knockout of former champ Oliveira in his only appearance of 2025. Has there ever been a more impressive three-fight stretch in the history of the sport?

3. Merab Dvalishvili

Division: Bantamweight (UFC champion)
Next fight: Dec. 6 vs. Petr Yan

No champion in UFC history has ever defended their title four times in a calendar year. And yet, that’s what Dvalishvili aims to do when he faces Yan in a rematch at UFC 323. Already in 2025 Dvalishvili has defeated Umar Nurmagomedov, Sean O’Malley in a rematch, and Cory Sandhagen to cap off a 14-fight winning streak since 2018. They don’t call him “The Machine” for nothing.

4. Alexandre Pantoja

Division: Flyweight (UFC champion)
Next fight: Dec. 6 vs. Joshua Van

Pantoja has been the steadiest UFC flyweight champion since Demetrious Johnson lost the title and left the promotion in late 2018. Pantoja seeks his fifth consecutive title defense when he meets the dangerous Van at UFC 323.

5. Khamzat Chimaev

Division: Middleweight (UFC champion)

Thanks to a run of unfortunate circumstances, which included multiple withdrawals, a bad weight miss that resulted in changing divisions, and an injury layoff, Chimaev’s run to a UFC title came later than expected, but it happened earlier this year when he dominated Du Plessis to claim the middleweight championship. Chimaev already has been talking about a move up to light heavyweight to face champ Alex Pereira, but he’s got a list of contenders at 185 pounds he should focus on instead.

6. Alex Pereira

Division: Light heavyweight (UFC champion)

Just when it seemed like the end of the “Poatan” Era had arrived, Pereira came through in a big way by dismantling Ankalaev in their rematch to reclaim the UFC light heavyweight title seven months after losing it. What comes next for the two-division champ remains to be seen, but a move to heavyweight isn’t out of the question.

7. Alexander Volkanovski

Division: Featherweight (UFC champion)

With Topuria vacating the UFC featherweight title, Volkanovski capitalized on his opportunity to reclaim the belt by defeating Diego Lopes earlier this year at UFC 314. The win came after Volkanovski had lost three of four fights, including two in a row, and now we wait to see how long this reign at 145 pounds can last.

8. Dricus Du Plessis

Du Plessis’ 11-fight winning streak, which included nine UFC appearances, came to halt when he ran into the buzzsaw that is Chimaev to lose the middleweight title. But that streak included wins over former champs Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland, and Robert Whittaker, which is nothing to be ashamed of.

9. Magomed Ankalaev

Division: Light heavyweight

Ankalaev couldn’t follow up his brilliant performance against Pereira in their first encounter with an encore, and now it’s back to the drawing board for the Russian, who hadn’t tasted defeat since his second UFC appearance in September 2018.

10. Jack Della Maddalena

While Della Maddalena did well taking the fight to Belal Muhammad and beating him at his own game, wrestling, to claim the welterweight championship in May, the same could not be said for his performance against Islam Makhachev at UFC 322. Della Maddalena looked like a fish out of water while suffering his first defeat since his second professional bout in May 2016.

11. Arman Tsarukyan (+4)

It had been 19 months since Tsarukyan competed before he ran through Hooker at UFC Fight Night 265, and now he’s squarely in the lightweight title conversation once again after having to withdraw from a title fight in January.

12. Tom Aspinall

Division: Heavyweight (UFC champion)

After enduring all the Jon Jones heavyweight title-unification drama for what seemed like forever, we ended up with Aspinall finally returning and his first fight as undisputed champion ending in a no contest thanks to a nasty eye poke by Ciryl Gane. Whomp whomp, better luck next time. An immediate rematch is what appears to be next.

13. Michael Morales (*)

Morales made his best case for a shot at the UFC welterweight title by taking out top-contender Brady at UFC 322. That performance, combined with his overall resume, was enough to propel him to this debut spot in the rankings.

14. Shavkat Rakhmonov

Rakhmonov is still recovering from a serious knee injury suffered in his win over Machado Garry, which is a shame considering he had positioned himself to be the next title challenger at 170 pounds.

15. Max Holloway (*)

A former featherweight champion, Holloway is now testing the waters at lightweight, which got off to a good start with his performance against Poirier at UFC 318. A fight with Charles Oliveira could be next.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Men’s MMA pound-for-pound rankings: Arman Tsarukyan climbs after win

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