The UFC is in a strange place right now as the ESPN era comes to an end.
This past rankings cycle saw the status quo mostly maintained with Merab Dvalishvili delivering another 25-minute masterclass to defend his bantamweight title against Cory Sandhagen, and Alex Pereira restoring the status quo at 205 pounds by taking back his title from Magomed Ankalaev. Outside of that, we had a handful of championship fights confirmed to close out the year, with Dvalishvili getting his wish for a fourth title defense in 2025 when he rematches Petr Yan at UFC 323 on Dec. 6 and Alexandre Pantoja defending his flyweight belt against Joshua Van on that same card.
With the UFC set to begin its next broadcast deal with Paramount in January, we have a few ideas of what to expect, so let’s ponder some lingering questions as we head into the final two months of this campaign:
- Khamzat Chimaev. Ilia Topuria. Alexander Volkanovski. Kayla Harrison. What do they have in common? They all have title defenses guaranteed to happen in the near future with some clear options on the table, but we’re still waiting for the official word to come down. Chimaev presumably faces the last contender standing at middleweight, Nassourdine Imavov, Volkanovski should be on a collision course with the undefeated Lerone Murphy, and Harrison’s clash with returning legend Amanda Nunes has been set in stone for ages. Only Topuria doesn’t have a clear No. 1 contender, but you can slot in Justin Gaethje, Paddy Pimblett, or Arman Tsarukyan if he gets past Dan Hooker, and each would satisfy at least some segments of the fan base (while irking others, of course). Don’t expect these announcements to be made until late November/early December though.
- Is Alex Pereira staying at light heavyweight? Ankalaev will surely campaign for a rematch he has no chance of getting, and Carlos Ulberg is more than deserving of his shot, but that doesn’t mean Pereira has to stick around to give it to him. All signs point to Pereira moving to heavyweight at some point in 2026 and you get the sense he could either leapfrog Ciryl Gane for a shot at Tom Aspinall, or simply wait until June if his dream fight with Jon Jones materializes.
- Speaking of jumping up in weight, let’s not forget Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev and Valentina Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weili are just around the corner at UFC 322. Is Makhachev staying at 170, win or lose? Would a win over Makhachev set Della Maddalena on the path to becoming the next great welterweight legend? Does Shevchenko continue her record-setting reign at flyweight if she beats Zhang, or is it her turn to chase champ-champ glory again? And is Zhang totally done with strawweight no matter what happens on Nov. 15?
- Because with Zhang gone, who is actually the No. 1 strawweight in the world now? Mackenzie Dern has a UFC belt, which already has us confused as to where to rank her on the Pound-for-Pound list, then you remember she has losses not that long ago to Amanda Lemos, Jessica Andrade, and Yan Xiaonan, and having her at the top of even the 115-pound list looks silly. But for now, with the Zhang vs. Shevchenko superfight going down soon, we’ve removed Zhang from the division rankings (we did the same with Makhachev after he booked his welterweight title fight), and we can only hope that the results of UFC 322 brings stability and clarity to the charts…
- …oh, who am I kidding? This is MMA and the only thing guaranteed is chaos.
One important editorial note, our voting panel has been reduced from six to five members, so if you see some random looking movement below, that’s why. As I said: chaos.
Without further ado, here are the latest MMA Fighting Divisional Rankings.
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 1 Tom Aspinall vs. No. 4 Ciryl Gane ends in a no-contest, No. 3 Alexander Volkov def. No. 7 Jailton Almeida, No. 5 Sergei Pavlovich def. No. 8 Waldo Cortes-Acosta, No. 9 Phil De Fries def. Stefan Vojcak, Ante Delija def. No. 12 Marcin Tybura
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 8 Waldo Cortes-Acosta vs. No. 11 Ante Delija (UFC Vegas 110, Nov. 1), No. 12 Vadim Nemkov vs. Renan Ferreira (PFL Europe, Dec. 13), No. 15 Reug Reug vs. Anatoly Malykhin (ONE 173, Nov. 15)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Jairzinho Rozenstruik (3), Valter Walker (2), Anatoly Malykhin (1)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 2 Alex Pereira def. No. 1 Magomed Ankalaev vs. No. 2 Alex Pereira, No. 3 Jiri Prochazka def. No. 5 (tied) Khalil Rountree, No. 4 Carlos Ulberg def. No. 9 (tied) Dominick Reyes, No. 5 (tied) Corey Anderson def. Dovlet Yagshimuradov, No. 11 Azamat Murzakanov def. No. 8 Aleksandar Rakic, No. 15 Johnny Walker def. Zhang Mingyang
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 6 (tied) Jan Blachowicz vs. No. 11 Bogdan Guskov (UFC 323, Dec. 6), No. 12 Volkano Oezdemir vs. Alonzo Menifield (UFC Qatar, Nov. 22)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Modestas Bukauskas (2), Anatoly Malykhin (1)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 3 Nassourdine Imavov def. No. 7 Caio Borralho, No. 12 Brendan Allen def. No. 6 Reinier de Ridder
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: N/A
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Ikram Aliskerov (1), Roman Dolidze (1), Fabian Edwards (1), Abus Magomedov (1)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): N/A
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev (UFC 322, Nov. 15), No. 2 Belal Muhammad vs. No. 6 Ian Machado Garry (UFC Qatar, Nov. 22), No. 4 Sean Brady vs. No. 8 (tied) Michael Morales (UFC 322, Nov. 15), No. 5 Leon Edwards vs. No. 10 Carlos Prates (UFC 322, Nov. 15)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Gilbert Burns (2), Gabriel Bonfim (1), Rinat Fakhretdinov (1), Shamil Musaev (1)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 4 Charles Oliveira def. No. 9 Mateusz Gamrot, No. 6 Usman Nurmagomedov def. No. 11 (tied) Paul Hughes
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 2 Arman Tsarukyan vs. No. 7 Dan Hooker (UFC Qatar, Nov. 22), No. 8 Beneil Dariush vs. No. 14 Benoit Saint Denis (UFC 322, Nov. 15)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Ignacio Bahamondes (1), Grant Dawson (1), Gadzhi Rabadanov (1), Fares Ziam (1)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 3 Diego Lopes def. No. 8 Jean Silva, No. 9 Aljamain Sterling def. No. 4 Brian Ortega (catchweight bout), No. 13 Youssef Zalal def. No. 10 Josh Emmett
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 14 Steve Garcia vs. David Onama (UFC Vegas 110, Nov. 1)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): David Onama (2), A.J. McKee (1), Razhabali Shaydullaev (1), Dan Ige (1), Calvin Kattar (1),
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 1 Merab Dvalishvili def. No. 3 Cory Sandhagen, No. 14 Aiemann Zahabi def. N0. 10 Marlon Vera, No. 11 Sergio Pettis def. No. 15 Magomed Magomedov, Jakub Wiklacz def. No. 12 Patchy Mix
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Merab Dvalishvili vs. No. 5 Petr Yan (UFC 323, Dec. 6), No. 10 Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Tagir Ulanbekov (UFC Qatar, Nov. 22)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Montel Jackson (1), Magomed Magomedov (1), Marcus McGhee (1), Raufeon Stots (1)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): N/A
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Alexandre Pantoja vs. No. 2 Joshua Van (UFC 323, Dec. 6), No. 3 Brandon Royval vs. No. 6 Manel Kape (UFC Vegas 112, Dec. 13), No. 5 Brandon Moreno vs. No. 9 Tatsuro Taira (UFC 323, Dec. 6), No. 10 Muhammad Mokaev vs. Gerard Burns (BRAVE CF 100, Nov. 7), No. 11 Asu Almabayev vs. Alex Perez (UFC Qatar, Nov. 22), No. 15 Yuya Wakamatsu vs. Joshua Pacio (ONE 173, Nov. 15)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Tim Elliott (2), Charles Johnson (1), Matheus Nicolau (1), Tagir Ulanbekov (1)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 12 Yana Santos def. No. 5 (tied) Macy Chiasson
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 4 Ketlen Vieira vs. No. 5 Norma Dumont (UFC Vegas 110, Nov. 1), No. 10 Jacqueline Cavalcanti vs. Mayra Bueno Silva (UFC Vegas 111, Nov. 8)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Talita Bernardo (3), Luana Santos (1), Mayra Bueno Silva (1)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 3 Manon Fiorot def. No. 11 Jasmine Jasudavicius (UFC Vancouver, Oct. 18),
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Valentina Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weili (UFC 322, Nov. 15), No. 4 Erin Blanchfield vs. No. 12 Tracy Cortez (UFC 322, Nov. 15), No. 8 Maycee Barber vs. Karine Silva (UFC 323, Dec. 6)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Jessica Andrade (1), Jena Bishop (1), Gabriella Fernandes (1), Carli Judice (1), Karine Silva (1)
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 6 Mackenzie Dern def. No. 2 Virna Jandiroba, No. 3 Tatiana Suarez def. No. 5 Amanda Lemos, Alexia Thainara def. No. 14 Loma Lookboonmee
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 7 Iasmin Lucindo vs. No. 10 Gillian Robertson (UFC Vegas 112, Dec. 13), No. 12 (tied) Angela Hill vs. Fatima Kline (UFC 322, Nov. 15), No. 14 (tied) Tecia Pennington vs. Denise Gomes (UFC Vegas 111, Nov. 8)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Denise Gomes (4)
A refresher on the ground rules:
- The five-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, Damon Martin, and Jed Meshew.
- Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout in a given weight class. Updates to the rankings are typically completed following each month’s UFC pay-per-view.
- Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice. (Let’s put it this way: We’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did.)
- Holding a promotion’s title does not guarantee that fighter will be viewed as the best in their promotion. Additionally, fighters who regularly compete or hold titles in multiple weight classes are eligible to be ranked in multiple lists.
Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.
