USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings review: Biggest movers in 2025

The landscape of MMA changes often, and there were some significant moves in 2025.

Every year, new champions are crowned, and new contenders emerge. Some veterans compete to maintain their spot among the elite, while others decide to hang up the gloves.

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Each week throughout the year, the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie global rankings reflect the ever-changing landscape, with divisions and pound-for-pound rankings shifting. Check out all of the moves across each division below, along with the biggest rises and falls from the first rankings release in January to the final update in December.

Men’s Pound for Pound

Men’s pound-for-pound biggest rise: Khamzat Chimaev

Chimaev made only one appearance in 2025, but it was significant. At UFC 319, Chimaev won a dominant unanimous decision over Dricus Du Plessis to capture the middleweight title.

Men’s pound-for-pound biggest fall: Jon Jones

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Jones naturally fell from the No. 1 spot to completely out of the rankings due to retirement.

Men’s pound-for-pound movement from beginning to end of 2025:

Fighters present at beginning of 2025, now removed:

• Jon Jones (started No. 1)

• Leon Edwards (started No. 10)

Heavyweight

Heavyweight biggest rise: Waldo Cortes-Acosta

After a hyperactive 2025 campaign of five fights, going 4-1, Cortes-Acosta rose from the unranked to a top 5 heavyweight.

Heavyweight biggest fall: Jon Jones

Jones naturally fell from No. 3 to out of the rankings due to retirement.

Heavyweight movement from beginning to end of 2025:

Fighters present at beginning of 2025, now removed:

• Jon Jones (started No. 3)

• Jairzinho Rozenstruik (started No. 13)

• Tai Tuivasa (started No. 14)

• Alexandr Romanov (started No. 15)

Light Heavyweight

Light heavyweight biggest rise: Bogdan Guskov

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Guskov rose from unranked to No. 9 following a 2-0-1 year where he defeated Billy Elekana and Nikita Krylov, plus fighting to a draw with former champ Jan Blachowicz.

Light heavyweight biggest fall: Vadim Nemkov

Nemkov fell from No. 6 to unranked due to a full commitment to the heavyweight division.

Light heavyweight movement from beginning to end of 2025:

Fighters present at beginning of 2025, now removed:

• Vadim Nemkov (started No. 6)

• Aleksandar Rakic (started No. 12)

• Anthony Smith (started No. 15)

Middleweight

Middleweight biggest rise: Anthony Hernandez

Hernandez rose from No. 13 to No. 6 following a 2-0 year with wins over Brendan Allen and Roman Dolidze.

Middleweight biggest fall: Johnny Eblen

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Eblen fell from No. 6 to unranked following his only appearance of the year, which was a PFL title loss to Costello van Steenis.

Middleweight movement from beginning to end of 2025:

Fighters present at beginning of 2025, now removed:

• Johnny Eblen (started No. 6)

• Marvin Vettori (started No. 10)

• Shara Magomedov (started No. 15)

Welterweight

Welterweight biggest rise: Islam Makhachev

Makhachev rose from unranked to No. 1 after moving to the division and capturing the title by defeating Jack Della Maddalena.

Welterweight biggest fall: Leon Edwards

Former champion Edwards took a tumble from No. 2 to No. 9 after losing to Sean Brady and Carlos Prates in 2025.

Welterweight movement from beginning to end of 2025:

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Fighters present at beginning of 2025, now removed:

• Stephen Thompson (started No. 11)

• Ramazan Kuramagomedov (started No. 12)

• Jason Jackson (started No. 14)

Lightweight

Lightweight biggest rise: Ilia Topuria

Topuria rose from unranked to No. 1 after moving to the division and capturing the title by defeating Charles Oliveira.

Lightweight biggest fall: Islam Makhachev

Makhachev was removed from the lightweight rankings (started the year No. 1) due to a move up to welterweight.

Lightweight movement from beginning to end of 2025:

Fighters present at beginning of 2025, now removed:

• Islam Makhachev (started No. 1)

• Dustin Poirier (started No. 5)

• Grant Dawson (started No. 8)

• Olivier Aubin-Mercier (started No. 13)

• Michael Chandler (started No. 14)

Featherweight

Featherweight biggest rise: Jean Silva

Silva rose from unranked to No. 8 following a 2-1 year with stoppage wins of Melsik Baghdasaryan and Bryce Mitchell. His setback came against Diego Lopes.

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Featherweight biggest fall: Ilia Topuria

Makhachev was removed from the featherweight rankings (started the year No. 1) due to a move up to lightweight.

Featherweight movement from beginning to end of 2025:

Fighters present at beginning of 2025, now removed:

• Ilia Topuria (started No. 1)

• Max Holloway (started No. 3)

• Bryce Mitchell (started No. 10)

• Patricio Freire (started No. 11)

• Calvin Kattar (started No. 14)

• Giga Chikadze (started No. 15)

Bantamweight

Bantamweight biggest rise:

Bantamweight biggest fall:

Bantamweight movement from beginning to end of 2025:

Fighters present at beginning of 2025, now removed:

• Patchy Mix (started No. 3)

• Jose Aldo (started No. 8)

• Henry Cejudo (started No. 9)

• Raufeon Stots (started No. 12)

• Rob Font (started No. 15)

Flyweight

Flyweight biggest rise: Joshua Van

In 2025, Van went from unranked to champion of the flyweight division. His 4-0 year included wins over Rei Tsuruya, Bruno Silva, Brandon Royval and Alexandre Pantoja.

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Flyweight biggest fall:

Flyweight movement from beginning to end of 2025:

Fighters present at beginning of 2025, now removed:

• Kai Asakura (started No. 10)

• Alex Perez (started No. 11)

• Jafel Filho (started No. 12)

• Bruno Silva (started No. 13)

• Charles Johnson (started No. 15)

Women’s Pound for Pound

Women’s pound for pound biggest rise: Mackenzie Dern

Dern rose from the unranked to No. 9 following a 2-0 year in which she captured the women’s strawweight title. Her year included wins over Amanda Ribas and Virna Jandiroba.

Women’s pound for pound biggest fall: Alexa Grasso

Former women’s flyweight champ Grasso fell from No. 4 to No. 15 following a 0-1 year, losing to Natalia Silva.

Women’s pound for pound movement from beginning to end of 2025:

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Fighters present at beginning of 2025, now removed:

• Taila Santos (started No. 14)

Women’s strawweight

Women’s strawweight biggest rise: Mackenzie Dern

Dern started the year unranked and finished at No. 2 after a 2-0 year in which she captured the women’s strawweight title. Her year saw a win over Amanda Ribas, followed by a vacant title win against Virna Jandiroba.

Women’s strawweight biggest fall: Marina Rodriguez

Rodriguez fell from No. 11 to unranked after a 0-1 year, in which she lost by stoppage to Gillian Robertson.

Women’s strawweight movement from beginning to end of 2025:

Fighters present at beginning of 2025, now removed:

• Marina Rodriguez (Started No. 11)

• Carla Esparza (started No. 13)

• Amanda Ribas (started No. 14)

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Women’s flyweight

Women’s flyweight biggest rise: Natalia Silva

Silva started the year No. 12, and finished at No. 4 following a 1-0 year in which she defeated former champion Alexa Grasso.

Women’s flyweight biggest fall: Juliana Velasquez

Velasquez started the year at No. 8, but fell out. ofthe rankings after a 1-1 year in which she split two outings against Ekaterina Shakalova.

Women’s flyweight movement from beginning to end of 2025:

Fighters present at beginning of 2025, now removed:

• Juliana Velasquez (started No. 8)

• Katlyn Cerminara (started No. 15)

Women’s bantamweight

Women’s bantamweight biggest rise: Ailin Perez

Perez started the year at No. 14, and finished at No. 7 following a 1-0 year in which she defeated Karol Rosa.

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Women’s bantamweight biggest fall: Holly Holm

Former champion Holm fell out of the rankings after starting the year at No. 9 due to exiting the UFC and no longer competing in MMA.

Women’s bantamweight movement from beginning to end of 2025:

Fighters present at beginning of 2025, now removed:

• Holly Holm (started No. 9)

• Julia Avila (started No. 12)

• Pannie Kianzad (started No. 13)

• Jennifer Maia (started No. 15)

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: MMA Junkie rankings: Who made the biggest moves in 2025?