Pound For Pound Rankings
Israel Adesanya
Win
23
Loss
2
Draw
0
Previous pound for pound king, Adesanya, drops to #3 after losing his UFC middleweight title at UFC 281.
Demetrious Johnson
Win
31
Loss
4
Draw
1
Johnson captures another major belt to add to his collection, this time the ONE Championship flyweight title, as he defeated Adriano Moraes at ONE On Prime Video 1: Moraes vs. Johnson 2
Francis Ngannou
Win
17
Loss
3
Draw
0
Despite a multitude of distractions and some serious injuries, Ngannou was able to unify the UFC’s heavyweight titles and will now look to work through a contentious contract dispute.
Patricio Freire
Win
34
Loss
5
Draw
0
Freire recaptures the Bellator featherweight title for the third time, as he defeats the previously undefeated McKee, now evening their rivalry to 1-1.
Aljamain Sterling
Win
22
Loss
3
Draw
0
Sterling notched his second title defense of his UFC bantamweight title, by defeating T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 280. The fight was over in the second round via TKO.
Alex Pereira
Win
7
Loss
1
Draw
0
Pereira debuts at #11, after capturing the UFC middleweight title from Israel Adesanya.
Charles Oliveira
Win
33
Loss
9
Draw
0
Oliveira drops from #6 after losing to Islam Makhachev at UFC 280, when they fought for the vacant lightweight title.
Jiri Prochazka
Win
29
Loss
3
Draw
1
Prochazka wins a thriller in the fifth round at UFC 275 to claim the first UFC title for the Czech Republic.
Honorable Mentions
Robert Whittaker
middle
Win
24
Loss
6
Draw
0
The 31-year-old former middleweight champion has solidified himself as the clear No. 2 in the division, as he and Adesanya are simply above the competition.
Glover Teixeira
light-heavy
Win
33
Loss
8
Draw
0
Teixeira loses his light heavyweight title in the last 30 seconds of his first title defense at UFC 275.
Stipe Miocic
heavy
Win
20
Loss
4
Draw
0
Miocic is 1-1 vs. the current UFC heavyweight champion, and is considered the greatest UFC heavyweight champion. However, he hasn’t competed in almost two years.
USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Jan. 17: Umar Nurmagomedov enters top 15
The first UFC event of 2023 is in the books, and it produced the year’s first rankings shuffle across a few divisions.
In the main event of UFC Fight Night 217, Sean Strickland defeated Nassourdine Imavov by decision in a short-notice bout. Strickland remains at No. 8 in this week’s update, but fights elsewhere on the card caused divisional movement.
Former title challenger Raquel Pennington improved her current win streak to five with a win over Ketlen Vieira. It’s an impressive streak that has her knocking on the door of another title opportunity, and caused her to jump from No. 6 to No. 4, taking Vieira’s old slot at women’s bantamweight.
The men’s bantamweight division has a new face in the top 15. Umar Nurmagomedov emerged from the honorable mentions to claim the No. 13 spot after a vicious knockout finish of Raoni Barcelos.
Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.
Ranking Criteria
The rankings take into account a fighter’s wins/losses, quality of competition, finishing rate/dominance and frequency of fights.
Fighters are no longer eligible to be ranked after they’ve been inactive for 24 months, either due to injuries, drug/conduct suspensions, contract disputes or self-imposed hiatuses.
Fighters serving drug/conduct suspensions are eligible to be ranked, so long as they’re not inactive for more than 24 months.
To the best of our ability, fighters will be ranked in their primary weight class. Catchweight fights and bouts outside the fighter’s primary weight class can have a positive or negative impact on the ranking. However, non-titleholders can be ranked in only one weight class at a given time, and in most cases, they won’t be ranked in a new weight class until they’ve had their first fight at that weight.
