Media Benches Jones, Promotes Khabib To No. 1

Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

No. 1 bullshit?

The official UFC rankings have been updated in the wake of last weekend’s UFC 254 pay-per-view (PPV) event in Abu Dhabi and Khabib Nurmagomedov has dethroned Jon Jones and claimed the top spot on the promotion’s pound-for-pound (P4P) chart.

Perhaps the media members charged with weekly voting were trying to impress this guy.

Nurmagomedov submitted Justin Gaethje in the UFC 254 main event to unify the lightweight titles. Prior to the event, “The Highlight” was ranked No. 1 at 155 pounds and No. 7 P4P. Was that enough to put “The Eagle” above “Bones” in today’s update?

Not according to Jones, who should be grateful he’s even ranked after ditching his belt.

It should be noted that MMAmania.com editor Steve Juon is a member of the UFC rankings panel but according to the message he just sent me while pillaging my island on Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Khabib was already in his No. 1 slot prior to this week’s refresh.

Here’s a refresher on how the rankings work, courtesy of UFC.com:

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. Khabib Nurmagomedov +1
2. Jon Jones -1
3. Israel Adesanya
4. Stipe Miocic
5. Kamaru Usman
6. Alexander Volkanovski
7. Dustin Poirier +1
8. Max Holloway +1
9. Petr Yan +1
10. Justin Gaethje -3
11. Conor McGregor
12. Robert Whittaker
13. Tony Ferguson
14. Deiveson Figueiredo
15. Francis Ngannou

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo

1. Joseph Benavidez
2. Brandon Moreno
3. Askar Askarov
4. Alex Perez
5. Alexandre Pantoja
6. Brandon Royval
7. Jussier Formiga
8. Kai Kara France
9. Rogerio Bontorin
10. Matt Schnell
11. Raulian Paiva
12. David Dvorak
13. Tim Elliott
14. Tyson Nam
15. Jordan Espinosa

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Petr Yan

1. Aljamain Sterling
2. Cory Sandhagen
3. Marlon Moraes
4. Cody Garbrandt
5. Frankie Edgar
6. Pedro Munhoz
7. Jose Aldo
8. Jimmie Rivera
9. Raphael Assuncao
10. Dominick Cruz
11. Rob Font
12. Merab Dvalishvili +1
13. Cody Stamann -1
14. Song Yadong
15. Marlon Vera

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI

1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. Zabit Magomedsharipov
4. Yair Rodriguez
5. Chan Sung Jung
6. Calvin Kattar
7. Josh Emmett
8. Jeremy Stephens
9. Arnold Allen
10. Sodiq Yusuff
11. Shane Burgos
12. Dan Ige
13. Ryan Hall
14. Edson Barboza
15. Bryce Mitchell

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV

1. Justin Gaethje
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Tony Ferguson
4. Conor McGregor
5. Dan Hooker
6. Charles Oliveira
7. Paul Felder
8. Diego Ferreira
9. Al Iaquinta
10. Kevin Lee
11. Beneil Dariush
12. Islam Makhachev
13. Gregor Gillespie
14. Drew Dober
15. Donald Cerrone

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: KAMARU USMAN

1. Colby Covington
2. Gilbert Burns
3. Leon Edwards
4. Jorge Masvidal
5. Stephen Thompson
6. Demian Maia
7. Tyron Woodley
8. Michael Chiesa
9. Neil Magny
10. Vicente Luque
11. Geoff Neal
12. Rafael dos Anjos
13. Nate Diaz
14. Anthony Pettis
15. Robbie Lawler

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: ISRAEL ADESANYA

1. Robert Whittaker
2. Paulo Costa +1
3. Jared Cannonier -1
4. Jack Hermansson
5. Yoel Romero
6. Darren Till
7. Derek Brunson
8. Kelvin Gastelum
9. Chris Weidman
10. Uriah Hall
11. Edmen Shahbazyan
12. Brad Tavares
13. Omari Akhmedov
14. Marvin Vettori
15. Ian Heinisch

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Jan Blachowicz

1. Thiago Santos
2. Dominick Reyes
3. Glover Teixeira
4. Aleksandar Rakic
5. Jiri Prochazka
6. Volkan Oezdemir
7. Anthony Smith
8. Nikita Krylov
9. Johnny Walker
10. Misha Cirkunov
11. Magomed Ankalaev
12. Ryan Spann
13. Jim Crute
14. Mauricio Rua
15. Paul Craig

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: STIPE MIOCIC

1. Francis Ngannou
2. Curtis Blaydes
3. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
4. Derrick Lewis
5. Alistair Overeem
6. Alexander Volkov +1
7. Junior dos Santos -1
8. Shamil Abdurakhimov +1
9. Augusto Sakai
10. Aleksei Oleinik +1
11. Walt Harris -1
12. Sergei Pavlovich
13. Ciryl Gane
14. Blagoy Ivanov
15. Marcin Tybura

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Amanda Nunes
2. Weili Zhang
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Rose Namajunas
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
7. Germaine De Randamie
8. Holly Holm
9. Aspen Ladd
10. Cynthia Calvillo
11. Katlyn Chookagian
12. Nina Ansaroff
13. Claudia Gadelha
14. Julianna Pena
15. Raquel Pennington

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: WEILI ZHANG

1. Rose Namajunas
2. Joanna Jedrzejczyk +1
3. Carla Esparza +1
4. Claudia Gadelha +1
5. Nina Ansaroff +1
6. Michelle Waterson +1
7. Marina Rodriguez +1
8. Yan Xiaonan +1
9. Amanda Ribas +1
10. Tecia Torres +1
11. Mackenzie Dern +1
12. Angela Hill +1
13. Virna Jandiroba +1
14. Felice Herrig +1
15. Livinha Souza *NR

Note: Jessica Andrade removed from strawweight rankings

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO

1. Jessica Andrade
2. Katlyn Chookagian
3. Jennifer Maia
4. Cynthia Calvillo
5. Lauren Murphy
6. Jessica Eye
7. Joanne Calderwood
8. Roxanne Modafferi
9. Viviane Araujo
10. Andrea Lee
11. Maycee Barber
12. Gillian Robertson
13. Alexis Davis
14. Montana De La Rosa
15. Antonina Shevchenko

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: AMANDA NUNES

1. Germaine de Randamie
2. Holly Holm
3. Aspen Ladd
4. Raquel Pennington
5. Irene Aldana
6. Julianna Pena
7. Ketlen Vieira
8. Yana Kunitskaya
9. Sara McMann
10. Marion Reneau
11. Lina Lansberg
12. Macy Chiasson
13. Sijara Eubanks
14. Pannie Kianzad
15. Julia Avila

Expect Jones to have more to say in the coming days.

You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the middleweight division, following this weekend’s UFC Vegas 12: “Hall vs. Silva” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+ from inside UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.