‘KGB’ Cracks Top 10 In Latest Rankings

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) updated its official rankings in the wake of its UFC Vegas 42 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, which took place last Sat. night (Nov. 13, 2021) inside the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Featherweight headliner Max Holloway was already ranked No. 1 in the division, so “Blessed” had nowhere to go following his unanimous decision victory over Yair Rodriguez. As for “Pantera,” his performance was good enough to preserve his spot at No. 3, right behind fellow contender Brian Ortega.

UFC flyweight standout Andrea Lee, however, was able to jump five spots and break into the Top 10 with her technical knockout victory over Cynthia Calvillo. “KGB” is now the winner of two straight and stands at 5-3 inside the Octagon (13-5 overall).

Here’s how UFC compiles its official rankings:

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. Kamaru Usman
2. Alexander Volkanovski
3. Israel Adesanya
4. Francis Ngannou
5. Dustin Poirier
6. Jon Jones
7. Max Holloway
8. Charles Oliveira
9. Stipe Miocic
10. Brandon Moreno
11. Petr Yan
12. Glover Teixeira
13. Robert Whittaker
14. Jan Blachowicz
15. Cyril Gane

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Brandon Moreno

1. Deiveson Figueiredo
2. Askar Askarov
3. Alexandre Pantoja
4. Alex Perez
5. Brandon Royval
6. Kai Kara France
7. Rogerio Bontorin
8. Matheus Nicolau
9. Matt Schnell
10. David Dvorak
11. Tim Elliott
12. Su Mudaerji
13. Amir Albazi
14. Tagir Ulanbekov
15. Tyson Nam

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Aljamain Sterling

1. Petr Yan (Interim champion)
2. T.J. Dillashaw
3. Cory Sandhagen
4. Rob Font
5. Jose Aldo
6. Merab Dvalishvili
7. Cody Garbrandt
8. Pedro Munhoz
9. Marlon Moraes
10. Dominick Cruz
11. Marlon Vera
12. Raphael Assuncao +1
13. Frankie Edgar -1
14. Song Yadong +1
15. Cody Stamann -1

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI

1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. Yair Rodriguez
4. Chan Sung Jung
5. Calvin Kattar
6. Arnold Allen
7. Josh Emmett
8. Giga Chikadze
9. Dan Ige
10. Edson Barboza
11. Bryce Mitchell
12. Sodiq Yusuff
13. Movsar Evloev
14. Shane Burgos
15. Alex Caceres

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: Charles Oliveira

1. Dustin Poirier
2. Justin Gaethje
3. Beneil Dariush
4. Islam Makhachev
5. Michael Chandler
6. Rafael dos Anjos
7. Tony Ferguson
8. Dan Hooker
9. Conor McGregor
10. Gregor Gillespie
11. Diego Ferreira
12. Brad Riddell
13. Arman Tsarukyan
14. Rafael Fiziev
15. Joel Alvarez *NR

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: KAMARU USMAN

1. Colby Covington
2. Gilbert Burns
3. Leon Edwards
4. Vicente Luque
5. Stephen Thompson
6. Michael Chiesa
7. Jorge Masvidal
8. Neil Magny
9. Belal Muhammed
10. Khamzat Chimaev
11. Geoff Neal
12. Li Jingliang
13. Santiago Ponzinibbio
14. Sean Brady
15. Muslim Salikhov

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: ISRAEL ADESANYA

1. Robert Whittaker
2. Marvin Vettori
3. Jared Cannonier
4. Derek Brunson
5. Paulo Costa
6. Jack Hermansson
7. Sean Strickland
8. Darren Till
9. Uriah Hall +1
10. Kelvin Gastelum -1
11. Brad Tavares +1
12. Nassourdine Imavov
12. Kevin Holland
14. Chris Weidman
15. Edmen Shahbazyan

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Glover Teixeira

1. Jan Blachowicz
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Aleksandar Rakic
4. Anthony Smith
5. Thiago Santos
6. Magomed Ankalaev
7. Dominick Reyes
8. Volkan Oezdemir
9. Nikita Krylov
10. Johnny Walker
11. Paul Craig
12. Ryan Spann
13. Jim Crute
14. Jamall Hill
15. Ion Cutelaba

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Francis Ngannou

1. Ciryl Gane (Interim Champion)
2. Stipe Miocic
3. Derrick Lewis
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Alexander Volkov
6. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
7. Chris Daukaus
8. Shamil Abdurakhimov
9. Marcin Tybura
10. Tom Aspinall
11. Augusto Sakai -1
12. Blagoy Ivanov
13. Walt Harris
14. Sergei Pavlovich
15. Serghei Spivac

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Amanda Nunes
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. Rose Namajunas
4. Weili Zhang
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Holly Holm
7. Germaine De Randamie
8. Carla Esparza
9. Katlyn Chookagian
10. Marina Rodriguez
11. Yan Xiaonan
12. Julianna Pena
13. Lauren Murphy
14. Mackenzie Dern +1
15. Aspen Ladd -1

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: ROSE NAMAJUNAS

1. Zhang Weili
2. Carla Esparza
3. Marina Rodriguez
4. Yan Xiaonan
5. Mackenzie Dern
6. Nina Nunes
7. Claudia Gadelha
8. Tecia Torres
9. Michelle Waterson
10. Amanda Ribas
11. Amanda Lemos
12. Angela Hill
13. Virna Jandiroba
14. Brianna Van Buren +1
15. Jessica Pena -1

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO

1. Jessica Andrade
2. Katlyn Chookagian
3. Lauren Murphy
4. Jennifer Maia
5. Joanne Wood +1
6. Viviane Araujo +1
7. Andrea Lee +5
8. Jessica Eye
9. Cynthia Calvillo -4
10. Talia Santos -1
11. Alexa Grasso -1
12. Roxanne Modafferi -1
13. Maycee Barber
14. Manon Fiorot
15. Casey O’Neill

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: AMANDA NUNES

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

You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the women’s bantamweight division, as former champion Miesha Tate faces off against 135-pound bruiser Ketlen Vieira in the UFC Vegas 43 headliner this Sat. night (Nov. 20, 2021) from APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.