New Rankings! Kara France Jumps To No. 2

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) updated its “official” rankings in the wake of the UFC Columbus mixed martial arts (MMA) event last Sat. night (March 26, 2022) inside Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. That’s where Curtis Blaydes stopped fellow heavyweight Chris Daukaus, but since “Razor” was already ranked above his “Fight Night” foe, he’ll stay put at No. 4 on the 265-pound chart.

Similarly, Daukaus retains his spot at No. 9.

Kai Kara France was able to break into the flyweight Top 5 after handing Askar Askarov the first loss of his professional career. “Don’t Blink” is now seated at No. 2 on the 125-pound ladder and could be in line for a future title shot. Perhaps the same can be said for Alexa Grasso, who easily dispatched division stalwart Joanne Wood (No. 10) for her third straight win, good enough for No. 5 in the women’s flyweight division.

But don’t sleep on Manon Fiorot, who climbed six spots to No. 7 by turning away Brazilian bruiser and former 125-pound title challenger Jennifer Maia (No. 6).

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

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo

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

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Aljamain Sterling

1. Petr Yan (Interim champion)
2. T.J. Dillashaw
3. Jose Aldo
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Rob Font
6. Merab Dvalishvili
7. Dominick Cruz
8. Marlon Vera
9. (T) Pedro Munhoz
9. (T) Song Yadong
11. Frankie Edgar
12. Ricky Simon
13. Sean O’Malley
14. Marlon Moraes
15. Raphael Assuncao

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. Bryce Mitchell
10. Dan Ige
11. Sodiq Yusuff
12. Edson Barboza
13. Movsar Evloev
14. Shane Burgos
15. Ilia Topuria

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: Charles Oliveira

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

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Kamaru Usman

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

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Israel Adesanya

1. Robert Whittaker
2. Jared Cannonier
3. Marvin Vettori
4. (T) Derek Brunson
4. (T) Paulo Costa
4. (T) Sean Strickland
7. Jack Hermansson
8. Darren Till
9. Uriah Hall
10. Kelvin Gastelum
11. Nassourdine Imavov
12. Brad Tavares
13. Andre Muniz
14. Chris Weidman
15. Edmen Shahbazyan

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Glover Teixeira

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

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Francis Ngannou

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

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

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

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. Tecia Torres
8. Michelle Waterson
9. Amanda Ribas
10. Amanda Lemos
11. Virna Jandiroba
12. Angela Hill
13. Jessica Penne
14. Brianna Van Buren
15. Luana Pinheiro

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Valentina Shevchenko

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

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Julianna Pena

1. Amanda Nunes
2. Holly Holm
3. Irene Aldana
4. Aspen Ladd
5. Ketlen Vieira
6. Yana Kunitskaya
7. Raquel Pennington
8. Sara McMann +1
9. Miesha Tate -1
10. Macy Chiasson
11. Lina Lansberg
12. Pannie Kianzad +1
13. Karol Rosa -1
14. Julia Avila
15. Norma Dumont

There you have it.

You can expect these rankings to change in roughly two weeks after the UFC 273 pay-per-view (PPV) event, where championship titles will be on the line in both the bantamweight and featherweight divisions. In addition, Khamzat Chimaev will look to stake his claim in the welterweight Top 5 opposite former title challenger Gilbert Burns.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.