New Rankings! ‘El Pantera’ Takes Over No. 2 Spot

Featherweight contender Yair Rodriguez didn’t have much to show for his technical knockout victory over Brian Ortega in the UFC Long Island main event last weekend on ABC from Elmont, New York, thanks to a shoulder injury that razed “T City,” but MMA is no different than any sport in that winning ugly is still winning.

To the victor belong the spoils.

As a result of last weekend’s headliner, Rodriguez slides into the No. 2 spot in the official featherweight rankings. That sends Ortega back one spot which in turn bumps fellow 145-pound contender Josh Emmett down to No. 4. There’s a chance Rodriguez and Emmett fight for the interim title later this year, but that remains to be seen.

Elsewhere on the charts, Michelle Waterson was bounced from the strawweight Top 10 after getting finished by Amanda Lemos in the UFC Long Island co-main event. “Amandinha” climbed three spots to No. 8. In addition, Lauren Murphy made her pound-for-pound debut by busting up former bantamweight champion Miesha Tate.

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. Charles Oliveira
5. Francis Ngannou
6. Aljamain Sterling
7. Dustin Poirier
8. Deiveson Figueiredo
9. Jiri Prochazka
10. Max Holloway
11. Jon Jones
12. Stipe Miocic
13. Petr Yan
14. Robert Whittaker
15. Glover Teixeira

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo

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

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Aljamain Sterling

1. Petr Yan
2. T.J. Dillashaw
3. Jose Aldo
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Marlon Vera
6. Merab Dvalishvili
7. Rob Font
8. Dominick Cruz
9. Pedro Munhoz
10. Song Yadong
11. Ricky Simon +2
12. Frankie Edgar -1
13. Sean O’Malley -1
14. Umar Nurmagomedov +1
15. Jack Shore -1

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Alexander Volkanovski

1. Max Holloway
2. Yair Rodriguez +1
3. Brian Ortega -1
4. Josh Emmett -1
5. Calvin Kattar
6. Arnold Allen
7. Chan Sung Jung
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: VACANT

1. Charles Oliveira
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Justin Gaethje
4. Islam Makhachev
5. Michael Chandler
6. Beneil Dariush
7. Rafael Fiziev
8. Rafael dos Anjos
9. Mateusz Gamrot
10. Arman Tsarukyan
11. Tony Ferguson
12. Conor McGregor
13. Dan Hooker
14. Jalin Turner
15. Damir Ismagulov

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Kamaru Usman

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

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Israel Adesanya

1. Robert Whittaker
2. Jared Cannonier
3. Marvin Vettori
4. Derek Brunson
5. (T) Paulo Costa
5. (T) Alex Pereira +1
7. Sean Strickland
8. Jack Hermansson
9. Darren Till
10. Andre Muniz
11. Kelvin Gastelum
12. Uriah Hall
13. Nassourdine Imavov
14. Dricus Du Plessis
15. Brad Tavares

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Jiri Prochazka

1. Glover Teixeira
2. Jan Blachowicz
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. Ryan Spann
13. Johnny Walker
14. Dustin Jacoby +1
15. Jim Crute -1

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. Alexandr Romanov
13. Shamil Abdurakhimov
14. Augusto Sakai
15. Blagoy Ivanov

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

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

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Carla Esparza

1. Rose Namajunas
2. Zhang Weili
3. Marina Rodriguez
4. Mackenzie Dern
5. Yan Xiaonan
6. Jessica Andrade
7. Tecia Torres +1
8. (T) Nina Nunes -1
8. (T) Amanda Lemos +3
10. Amanda Ribas -1
11. Michelle Waterson -1
12. Virna Jandiroba
13. Angela Hill
14. Emily Ducote *NR
15. Luana Pinheiro

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Valentina Shevchenko

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

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Julianna Pena

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

There you have it.

You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the heavyweight division, following the UFC London: “Blaydes vs. Aspinall” mixed martial arts (MMA) event scheduled for this Sat. night (July 23, 2022) on ESPN+ from inside O2 Arena in London, England.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.