Aldo Absence Rearranges Rankings

Jose Aldo had just one fight remaining on his UFC contract and the promotion already booked a return to Rio de Janeiro in January, but for reasons only known to “Junior,” the former 145-pound champion wanted to call it quits this week and say goodbye to his life inside the Octagon.

More on that surprising turn of events right here.

As a result of his departure, the promotion was forced to rearrange the Top 10 of the bantamweight division for its latest UFC rankings update. Aldo’s absence also paved the way for 135-pound bruiser Adrian Yanez to join the party, clocking in at No. 14 in front of once-beaten Welsh “Tank” Jack Shore.

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. Alexander Volkanovski
2. Israel Adesanya
3. Charles Oliveira
4. Kamaru Usman
5. Francis Ngannou
6. Leon Edwards
7. Aljamain Sterling
8. Dustin Poirier
9. Deiveson Figueiredo
10. Jiri Prochazka
11. Jon Jones
12. Max Holloway
13. Petr Yan
14. Brandon Moreno
15. Stipe Miocic

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo

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

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Aljamain Sterling

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

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Alexander Volkanovski

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

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. Conor McGregor
12. Damir Ismagulov
13. Jalin Turner
14. Dan Hooker
15. Tony Ferguson

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Leon Edwards

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

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Israel Adesanya

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

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Jiri Prochazka

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

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Francis Ngannou

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

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

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

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Carla Esparza

1. Rose Namajunas
2. Zhang Weili
3. Marina Rodriguez
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Mackenzie Dern
6. Yan Xiaonan
7. Tecia Torres
8. Amanda Lemos
9. Nina Nunes
10. Amanda Ribas
11. Virna Jandiroba
12. Michelle Waterson
13. Angela Hill
14. Emily Ducote
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
7. Manon Fiorot
8. Jennifer Maia
9. Andrea Lee
10. Maycee Barber
11. Casey O’Neill
12. Cynthia Calvillo
13. Erin Blanchfield
14. Tracy Cortez
15. Molly McCann

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Amanda Nunes

1. Julianna Pena
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
11. Karol Rosa
12. Miesha Tate
13. Lina Lansberg
14. Julia Avila
15. Norma Dumont

There you have it.

You can expect these rankings to change in roughly two weeks, particularly in the women’s strawweight division, following the UFC Vegas 61: “Dern vs. Yan” mixed martial arts (MMA) event scheduled for Sat., Oct. 1, 2022 on ESPN+ from APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.