Ferguson Booted From Lightweight Rankings

Ferguson, who turns 39 in just a few weeks, has now lost five straight, getting finished in three of those five losses.

First Conor McGregor, now Tony Ferguson.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently updated its “official” rankings in the wake of the UFC Vegas 66 card last Sat. night (Dec. 17, 2022) at the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, and with lightweight veteran Drew Dober winning his third straight — at the expense of Bobby Green’s jaw — there was no room on the chart to keep former interim titleholder Tony Ferguson in the Top 15 at 155 pounds.

No Mac, no Khabib, no Fergie … it’s the end of an era.

On a more positive note, flyweight phenom Manel Kape broke into the Top 10 by defeating 125-pound bruiser David Dvorak last weekend in “Sin City.” Similarly, featherweight veteran Alex Caceres made his debut in the featherweight rankings at No. 15 by obliterating Julian Erosa in the opening frame on the UFC Vegas 66 main card.

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. Islam Makhachev
3. Leon Edwards
4. Kamaru Usman
5. Francis Ngannou
6. Israel Adesanya
7. Charles Oliveira
8. Alex Pereira
9. Aljamain Sterling
10. Jiri Prochazka
11. Dustin Poirier
12. Deiveson Figueiredo
13. Jon Jones
14. Max Holloway
15. Brandon Moreno

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo

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

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Aljamain Sterling

1. Sean O’Malley
2. Petr Yan
3. Merab Dvalishvili
4. Marlon Vera
5. Cory Sandhagen
6. Rob Font
7. Dominick Cruz
8. Song Yadong
9. Pedro Munhoz
10. Ricky Simon
11. Umar Nurmagomedov
12. Chris Gutierrez
13. Adrian Yanez
14. Jack Shore
15. Said Nurmagomedov

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Alexander Volkanovski

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

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: Islam Makhachev

1. Charles Oliveira
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Justin Gaethje
4. Beneil Dariush
5. Michael Chandler
6. Rafael Fiziev
7. Mateusz Gamrot
8. Rafael dos Anjos
9. Arman Tsarukyan
10. Jalin Turner
11. Dan Hooker
12. Damir Ismagulov
13. Renato Moicano
14. Drew Dober *NR
15. Grant Dawson -1

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Leon Edwards

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

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Alex Pereira

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

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Vacant

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

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Francis Ngannou

1. Ciryl Gane
2. Stipe Miocic
3. Sergei Pavlovich
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Tai Tuivasa
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. Shamil Abdurakhimov
15. Blagoy Ivanov

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

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

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Zhang Weili

1. Carla Esparza
2. Rose Namajunas
3. Amanda Lemos
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Marina Rodriguez
6. Yan Xiaonan
7. Mackenzie Dern
8. Tecia Torres
9. Amanda Ribas
10. Virna Jandiroba
11. Michelle Waterson
12. Angela Hill
13. Luana Pinheiro
14. Emily Ducote
15. Polyana Viana

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Valentina Shevchenko

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

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. Pannie Kianzad
8. Macy Chiasson
9. Karol Rosa
10. Miesha Tate
11. Julia Avila
12. Lina Lansberg
13. Norma Dumont
14. Mayra Bueno Silva
15. Josiane Nunes

There you have it.

You can expect these rankings to stay the same for the next few weeks as the promotion has no events scheduled until the UFC Vegas 67: “Imavov vs. Gastelum” mixed martial arts (MMA) card on Sat., Jan. 14, 2023 on ESPN+ from inside the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

For much more on that upcoming lineup click here.