UFC Rankings Overhauled Following Ngannou Exit

Francis Ngannou is no longer the UFC heavyweight champion.

“The Predator” was granted his unconditional release last week after failing to come to terms on a new deal. As a result, the French Cameroonian was removed from both the heavyweight and pound-for-pound rankings in last Monday’s official update. The new list also reflects some of the winners and losers from the UFC Vegas 67 fight card last weekend in “Sin City” (get full results and play-by-play here).

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. Israel Adesanya +1
6. Alex Pereira +2
7. Charles Oliveira
8. Aljamain Sterling +1
9. Jiri Prochazka +1
10. Deiveson Figueiredo +2
11. Dustin Poirier
12. Jon Jones +1
13. Robert Whittaker *NR
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
8. Matt Schnell
9. Manel Kape
10. David Dvorak
11. Tim Elliott
12. Su Mudaerji
13. Muhammad Mokaev +1
14. Jeffrey Molina -1
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. Said Nurmagomedov +1
15. Jack Shore -1

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

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. Arman Tsarukyan +1
9. Rafael dos Anjos -1
10. Jalin Turner
11. Dan Hooker
12. Damir Ismagulov
13. Renato Moicano
14. Drew Dober
15. Grant Dawson

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: Vacant

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. Blagoy Ivanov +1
15. Shamil Abdurakhimov -1

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. Taila Santos +2
11. Holly Holm -1
12. Manon Fiorot +1
13. Raquel Pennington *NR
14. Katlyn Chookagian
15. Ketlen Vieira -4

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. (T) Lauren Murphy
4. (T) Alexa Grasso +1
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. Raquel Pennington +3
3. Holly Holm
4. Ketlen Vieira -2
5. Irene Aldana -1
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 change roughly this time next week, following the UFC 283: “Teixeira vs. Hill” event on Sat., Jan. 21, 2023 on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro Brazil.

For much more on that upcoming lineup click here.