Rodriguez Demotes Holloway, Takes Over No. 1 Spot

UFC fans arguing over the placement of Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski atop the UFC pound-for-pound rankings may have overlooked the fact that UFC interim featherweight titleholder Yair Rodriguez is now ranked No. 1 in the world at 145 pounds, putting him above former champion Max Holloway.

“El Pantera” accomplished the feat — despite losing to “Blessed” at UFC Vegas 42 — by capturing the substitute strap at UFC 284 last weekend in Perth. Complicating matters is the fact that Holloway is ranked on the promotion’s pound-for-pound list and Rodriguez is not, making their places atop the featherweight list a bit confusing.

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
6. Alex Pereira
7. Aljamain Sterling
8. Charles Oliveira
9. Brandon Moreno
10. Jon Jones +1
11. Jiri Prochazka -1
12. Dustin Poirier
13. Jamahal Hill
14. Robert Whittaker
15. Max Holloway *NR

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Brandon Moreno

1. Deiveson Figueiredo
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. Muhammad Mokaev
13. Su Mudaerji
14. Tagir Ulanbekov
14. Tyson Nam

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
15. Jack Shore

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Alexander Volkanovski

1. Interim Champion Yair Rodriguez +1
2. Max Holloway -1
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
9. Rafael dos Anjos
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 +1
13. Michael Chiesa -1
14. Jack Della Maddalena *NR
15. Michel Pereira -1

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: Jamahal Hill

1. Jiri Prochazka
2. Magomed Ankalaev
3. Jan Blachowicz
4. Aleksandar Rakic
5. Anthony Smith
6. Nikita Krylov
7. Johnny Walker
8. (T) Volkan Oezdemir
8. (T) Ryan Spann +1
10. Paul Craig
11. Dominick Reyes
12. Jim Crute
13. Khalil Rountree
14. Dustin Jacoby
15. Azamat Murzakanov

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Vacant

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

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

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

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Zhang Weili

1. Carla Esparza
2. Rose Namajunas
3. Amanda Lemos
4. Marina Rodriguez
5. Yan Xiaonan
6. Jessica Andrade
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. (T) Manon Fiorot
1. (T) Talia Santos
3. Jessica Andrade
4. Katlyn Chookagian
5. Alexa Grasso
6. Lauren Murphy
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. Holly Holm
4. Ketlen Vieira
5. Irene Aldana
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 around this time next week following the UFC Vegas 69 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, which takes place this Sat. night (Feb. 18, 2023) on ESPN+ from inside the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

For much more on that upcoming lineup click here.