New Rankings! Barboza Replaces Yusuff, ‘Dragon’ Flies

In addition, Viviane Araujo entered the flyweight Top 10 by outscoring former title challenger Jennifer Maia.

Edson Barboza proved he is still a force to be reckoned with.

The 37 year-old Brazilian captured his second straight win by turning away featherweight up-and-comer Sodiq Yusuff in the UFC Vegas 81 headliner last weekend at APEX in Las Vegas, a “Fight of the Night” performance that landed both combatants an extra $50,000.

Get complete UFC Vegas 81 results and play-by-play here.

The victory was enough to bump Barboza two spots to No. 11 in the 145-pound rankings, one spot above Yusuff (No. 12) but just shy of the featherweight Top 10. Elsewhere on the charts, Jonathan Martinez jumped to No. 11 by thrashing Adrian Yanez.

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. Jon Jones
2. Alexander Volkanovski
3. Islam Makhachev
4. Leon Edwards
5. Charles Oliveira
6. Sean O’Malley
7. Kamaru Usman
8. Sean Strickland
9. Israel Adesanya
10. Alexandre Pantoja
11. Alex Pereira
12. Max Holloway
13. Aljamain Sterling
14. Jiri Prochazka
15. Jamahal Hill

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexandre Pantoja

1. Brandon Moreno
2. Deiveson Figueiredo
3. Amir Albazi
4. Brandon Royval
5. Kai Kara France
6. Matheus Nicolau
7. Alex Perez
8. Manel Kape
9. Matt Schnell
10. Tim Elliott
11. Muhammad Mokaev
12. Su Mudaerji
13. Tagir Ulanbekov
14. Steve Erceg
15. David Dvorak

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Sean O’Malley

1. Aljamain Sterling
2. Merab Dvalishvili
3. Henry Cejudo
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Petr Yan
6. Marlon Vera
7. Song Yadong
8. Rob Font -1
9. Dominick Cruz
10. Pedro Munhoz
11. Jonathan Martinez +1
12. Umar Nurmagomedov -1
13. Ricky Simon -1
14. Chris Gutierrez +1
15. Adrian Yanez -1

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Alexander Volkanovski

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

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: Islam Makhachev

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

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Leon Edwards

1. Kamaru Usman
2. Colby Covington
3. Belal Muhammed
4. Khamzat Chimaev
5. Gilbert Burns
6. Shavkat Rakhmonov
7. Stephen Thompson
8. Geoff Neal
9. Sean Brady
10. Vicente Luque
11. Ian Machado Garry
12. Jack Della Maddalena
13. Kevin Holland
14. Neil Magny
15. Michael Chiesa

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Sean Strickland

1. Israel Adesanya
2. Dricus Du Plessis
3. Robert Whittaker
4. Jared Cannonier
5. Marvin Vettori
6. Paulo Costa
7. Roman Dolidze
8. Jack Hermansson
9. Brendan Allen
10. Kelvin Gastelum
11. Nassourdine Imavov
12. Paul Craig
13. Chris Curtis
14. Andre Muniz
15. Anthony Hernandez

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Jamahal Hill

1. Jiri Prochazka
2. Magomed Ankalaev
3. Alex Pereira
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Aleksandar Rakic
6. Nikita Krylov
7. Johnny Walker
8. Anthony Smith
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Ryan Spann
11. Khalil Rountree
12. Azamat Murzakanov
13. Dominick Reyes
14. Alonzo Menifield
15. Dustin Jacoby

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Jon Jones

1. Ciryl Gane
2. Sergei Pavlovich
3. Stipe Miocic
4. Tom Aspinall
5. Curtis Blaydes
6. Alexander Volkov
7. Serghei Spivac
8. Tai Tuivasa
9. Jailton Almeida
10. Derrick Lewis
11. Marcin Tybura
12. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Marcos Rogerio De Lima
15. Martin Buday

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Alexa Grasso
2. Zhang Weili
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Julianna Pena
5. Erin Blanchfield
6. Manon Fiorot
7. Carla Esparza
8. Rose Namajunas
9. Yan Xiaonan
10. Tatiana Suarez
11. Taila Santos
12. Jessica Andrade
13. Raquel Pennington
14. Amanda Lemos
15. Mayra Bueno Silva

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Zhang Weili

1. Carla Esparza
2. Yan Xiaonan
3. Tatiana Suarez
4. Amanda Lemos
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Virna Jandiroba
7. Mackenzie Dern
8. Marina Rodriguez
9. Luana Pinheiro
10. Tabatha Ricci
11. Amanda Ribas
12. Angela Hill
13. Loopy Godinez
14. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
15. Michelle Waterson-Gomez

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexa Grasso

1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Erin Blanchfield
3. Manon Fiorot
4. Talia Santos
5. Katlyn Chookagian
6. Jessica Andrade
7. Lauren Murphy
8. Maycee Barber
9. Viviane Araújo +2
10. Amanda Ribas
11. Jennifer Maia -2
12. Tracy Cortez
13. Natalia Silva
14. Casey O’Neill
15. Karine Silva

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: VACANT

1. Julianna Pena
2. Raquel Pennington
3. Mayra Bueno Silva
4. Ketlen Vieira
5. (T) Irene Aldana
5. (T) Holly Holm
7. Pannie Kianzad
8. Yana Santos
9. (T) Macy Chiasson
9. (T) Karol Rosa
11. Norma Dumont
12. Miesha Tate
13. Julia Avila
14. Josiane Nunes
15. Chelsea Chandler

You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the lightweight division, following the UFC 294: “Makhachev vs. Volkanovski 2” pay-per-view (PPV) event on ESPN+, going down this Sat. (Oct. 21, 2023) at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.