New Rankings! Khamzat Crashes Middleweight Top 10

Khamzat Chimaev is now ranked in the Top 10 at 185 pounds.

The path to No. 9 included a decision victory over Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 last weekend in Abu Dhabi. “The Nigerian Nightmare,” who competes at welterweight, agreed to fight “Borz” on short notice after Paulo Costa withdrew because of staph infection in his elbow.

To date, Chimaev holds zero wins over a ranked middleweight.

Elsewhere on the charts, reigning lightweight champion Islam Makhachev leapfrogged Alex Volkanovski on the promotion’s pound-for-pound chart after stopping the featherweight titleholder in the first round of their short-notice UFC 294 pay-per-view (PPV) rematch.

Heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones, however, remains in the top spot.

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. Islam Makhachev +1
3. Alexander Volkanovski -1
4. Leon Edwards
5. Charles Oliveira
6. Sean O’Malley
7. Sean Strickland +1
8. Israel Adesanya +1
9. Alexandre Pantoja +1
10. Alex Pereira +1
11. Aljamain Sterling +2
12. Max Holloway
13. Kamaru Usman -6
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. Muhammad Mokaev +1
11. Tim Elliott -1
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
9. Dominick Cruz
10. Pedro Munhoz
11. Jonathan Martinez
12. Umar Nurmagomedov
13. Ricky Simon
14. Chris Gutierrez
15. Said Nurmagomedov *NR

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
12. Sodiq Yusuff
13. Dan Ige
14. Lerone Murphy
15. Alex Caceres

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
13. Renato Moicano
14. Matt Frevola
15. Drew Dober

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Leon Edwards

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

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. Khamzat Chimaev *NR
10. Brendan Allen -1
11. Kelvin Gastelum -1
12. Nassourdine Imavov -1
13. Paul Craig -1
14. Chris Curtis -1
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
10. Amanda Ribas
11. Tracy Cortez +1
12. Natalia Silva +1
13. Casey O’Neill +1
14. Karine Silva +1
15. Andrea Lee *NR

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 in roughly two weeks, particularly in the heavyweight division, following the UFC Sao Paulo: “Almeida vs. Lewis” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+ on Sat, Nov. 4, 2023 at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.