Topuria Crashes Pound-For-Pound Rankings

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently updated its official rankings following the UFC 298 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, which took place this past weekend (Sat., Feb. 17, 2024) inside Honda Center in Anaheim, California. In the headlining act, Ilia Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to become UFC’s new Featherweight champion (see it here).

In further action, Robert Whittaker defeated Paulo Costa in a back-and-forth Middleweight affair. While Whittaker didn’t improve his position and remains firm at No. 3, Costa did drop down one spot to No. 7.

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. Islam Makhachev
2. Jon Jones
3. Leon Edwards +1
4. Alex Pereira +1
5. Ilia Topuria NR*
6. Charles Oliveira
7. Alexander Volkanovski -4
8. Sean O’Malley -1
9. Dricus Du Plessis -1
10. Alexandre Pantoja -1
11. Israel Adesanya -1
12. Tom Aspinall
13. Sean Strickland -2
14. Max Holloway
15. Aljamain Sterling -3

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexandre Pantoja

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

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Sean O’Malley

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

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Ilia Topuria

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

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: Islam Makhachev

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

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Leon Edwards

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

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Dricus Du Plessis

1. Sean Strickland
2. Israel Adesanya
3. Robert Whittaker
4. Jared Cannonier
5. Marvin Vettori
6. Brendan Allen +1
7. Paulo Costa -1
8. Nassourdine Imavov
9. (T) Jack Hermansson +1
9. (T) Roman Dolidze
11. Khamzat Chimaev
12. Paul Craig
13. Anthony Hernandez +2
14. Chris Curtis -1
15. Caio Borralho -1

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Alex Pereira

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

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Jon Jones

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

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

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

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Zhang Weili

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

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexa Grasso

1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Erin Blanchfield
3. Manon Fiorot
4. Katlyn Chookagian
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Maycee Barber
7. Natalia Silva
8. Amanda Ribas
9. Viviane Araújo
10. Tracy Cortez
11. Ariane Lipski
12. Karine Silva
13. Casey O’Neill
14. Miranda Maverick NR*
15. Jasmine Jasudavicius -1

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Raquel Pennington

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

You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the Flyweight division, following the UFC Mexico City: “Moreno vs. Royval 2” event on ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., Feb. 24, 2024, Arena CDMX, Mexico City, Mexico.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.

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