Sterling Replaces Adesanya In UFC Rankings

The struggling “Stylebender” has been replaced by Aljamain Sterling on the promotion’s pound-for-pound chart.

Former UFC middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya, has been scrubbed from the promotion’s pound-for-pound rankings in this week’s “official” update. “The Last Stylebender” had been as high as No. 2 but continues to struggle in recent years, dropping three of his last four and getting finished twice in the process.

Elsewhere on the charts, surging welterweight contender, Sean Brady, swapped places with Gilbert Burns after defeating “Durinho” at UFC Vegas 97. Similarly, rising flyweight sensation, Natalia Silva, climbed two spots at flyweight by turning away Jessica Andrade.

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. Alex Pereira
3. Jon Jones
4. Ilia Topuria
5. Dricus Du Plessis
6. Belal Muhammad
6. Sean O’Malley
8. Tom Aspinall
9. Leon Edwards
10. Alexander Volkanovski
11. Max Holloway
12. Alexandre Pantoja
13. Sean Strickland
14. Charles Oliveira
15. Aljamain Sterling *NR

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexandre Pantoja

1. Brandon Royval
2. Brandon Moreno
3. Amir Albazi
4. Kai Kara France
5. Tatsuro Taira
6. Alex Perez
7. Matheus Nicolau
8. Steve Erceg
9. Manel Kape
10. Tim Elliott
11. Tagir Ulanbekov +1
12. Bruno Silva +1
13. Cody Durden +2
14. Matt Schnell -3
15. Asu Almabayev -1

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Sean O’Malley

1. Merab Dvalishvili
2. Umar Nurmagomedov
3. Petr Yan
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Deiveson Figueiredo
6. Henry Cejudo
7. Marlon Vera
8. Song Yadong
9. Rob Font
10. Jose Aldo
11. Mario Bautista
12. Kyler Phillips
13. Jonathan Martinez
14. Dominick Cruz
15. Montel Jackson

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Ilia Topuria

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

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: Islam Makhachev

1. Arman Tsarukyan
2. Charles Oliveira
3. Justin Gaethje
4. Dustin Poirier
5. Dan Hooker
6. Michael Chandler
7. Beneil Dariush
8. Mateusz Gamrot
9. (T) Max Holloway
9. (T) Rafael Fiziev
11. Renato Moicano
12. Benoit Saint-Denis
13. Rafael dos Anjos
14. Jalin Turner
15. Paddy Pimblett

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Belal Muhammed

1. Leon Edwards
2. Kamaru Usman
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov
4. Jack Della Maddalena
5. Colby Covington
6. Sean Brady +2
7. Ian Machado Garry
8. Gilbert Burns -2
9. Stephen Thompson
10. Geoff Neal
11. Joaquin Buckley
12. Michael Morales
13. Michael Page
14. Vicente Luque
15. (T) Neil Magny
15. (T) Kevin Holland *NR

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Dricus Du Plessis

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

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Alex Pereira

1. Jiri Prochazka
2. Magomed Ankalaev
3. Jamahal Hill
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Aleksandar Rakic
6. Volkan Oezdemir
7. Nikita Krylov
8. Khalil Rountree
9. Johnny Walker
10. Carlos Ulberg
11. Azamat Murzakanov
12. Anthony Smith
13. Dominick Reyes
14. Bogdan Guskov
15. Roman Dolidze

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Jon Jones

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

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Alexa Grasso
2. Zhang Weili
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Manon Fiorot
5. Julianna Pena
6. Rose Namajunas
7. Erin Blanchfield
8. Raquel Pennington
9. Tatiana Suarez
10. Yan Xiaonan
11. Kayla Harrison +1
12. Virna Jandiroba +1
13. Jessica Andrade -2
14. Natalia Silva *NR
15. Amanda Lemos -1

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Zhang Weili

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

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexa Grasso

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

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Raquel Pennington

1. Julianna Pena
2. Ketlen Vieira
3. Kayla Harrison
4. Macy Chiasson
5. Irene Aldana
6. Mayra Bueno Silva
7. Holly Holm
8. Norma Dumont +1
9. Karol Rosa -1
10. Yana Santos
11. Miesha Tate
12. Julia Avila +1
13. Germaine De Randamie +1
14. Chelsea Chandler +1
15. Ailin Perez *NR

You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the bantamweight division, following the UFC 306: “O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili” pay-per-view (PPV) event on ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., Sept. 14, 2024 at APEX in Las Vegas.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.