Rankings
Pound For Pound Rankings
Already considered one of the greatest fighters of all-time, Jones says he wants to turn his attention to heavyweight and has no intention of returning to 205 pounds.
Usman has five consecutive defenses of the UFC welterweight title and is now in the discussion as the greatest welterweight of all time.
Upcoming Fight: vs Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker | Feb 12, 2022 – UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2
While he failed in his bid to become a champ-champ, Adesanya looked quite dominant in his most recent middleweight title defense and is expected to face Robert Whittaker next.
Upcoming Fight: vs Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon | Mar 26, 2022 – ONE X
After suffering the first knockout loss of his career, Johnson openly contemplated the idea of potentially competing in kickboxing next and ultimately booked himself an intriguing mixed rules matchup.
Ngannou claimed the UFC heavyweight title with a brilliant win over Stipe Miocic and will now look to unify the belt in an upcoming matchup with interim titleholder – and former training partner – Ciryl Gane.
Upcoming Fight: vs Chan Sung “The Korean Zombie” Jung | Apr 09, 2022 – UFC 273: Volkanovski vs. ‘Korean Zombie’
Volkanovski has certainly been tested in his time as UFC champion, but he continues to gut out impressive performance and now owns an incomprehensible 20-fight win streak.
Miocic apologized for deviating from the gameplan against the dangerous Francis Ngannou, a mistake that cost him the UFC heavyweight title.
The undefeated Bellator champion looked absolutely incredible in his run through the promotion’s featherweight grand prix and is willing to take on anyone in defense of his new title.
Oliveira’s rise to UFC champion may have been unexpected, but he now looks like perhaps the most dangerous matchup in the lightweight division and boasts a 10-fight winning streak.
Moreno claimed gold with a scintillating victory over Deiveson Figueiredo and now seems destined for stardom in his native Mexico.
Figueiredo handed over his UFC title with a submission loss to new champ Brandon Moreno but will get his chance to regain the belt in their upcoming trilogy fight.
Upcoming Fight: vs Valentin Moldavsky | Jan 29, 2022 – Bellator 273: Bader vs. Moldavsky
Time will tell if Bader’s days as an elite light heavyweight are done, but after a disappointing loss at 205 pounds, he still remains the Bellator heavyweight champion and will turn his attention there.
Poirier was incredibly disappointed after failing to win the UFC lightweight title but would still seem to have big fights ahead should he choose.
Holloway has hinted at some big things on the horizon that don’t necessarily revolve around getting another crack at Alexander Volkanovski.
Upcoming Fight: vs Israel “The Last Stylebender” Adesanya | Feb 12, 2022 – UFC 271: Adesanya vs. Whittaker 2
Whittaker is on quite the run since losing the UFC middleweight title and gets his chance to win it back with a February matchup against Israel Adesanya.
Honorable Mentions
USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Jan. 25: Deiveson Figueiredo reclaims top spot at 125 pounds
Brandon Moreno fans might not agree with the result at UFC 270, but Deiveson Figueiredo is once again the promotion’s flyweight champion.
After a thrilling five-round affair in the co-main event of this past Saturday’s event, Figueiredo (21-2-1 MMA, 10-2-1 UFC) earned back the title he ceded to Moreno (19-6-2 MMA, 7-3-2 UFC) this past June. It was the third straight meeting between the two fighters, who now incredibly stand at 1-1-1 and may very well be headed toward an immediate fourth meeting.
With the victory, Figueiredo reclaims the No. 1 position at 125 pounds in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings. He also receives a bump in the pound-for-pound list, supplanting Moreno at No. 10.
Check out the new look of those two divisions, as well as the rest of the full rankings, using the dropdown menu above.
Ranking Criteria
The rankings take into account a fighter’s wins/losses, quality of competition, finishing rate/dominance and frequency of fights.
Fighters are no longer eligible to be ranked after they’ve been inactive for 24 months, either due to injuries, drug/conduct suspensions, contract disputes or self-imposed hiatuses.
Fighters serving drug/conduct suspensions are eligible to be ranked, so long as they’re not inactive for more than 24 months.
To the best of our ability, fighters will be ranked in their primary weight class. Catchweight fights and bouts outside the fighter’s primary weight class can have a positive or negative impact on the ranking. However, non-titleholders can be ranked in only one weight class at a given time, and in most cases, they won’t be ranked in a new weight class until they’ve had their first fight at that weight.