Yadong Rises In Latest UFC Rankings Update

Song Yadong blasted his way back into the win column by smashing Ricky Simon in the UFC Vegas 72 main event last weekend in Las Vegas, capturing a fifth-round technical knockout finish and claiming the No. 7 spot in the official bantamweight rankings, previously held by former 135-pound champion Dominick Cruz. “The Dominator” slipped to No. 8 while Simon holds steady in the No. 10 slot.

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. Israel Adesanya
6. Aljamain Sterling
7. Kamaru Usman
8. Charles Oliveira
9. (T) Brandon Moreno
9. (T) Alex Pereira
11. Jiri Prochazka
12. Dustin Poirier
13. Max Holloway
14. Jamahal Hill
15. Robert Whittaker

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Brandon Moreno

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

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Aljamain Sterling

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

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Alexander Volkanovski

1. Interim Champion Yair Rodriguez
2. Max Holloway
3. Brian Ortega
4. Arnold Allen
5. Josh Emmett
6. (T) Chan Sung Jung
6. (T) Calvin Kattar
8. Giga Chikadze
9. Ilia Topuria
10. Movsar Evloev
11. Bryce Mitchell
12. Sodiq Yusuff
13. Dan Ige
14. Edson Barboza
15. Alex Caceres

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: Islam Makhachev

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

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Leon Edwards

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

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Israel Adesanya

1. Alex Pereira
2. Robert Whittaker
3. Marvin Vettori
4. Jared Cannonier
5. Paulo Costa
6. Dricus Du Plessis
7. Sean Strickland
8. Derek Brunson
9. Roman Dolidze
10. Jack Hermansson
11. Kelvin Gastelum
12. Nassourdine Imavov
13. Brendan Allen
14. Chris Curtis +1
15. Andre Muniz -1

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Jamahal Hill

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

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Jon Jones

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

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Amanda Nunes
2. Alexa Grasso
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Weili Zhang
5. Rose Namajunas
6. Julianna Pena
7. Carla Esparza
8. Jessica Andrade
9. Erin Blanchfield
10. Amanda Lemos
11. Manon Fiorot
12. Taila Santos
13. Raquel Pennington
14. Marina Rodriguez
15. Holly Holm

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Zhang Weili

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

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexa Grasso

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

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Amanda Nunes

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

There you have it.

You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the bantamweight division, following the UFC 288: “Sterling vs. Cejudo” pay-per-view (PPV) event on ESPN+, scheduled for this Sat. (May 6, 2023) at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.