Streaking welterweight bruiser Belal Muhammad captured his sixth straight victory with a dominant performance against two-time division title challenger Stephen Thompson in the UFC Vegas 45 co-main event last weekend at the APEX facility in Las Vegas.
The result was a promotion to No. 5 in the official 170-pound rankings.
In the UFC Vegas 45 main event, 265-pound power puncher Derrick Lewis beat the brakes off up-and-coming heavyweight Chris Daukaus; however, the “Black Beast” was already sitting pretty at No. 3 in the existing lineup and will gain no ground in today’s update.
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. Kamaru Usman
2. Alexander Volkanovski
3. Israel Adesanya
4. Francis Ngannou
5. Charles Oliveira
6. Jon Jones
7. Max Holloway
8. Dustin Poirier
9. Stipe Miocic
10. Brandon Moreno
11. Petr Yan
12. Glover Teixeira
13. Robert Whittaker
14. Jan Blachowicz
15. Cyril Gane
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Brandon Moreno
1. Deiveson Figueiredo
2. Askar Askarov
3. Alexandre Pantoja
4. Alex Perez
5. Brandon Royval
6. Kai Kara France
7. Rogerio Bontorin
8. Matheus Nicolau
9. Matt Schnell
10. David Dvorak
11. Amir Albazi +2
12. Tim Elliott -1
13. Su Mudaerji -1
14. Manel Kape
15. Tagir Ulanbekov
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Aljamain Sterling
1. Petr Yan (Interim champion)
2. T.J. Dillashaw
3. Jose Aldo
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Rob Font
6. Merab Dvalishvili
7. Dominick Cruz
8. Marlon Vera
9. Marlon Moraes
10. Pedro Munhoz
11. Frankie Edgar
12. Sean O’Malley +1
13. Ricky Simon *NR
14. Song Yadong
15. Raphael Assuncao -3
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI
1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. Yair Rodriguez
4. Chan Sung Jung
5. Calvin Kattar
6. Josh Emmett
7. Arnold Allen
8. Giga Chikadze
9. Dan Ige
10. Edson Barboza
11. Bryce Mitchell
12. Sodiq Yusuff
13. Movsar Evloev
14. Shane Burgos
15. Alex Caceres
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Charles Oliveira
1. Justin Gaethje
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Beneil Dariush
4. Islam Makhachev
5. Michael Chandler
6. Rafael dos Anjos
7. Tony Ferguson
8. Dan Hooker
9. Conor McGregor
10. Gregor Gillespie
11. Rafael Fiziev
12. Mateusz Gamrot *NR
13. Arman Tsarukyan
14. Brad Riddell
15. Diego Ferreira -3
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: KAMARU USMAN
1. Colby Covington
2. Gilbert Burns
3. Leon Edwards
4. Vicente Luque
5. Belal Muhammed +5
6. Jorge Masvidal
7. Stephen Thompson -2
8. Neil Magny -1
9. Sean Brady -1
10. Michael Chiesa -1
11. Khamzat Chimaev
12. Geoff Neal
13. Li Jingliang
14. Santiago Ponzinibbio
15. Muslim Salikhov
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: ISRAEL ADESANYA
1. Robert Whittaker
2. Marvin Vettori
3. Jared Cannonier
4. Derek Brunson
5. Paulo Costa
6. Jack Hermansson
7. Sean Strickland
8. Darren Till
9. Uriah Hall
10. Kelvin Gastelum
11. Brad Tavares
12. Nassourdine Imavov
13. Andre Muniz
14. Kevin Holland +1
15. Chris Weidman -1
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Glover Teixeira
1. Jan Blachowicz
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Aleksandar Rakic
4. Anthony Smith
5. Thiago Santos
6. Magomed Ankalaev
7. Dominick Reyes
8. Volkan Oezdemir
9. Nikita Krylov
10. Johnny Walker
11. Paul Craig
12. Jamall Hill
13. Ryan Spann
14. Jim Crute
15. Ion Cutelaba
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Francis Ngannou
1. Ciryl Gane (Interim Champion)
2. Stipe Miocic
3. Derrick Lewis
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Alexander Volkov
6. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
7. Chris Daukaus
8. Shamil Abdurakhimov
9. Marcin Tybura
10. Tom Aspinall
11. Tai Tuivasa
12. Augusto Sakai
13. Blagoy Ivanov
14. Walt Harris
15. Sergei Pavlovich
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Rose Namajunas
3. Amanda Nunes
4. Julianna Pena
5. Weili Zhang
6. Jessica Andrade
7. Holly Holm
8. Carla Esparza
9. Marina Rodriguez
10. Katlyn Chookagian
11. Yan Xiaonan
12. Irene Aldana
13. Lauren Murphy +1
14. Mackenzie Dern -1
15. Aspen Ladd
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: ROSE NAMAJUNAS
1. Zhang Weili
2. Carla Esparza
3. Marina Rodriguez
4. Yan Xiaonan
5. Mackenzie Dern
6. Nina Nunes
7. Tecia Torres +1
8. Michelle Waterson +1
9. Amanda Ribas +1
10. Amanda Lemos +1
11. Virna Jandiroba +2
12. Angela Hill
13. Jessica Pena +1
14. Brianna Van Buren +1
15. Luana Pinheiro *NR
Note: Claudia Gadelha retired and was removed from the strawweight rankings
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO
1. Jessica Andrade
2. Katlyn Chookagian
3. Lauren Murphy
4. Jennifer Maia
5. Talia Santos
6. Viviane Araujo +1
7. Joanne Wood -1
8. Andrea Lee
9. Jessica Eye +1
10. Cynthia Calvillo -1
11. Alexa Grasso
12. Roxanne Modafferi
13. Maycee Barber
14. Manon Fiorot
15. Casey O’Neill
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: JULIANNA PENA
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Holly Holm
3. Irene Aldana
4. Aspen Ladd
5. Ketlen Vieira
6. Yana Kunitskaya
7. Raquel Pennington +1
8. Miesha Tate -1
9. Sara McMann
10. Macy Chiasson
11. Lina Lansberg
12. Pannie Kianzad
13. Karol Rosa
14. Julia Avila
15. Norma Dumont
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next month, particularly in the featherweight division, as Calvin Kattar and Giga Chikadze collide in the UFC Vegas 46 main event on Jan. 15 inside the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.