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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently updated its official rankings in the wake of the UFC 307 pay-per-view (PPV) event, which took place last Sat. night (Oct. 5, 2024) at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. That’s where reigning light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira, retained his 205-pound strap by slicing and dicing division striker Khalil Rountree. Elsewhere on the card, Julianna Pena reclaimed the 135-pound crown by capturing a split decision victory over Raquel Pennington.
As far as the “official” rankings are concerned, the big story coming out of the “Beehive State” centers on the losses of former welterweight title contender Stephen Thompson and ex-featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Both combatants dropped out of the Top 10 after coming up short at UFC 307. That movement made room for Joaquin Buckley and Mario Bautista, with both combatants cracking the Top 10 at No. 9.
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. Belal Muhammad
6. Dricus Du Plessis
7. Merab Dvalishvili
8. Tom Aspinall
9. Leon Edwards
10. Alexander Volkanovski
11. Max Holloway
12. Alexandre Pantoja
13. Sean O’Malley
14. Sean Strickland
15. Charles Oliveira
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
12. Bruno Silva
13. Cody Durden
14. (T) Matt Schnell
14. (T) Asu Almabayev
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Merab Dvalishvili
1. Sean O’Malley
2. Umar Nurmagomedov
3. Petr Yan
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Deiveson Figueiredo
6. Marlon Vera +1
7. Henry Cejudo -1
8. Song Yadong
9. Mario Bautista +2
10. Rob Font -1
11. Jose Aldo -2
12. Kyler Phillips
13. Jonathan Martinez
14. Dominick Cruz
15. Montel Jackson
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Ilia Topuria
1. Alexander Volkanovski
2. Max Holloway
3. Diego Lopes
4. Yair Rodriguez
5. Movsar Evloev
6. Brian Ortega
7. Arnold Allen
8. Josh Emmett
9. Aljamain Sterling
10. Calvin Kattar
11. Giga Chikadze
12. Lerone Murphy
13. Bryce Mitchell
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. Max Holloway +2
9. Mateusz Gamrot -1
10. Rafael Fiziev -1
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. Sean Brady +1
6. Colby Covington -1
7. Ian Machado Garry
8. Gilbert Burns
9. Joaquin Buckley +2
10. Geoff Neal
11. Stephen Thompson -2
12. Michael Morales
13. Michael Page
14. Vicente Luque
15. Neil Magny
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. (T) Paulo Costa
9. (T) Roman Dolidze +1
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. Alonzo Menifield
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. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Zhang Weili
3. Alexa Grasso
4. Julianna Pena +1
5. Manon Fiorot -1
6. Rose Namajunas
7. Erin Blanchfield
8. Raquel Pennington
9. Kayla Harrison +2
10. Tatiana Suarez -1
11. Yan Xiaonan -1
12. Virna Jandiroba
13. Natalia Silva
14. Jessica Andrade -1
15. Amanda Lemos
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Tatiana Suarez
2. Yan Xiaonan
3. Virna Jandiroba
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Amanda Lemos
6. Mackenzie Dern +1
7. Amanda Ribas +1
8. Iasmin Lucindo +6
9. Marina Rodriguez -3
10. Tabatha Ricci -1
11. Loopy Godinez -1
12. Angela Hill -1
13. Luana Pinheiro -1
14. Gillian Robertson -1
15. Tecia Pennington *NR
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Alexa Grasso
2. Manon Fiorot
3. Erin Blanchfield
4. Maycee Barber
5. Rose Namajunas
6. Natalia Silva
7. Katlyn Cerminara
8. Jessica Andrade
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: Julianna Pena
1. Raquel Pennington -1
2. Kayla Harrison +1
3. Ketlen Vieira -1
4. Macy Chiasson
5. Norma Dumont
6. (T) Irene Aldana
6. (T) Mayra Bueno Silva +1
8. Holly Holm
9. Karol Rosa
10. Yana Santos
11. Miesha Tate
12. Julia Avila
13. Germaine De Randamie
14. Ailin Perez
15. Chelsea Chandler
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the flyweight division, following the UFC Vegas 98: “Royval vs. Taira” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., Oct. 12, 2024 at APEX in Las Vegas.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.