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.
Upcoming Fight: vs Colby “Chaos” Covington | Nov 06, 2021 – UFC 268
With back-to-back knockout victories, Usman is proving himself to be even more dangerous than was previously known and is starting to carve his name into the UFC’s record books.
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.
After suffering the first knockout loss of his career, Johnson openly contemplated the idea of potentially competing in kickboxing next, which he could also do under the ONE Championship banner.
Ngannou claimed the UFC heavyweight title with a brilliant win over Stipe Miocic but is now openly expressing his frustration with the promotion after an interim title fight was announced.
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.
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 and now must battle his way back to a trilogy fight.
It was a long way to the top for ‘Do Bronx,’ but Oliveira is truly firing on all cylinders now and will look to put together a run as UFC lightweight champion.
Poirier continues to be one of the most exciting fighters in the game, and his grit is immeasurable – qualities he hopes will net him the UFC lightweight title.
Whittaker is on quite the run since losing the UFC middleweight title and seems to have earned a rematch with Israel Adesanya.
Honorable Mentions
USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Aug. 17: Tatiana Suarez departure causes big ripple
Pulling a fighter from the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings is never an easy decision, but it’s even tougher when that athlete has such clear upside in terms of skill.
Such is the case with Tatiana Suarez, who entered this week ranked No. 3 at strawweight, as well as No. 7 in the women’s pound-for-pound list. However, the 30-year-old Suarez (8-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) hasn’t competed since UFC 238 in June 2019.
The MMA Junkie rankings criteria reads as follows: “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.”
Suarez was expected to return to action at next month’s UFC 266 event, shifting to the women’s flyweight division in the process. However, knee surgery has forced her out of that appearance, and now her future remains unclear as she recovers, though she has insisted she’ll fight again.
“I’ll continue to do everything in my power to get back to action!” Suarez recently wrote on Instagram.
In the meantime, Suarez’s departure sees multiple fighters move up the list at both strawweight and women’s pound-for-pound, as well as the return of Jessica Penne (14-5 MMA, 3-3 UFC) to the list at 115 pounds as an honorable mention. Former UFC champ Carla Esparza (18-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) also finds herself on the pound-for-pound list in an honorable mention slot.
Take a look at those divisions and more 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.