The Jon Jones pound-for-pound debate is finally over.
With “Bones” retired, the promotion was forced to reshuffle the heavyweight and pound-for-pound rankings in this week’s official rankings update. In addition, Khalil Rountree Jr. cracked the Top 5 at 205 pounds after knocking around Jamahal Hill in the UFC Baku main event last weekend on ABC.
Here’s how the rankings are compiled, at least until AI takes over:
Rankings are 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 Makhachev2. Merab Dvalishvili3. Ilia Topuria +14. Dricus Du Plessis +15. Magomed Ankalaev +16. Alexander Volkanovski +17. Jack Della Maddalena +18. Tom Aspinall +39. Alex Pereira9. (T) Alexandre Pantoja +111. Max Holloway +112. Belal Muhammad +113. Charles Oliveira +114. Arman Tsarukyan +115. Khamzat Chimaev *NR
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexandre Pantoja
1. Brandon Royval2. Brandon Moreno3. Amir Albazi4. Kai Kara France5. Tatsuro Taira6. Manel Kape7. Alex Perez8. Asu Almabayev9. Steve Erceg10. Tim Elliott11. Tagir Ulanbekov +112. Joshua Van -113. Ramazan Temirov14. Kai Asakura +115. Bruno Silva -1
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Merab Dvalishvili
1. Sean O’Malley2. Umar Nurmagomedov3. Petr Yan4. Cory Sandhagen5. Song Yadong6. Deiveson Figueiredo7. Marlon Vera8. (T) Rob Font8. (T) Mario Bautista +110. Henry Cejudo11. Aiemann Zahabi12. Kyler Phillips13. Marcus McGhee14. Montel Jackson15. Vinicius Oliveira
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Max Holloway2. Diego Lopes3. Ilia Topuria4. Movsar Evloev5. Yair Rodriguez6. (T) Arnold Allen6. (T) Brian Ortega +18. Lerone Murphy9. Aljamain Sterling10. Josh Emmett11. Jean Silva12. Youssef Zalal13. David Onama14. Dan Ige15. Calvin Kattar
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Arman Tsarukyan2. Charles Oliveira3. Justin Gaethje4. Max Holloway5. Dustin Poirier6. Dan Hooker7. Mateusz Gamrot8. Paddy Pimblett9. Beneil Dariush10. Rafael Fiziev +111. Renato Moicano -112. Michael Chandler13. Grant Dawson +114. Benoit Saint Denis -115. Joel Alvarez
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Jack Della Maddalena
1. Belal Muhammed2. Sean Brady3. Shavkat Rakhmonov4. Leon Edwards5. Kamaru Usman6. Ian Machado Garry7. (T) Joaquin Buckley7. (T) Michael Morales +19. Colby Covington10. Gilbert Burns11. Geoff Neal12. Stephen Thompson13. Carlos Prates14. Kevin Holland15. Michael Page
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Dricus Du Plessis
1. Nassourdine Imavov2. Sean Strickland3. Khamzat Chimaev4. Israel Adesanya5. Robert Whittaker6. Caio Borralho7. Jared Cannonier8. Roman Dolidze9. Anthony Hernandez10. Marvin Vettori11. Brendan Allen12. Reinier De Ridder13. Paulo Costa14. (T) Roman Kopylov14. (T) Abus Magomedov +1
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Magomed Ankalaev
1. Alex Pereira2. Jiri Prochazka3. Carlos Ulberg4. Khalil Rountree +35. Jan Blachowicz6. Jamahal Hill -27. Aleksandar Rakic -18. Dominick Reyes9. Volkan Oezdemir10. Nikita Krylov11. Azamat Murzakanov12. Johnny Walker13. Bogdan Guskov14. Zhang Mingyang15. Alonzo Menifield
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Tom Aspinall
1. Ciryl Gane +12. Alexander Volkov +13. Sergei Pavlovich +14. Curtis Blaydes +15. Jailton Almeida +16. Marcin Tybura +17. Waldo Cortes Acosta +18. Serghei Spivac +19. Derrick Lewis +110. Tai Tuivasa +111. Shamil Gaziev +112. Mick Parkin +113. Tallison Teixeira +114. Martin Buday +115. Rizvan Kuniev *NR
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko2. Zhang Weili3. Kayla Harrison4. Manon Fiorot5. Julianna Pena6. Natalia Silva7. Alexa Grasso8. Erin Blanchfield9. Virna Jandiroba10. Raquel Pennington11. Tatiana Suarez12. Rose Namajunas13. Yan Xiaonan14. Amanda Lemos15. Maycee Barber
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Virna Jandiroba2. Tatiana Suarez3. Yan Xiaonan4. Amanda Lemos5. Jessica Andrade6. Mackenzie Dern7. Amanda Ribas8. Iasmin Lucindo9. Gillian Robertson10. Tabatha Ricci11. Loopy Godinez12. Angela Hill13. Tecia Pennington14. Loma Lookboonmee15. Denise Gomes
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Natalia Silva2. Manon Fiorot3. Alexa Grasso4. Erin Blanchfield5. (T) Maycee Barber5. (T) Jasmine Jasudavicius +17. Rose Namajunas8. Viviane Araújo9. Jessica Andrade10. Tracy Cortez11. Miranda Maverick12. Karine Silva13. Casey O’Neill14. Wang Cong15. Ariane Da Silva
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Kayla Harrison
1. Julianna Pena2. Raquel Pennington3. Ketlen Vieira4. Norma Dumont5. Macy Chiasson6. Irene Aldana7. Ailin Perez8. Mayra Bueno Silva9. Yana Santos10. Karol Rosa11. Jacqueline Cavalcanti12. Nora Cornolle13. Miesha Tate14. Joselyne Edwards15. Daria Zhelezniakova *NR
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the lightweight division, following the UFC 317: “Topuria vs. Oliveira” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV), scheduled for Sat., June 28, 2025 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.
