Alex Pereira lost his light heavyweight title after coming up short against Magomed Ankalaev atop the UFC 313 pay-per-view (PPV) event last weekend in Las Vegas. As a result, “Poatan” also coughed up his seat in the Top 5 in the official UFC pound-for-pound rankings.
The 37 year-old Brazilian was sent tumbling five spots to the No. 8 slot while Ankalaev debuts at No. 6, sandwiched between reigning middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis (No. 5) and newly-crowned welterweight titleholder Belal Muhammad (No. 7).
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. Jon Jones3. Ilia Topuria +14. Merab Dvalishvili +15. Dricus Du Plessis +16. Magomed Ankalaev *NR7. Belal Muhammad8. Alex Pereira -59. Alexandre Pantoja10. Tom Aspinall -211. Alexander Volkanovski12. Leon Edwards -313. Max Holloway -114. Sean O’Malley -115. Charles Oliveira -1
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexandre Pantoja
1. Brandon Royval2. Brandon Moreno3. Amir Albazi4. Kai Kara France5. Tatsuro Taira6. Manel Kape7. Alex Perez8. Steve Erceg +19. Asu Almabayev -110. Tim Elliott11. Tagir Ulanbekov12. Bruno Silva +113. Ramazan Temirov *NR14. Kai Asakura15. Charles Johnson -3
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Merab Dvalishvili
1. Sean O’Malley2. Petr Yan3. Umar Nurmagomedov4. Cory Sandhagen5. Deiveson Figueiredo6. Song Yadong7. Marlon Vera8. Rob Font9. Henry Cejudo10. Mario Bautista11. Jose Aldo12. Kyler Phillips13. Marcus McGhee14. Aiemann Zahabi15. Montel Jackson
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Ilia Topuria
1. Alexander Volkanovski2. Max Holloway3. Diego Lopes4. Movsar Evloev5. Yair Rodriguez6. Brian Ortega7. Arnold Allen8. Josh Emmett9. Aljamain Sterling10. Lerone Murphy11. Giga Chikadze12. Youssef Zalal13. Bryce Mitchell14. Calvin Kattar15. Dan Ige
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Arman Tsarukyan2. Charles Oliveira3. Justin Gaethje4. Dustin Poirier5. Max Holloway6. Dan Hooker7. Michael Chandler8. Mateusz Gamrot9. Beneil Dariush10. Renato Moicano11. Rafael Fiziev12. Paddy Pimblett13. Benoit Saint Denis +214. Grant Dawson15. Ignacio Bahamondes *NR
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Belal Muhammed
1. Leon Edwards2. Shavkat Rakhmonov3. Kamaru Usman4. Jack Della Maddalena5. Sean Brady6. Joaquin Buckley7. Ian Machado Garry8. Gilbert Burns9. Colby Covington10. Geoff Neal11. Stephen Thompson12. Michael Morales13. Carlos Prates14. Vicente Luque15. Michael Page
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Dricus Du Plessis
1. Nassourdine Imavov2. Sean Strickland3. Khamzat Chimaev4. Israel Adesanya5. Robert Whittaker6. Caio Borralho7. Jared Cannonier8. Marvin Vettori9. Anthony Hernandez10. Brendan Allen11. Paulo Costa +112. Roman Dolidze -113. Reinier De Ridder +214. Michel Pereira -115. Roman Kopylov -1
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Magomed Ankalaev
1. Alex Pereira -12. Jiri Prochazka3. Jan Blachowicz4. Jamahal Hill5. Aleksandar Rakic 6. Carlos Ulberg7. Khalil Rountree8. Nikita Krylov9. Volkan Oezdemir10. Johnny Walker11. Dominick Reyes12. Azamat Murzakanov13. Bogdan Guskov14. Alonzo Menifield15. Anthony Smith
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jon Jones
1. Tom Aspinall2. Ciryl Gane3. Alexander Volkov4. Sergei Pavlovich5. Curtis Blaydes6. Jailton Almeida7. Serghei Spivac8. Marcin Tybura9. Derrick Lewis10. Tai Tuivasa11. Shamil Gaziev12. Waldo Cortes Acosta13. Mick Parkin14. Tallison Teixeira +115. Kennedy Nzechukwu -1
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko2. Zhang Weili3. Alexa Grasso4. Julianna Pena5. Manon Fiorot6. Erin Blanchfield7. Kayla Harrison8. Raquel Pennington9. Rose Namajunas10. Yan Xiaonan11. Tatiana Suarez12. Virna Jandiroba13. Natalia Silva14. Jessica Andrade15. Maycee Barber
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Yan Xiaonan2. Tatiana Suarez3. Virna Jandiroba4. Jessica Andrade5. Amanda Lemos6. Mackenzie Dern7. Amanda Ribas +18. Iasmin Lucindo -19. Marina Rodriguez10. Tabatha Ricci11. Loopy Godinez12. Gillian Robertson13. Angela Hill14. Luana Pinheiro15. Tecia Pennington
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Alexa Grasso2. Manon Fiorot3. Erin Blanchfield4. Maycee Barber5. Natalia Silva6. Rose Namajunas7. Jessica Andrade8. Viviane Araújo9. Jasmine Jasudavicius10. Tracy Cortez11. Karine Silva12. Miranda Maverick +113. Ariane Da Silva -114. Casey O’Neill15. Mayra Bueno Silva
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Julianna Pena
1. Raquel Pennington2. Kayla Harrison3. Ketlen Vieira4. Norma Dumont5. Macy Chiasson6. Irene Aldana7. Mayra Bueno Silva8. Ailin Perez9. Karol Rosa10. Yana Santos11. Jacqueline Cavalcanti12. Miesha Tate13. Nora Cornolle14. Chelsea Chandler15. Joselyne Edwards
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the middleweight division, following the UFC Vegas 104: “Vettori vs. Dolidze 2” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., March 15, 2025 at the promotion’s APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.
