Welcome to MMA Fighting’s latest pound-for-pound rankings update, where each month our esteemed panel sifts through the noise to answer one question: Who are the best male and female MMA fighters in the world?
How has the past six weeks affected the global pound-for-pound landscape? We’ll take a look.
This is Islam Makhachev’s world right now – the rest of us just live in it.
Remember two months ago when Leon Edwards knocked down one of the pound for pound kings and went from unranked to a top 5 spot? Makhachev apparently saw and thought “yeah, that looks fun”. Dagestan’s middle son rocked the game again with a scintillating title win at UFC 280 that propelled him straight into the No. 3 rankings formerly held by Charles Oliveira. By fulfilling the father’s plan and cementing his long-awaited destiny as heir apparent to Khabib Nurmagomedov, Makhachev proved what his team has always told us: he is one of the best fighters in the entire world.
So what’s the next step?
Well, a shot at the No. 1 pound-for-pound ranking, apparently. After their caged one-on-one at UFC 280, Makhachev is already set to head into enemy territory to defend his lightweight belt against Alexander Volkanovski in a massive showdown on Feb. 12 in Perth, Australia. With a win, it’s very possible that Makhachev could go from unranked to the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport in the space of just two fights. Who would have thought?
Looking ahead to November, all eyes will be on No. 2-ranked Israel Adesanya, who puts his middleweight title on the line in a highly anticipated grudge match against Alex Pereira on November 12 at UFC 280. Adesanya has already lost twice. to Pereira in kickboxing – will Pereira make it 3-0 and dethrone ‘The Last Stylebender’ again?
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): Islam Makhechev def. No. 3 Charles Oliveira, No. 7 Aljamain Sterling def. TJ Dillashaw, No. 11 Patricio Pitbull def. Adam Borics, Sean O’Malley def. No. 17T Petr Yan
Upcoming fights with ranked fighters: No. 2 Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira (UFC 281, Nov. 12), No. 14 Dustin Poirier vs. Michael Chandler (UFC 281, Nov. 12)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Colby Covington (4), Jan Blachowicz (3), Islam Makhachev (2), Ciryl Gane (2), Johnny Eblen (2), Alexandre Pantoja (2), AJ McKee (2), Raufeon Stots (1), Gegard Mousasi (1), Jose Aldo (1), Reinier de Ridder (1)
It’s not often you see an unranked fighter making such a splash in the pound-for-pound women’s rankings, but Manon Fiorot delivered the most important fight of her young career.
The rising French flyweight debuts at No. 13 in this month’s rankings, tied with bantamweight veteran Ketlen Vieira and ahead of contenders Marina Rodriguez, Lauren Murphy and the woman she defeated at UFC 280, Katlyn Chookagian. It’s been an impressive rise for Fiorot, who made his professional debut just four years ago with a controversial split decision loss to current Bellator star Leah McCourt before winning five straight on the international stage.
Fiorot’s punching power immediately caught the eye, and in her last fight before signing with the UFC in 2020, she needed less than one round to finish Gabriela Campo and become the UAE Warriors champion of 125 pounds. It was obvious that Fiorot was a contender for the title, the question was how long would it be before she knocked on Valentina Shevcheko’s door? Now 5-0 in the UFC, depending on who you ask, she’s either one win away (Alexa Grasso says hello) or already next in line if “Bullet” is ready to fire again anytime soon.
Even phenom Kayla Harrison has been slow to climb these rankings, but if Fiorot can knock out another flyweight with a number to her name in her next fight, she could continue her rapid rise up the rankings.
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 3 Cris Cyborg defeats. Simone da Silva (boxing match), Manon Fiorot defeats. No. 13 Katlyn Chookagian, No. 17 Seika Izawa defeated. Anastasiya Svetkivska, Yan Xiaonan defeated. No. 19T Mackenzie Dern
Upcoming fights with ranked fighters: No. 4 Carla Esparza vs. No. 8 Zhang Weili (UFC 281, Nov. 12), No. 15 Marina Rodriguez vs. Amanda Lemos (UFC Vegas 64, Nov. 5)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Larissa Pacheco (4), Seo Hee Ham (3), Julia Budd (2), Irene Aldana (2), Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (1), Raquel Pennington (1), Xiong Jingnan (2), Alexa Grasso (1) , Michelle Waterson (1), Angela Lee (1)
Finally, a reminder of some basic rules:
- The eight-person voting panel is made up of MMA Fighting staffers Shaun Al-Shatti, Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, E. Casey Leydon, Steven Marrocco, Damon Martin and Jed Meshew.
- Rankings updates will be made after each UFC pay-per-view. Fighters will be removed from the leaderboard if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent fight. (Stipe Miocic sends greetings.)
- If a fighter announces his retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain his position until further notice (put it this way: we would have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings much faster than the UFC).
As a reminder, the notion of pound-for-pound supremacy will always be inherently subjective. When you wonder if someone like Robert Whittaker should be ranked above someone like Max Holloway, there is no real right answer. In other words: this is not serious business, folks.
Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Let your voice be heard in the comments below.
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