The current state of the UFC rankings has been a hot topic lately.
So much so that Dana White has bashed them on two separate occasions in the past month. Once after Renato Moicano didn’t move up even though he walked through Benoit Saint Denis. And again, after Khalil Rountree Jr. stayed put despite his valiant effort against Alex Pereira. You can debate the validity of these complaints, but it would be hard to make the case that the current rankings are spotless. That is why I felt compelled to go through each division, one by one, and fix what I thought are incorrect placements.
MEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Flyweight is probably the only division where the rankings are as they should be. There is no egregiously wrong or incomprehensible placement. Could you make the case that Steve Erceg should be a couple spots higher considering some people thought he won his fight at UFC 301? Sure, but him not moving up is not some crime against the rankings’ credibility.
The recent cut of Matheus Nicolau should welcome a new ranked fighter at 125 pounds. With everyone sliding up, I believe Joshua Van has the best case to take this newly available spot at #15. He is 4-1 since entering the UFC and his only loss was to Charles Johnson who is already ranked ahead. Jesus Aguilar has a case to be made as well. His only UFC loss came against Tatsuro Taira and has since rebounded with a three-fight win streak with two of those being first-round finishes.
MEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
There’s a lot to correct, here. First off, why is Jose Aldo all the way down to 11th? He was ranked 3rd when he fought Merab Dvalishvili. After his performance against Jonathan Martinez, he should’ve entered back to around the same spot he was at before retiring. Having him behind Rob Font, a man he beat convincingly, makes no sense. With that, Mario Bautista shoots up to 6th, with Aldo right behind him. That means everyone ranked 6th to 9th slide down two spots.
Martinez and Kyler Phillips swap spots, because I put more stock in Martinez’ six-fight win streak prior to his loss against Aldo, then Phillips’ three-fight win streak before losing to Font.
Dominick Cruz exits the rankings due to inactivity. He hasn’t won since December of 2021 and hasn’t even had a fight booked since his brutal knockout loss in August of 2022. You can’t hold up the rankings forever. With his exit, Aiemann Zahabi takes the #15 spot. I thought about Pedro Munhoz, the man he’s scheduled to fight next, but Zahabi’s four-fight win streak includes impressive finishes and a win over then undefeated and highly touted Javid Basharat.
FEATHERWEIGHT
The most egregious thing about the featherweight rankings is Yair Rodriguez’ placement. How can he be ahead of Brian Ortega when he got finished by Ortega this very calendar year? Also, Movsar Evloev being behind Diego Lopes just doesn’t sit right with me. I understand that since they fought, Evloev only has one closely contested win, while Lopes has five, three of which coming by finish, but the men literally fought each other and that must count for something. When two fighters are sitting near the top of their division, the tiebreaker should go to whoever won when they last fought. For that reason, I have Evloev at 3rd, followed by Lopes, then Ortega, and Rodriguez slides down to 6th.
Lerone Murphy moves one spot ahead of Calvin Kattar. This isn’t a resume contest, but more of a “what have you done for me lately” business. Kattar hasn’t won since his upset win over Giga Chikadze back in January of 2022, while Murphy is on a seven-fight win streak. If these rankings are to be taken seriously, momentum has to be reflected, and a seven-fight win streak beats a three-fight loss streak every day of the week. Chikadze also drops a couple spots behind Dan Ige. Since Chikadze got battered by Kattar, Ige has three wins over Damon Jackson, Nate Landwehr and Andre Fili, two of which came via brutal knockouts. Chikadze only has the one pedestrian decision win over Alex Caceres.
LIGHTWEIGHT
Now that Max Holloway announced at the UFC 308 post-fight press conference that he’s planning a move to lightweight, there’s no reason to take him out of the rankings for being a featherweight. That also means there is no reason for him to sit below Justin Gaethje anymore, so he moves up two spots to #3.
A lot of people thought Mateusz Gamrot lost to Arman Tsarukyan and Jalin Turner, and his win over Rafael Fiziev was due to an early injury to Fiziev. His only clear win was against Rafael Dos Anjos, a man who shouldn’t have been in the rankings to begin with. For these reasons, he drops two spots below Renato Moicano.
Benoit Saint Denis and Jalin Turner exchange places after considering the brutality with which the Frenchman got finished in his last two fights. Turner’s most recent KO win over King Green can also be argued as more meaningful than any of Saint Denis’ wins on his previous win streak.
Rafael Dos Anjos hasn’t belonged in the lightweight rankings for a long while now, since he hasn’t won a fight at 155 since beating a short-notice Paul Felder back in 2020. The Moicano fight was at a catchweight of 160 lbs, and he lost to Fiziev and Gamrot. With his departure, there are more than a few deserving names that have a claim to his spot. Fares Ziam, Drakkar Klose, Mike Davis, Nasrat Haqparast and Ludovit Klein are all on four-fight win streaks and Diego Ferreira is on a two-fight KO streak, but I ultimately landed on Joel Alvarez. This is a man who was in the rankings before dropping out due to inactivity, but he has now won back-to-back fights, knocking out the unfinishable Elves Brener in the process.
WELTERWEIGHT
For the same reason I put Murphy over Kattar at featherweight, Shavkat Rakhmonov and Jack Della Maddalena move up a spot over Kamaru Usman. Long win streaks should be favoured over long losing streaks. The inactivity also doesn’t play in Usman’s favour as he hasn’t fought at 170 since March of 2023 and hasn’t won a welterweight bout since November 2021. Ian Machado Garry moves passed Colby Covington, and Joaquin Buckley moves ahead of Gilbert Burns for those same reasons.
Stephen Thompson has a win over Geoff Neal. I understand a lot has happened since then, but it’s not like Neal has accrued undeniable momentum that should move him clearly ahead of Thompson. They’re hovering around the same area in the rankings, so tiebreaker goes to Thompson.
Vicente Luque exits the rankings for being booked against Nick Diaz. A fight against a Diaz brother in 2024, especially Nick, is meaningless when it comes to the title picture, which is what the rankings are meant to reflect. If Luque wants fun money fights, all the power to him, but he cannot hold up the rankings while he pursues those. Taking his spot is Randy Brown. I thought about Carlos Prates, but Brown being 7-1 in his last 8 fights beats Prates being 3-0.
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Marvin Vettori being ahead of Jared Cannonier is just as baffling as Rodriguez being ahead of Ortega, because Cannonier put on an absolute beating on Vettori. Yes, Cannonier lost both his following fights, but Vettori literally hasn’t fought since.
Anthony Hernandez moves up three spots, because the value of a win should compound when strung together impressively. Fluffy’s resume lately at 185 has been more impressive than Dolidze and Hermansson juggling wins and losses, or Paulo Costa not having a single win over an active UFC fighter.
LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHT
Khalil Rountree Jr. moves head of Aleksandar Rakic not because of Rountree’s performance against Pereira as unexpected as it may have been. You cannot just move up for having good performances if you ultimately get finished. This isn’t Rountree moving up as much as it is just Rakic sliding down. Rakic is still one of the best 205ers on the planet, but his record just hasn’t shown that recently and the rankings need to reflect that. He hasn’t won a fight since Pay-Per-View events were still held at the Apex, and that was a very timid decision against a post-knee surgery Thiago Santos. Rountree’s five-fight win streak prior to his title fight is still more meaningful in the current light-heavyweight landscape than Rakic’s last win.
Johnny Walker cannot keep getting blasted spectacularly and not get punished for it, so he drops two spots while still staying ahead of his last win: Anthony Smith.
Dominick Reyes drops three spots for only having one win so far in this decade. Alonzo Menifield drops out of the rankings and Ryan Spann enters back at #14. Spann KO’d Reyes in under a minute, why would he get punished any more harshly for his losses than Reyes would for his lack of wins?
HEAVYWEIGHT
Remember when I mentioned just how long it’s been since Aleksandar Rakic won a fight? Well, Stipe Miocic’s last win came seven months before Rakic’s win over Santos… He shouldn’t be in any ranking.
Neither should Rodrigo Nascimento. Of his five UFC wins, one was turned to a No Contest after he tested positive for a banned substance, two came against unranked Don’Tale Mayes and the other two were split decisions over Ilir Latifi and Tanner Boser. Absolutely nothing here should scream ranked contender.
With Miocic and Nascimento leaving, Mick Parkin and Waldo Cortes-Acosta enter. Two heavyweight prospects on four- and three-fight win streaks respectively. Marcos Rogerio de Lima doesn’t have the strongest case either for being ranked, but his win over Cortes-Acosta keeps him ahead.
Derrick Lewis, Marcin Tybura and Tai Tuivasa together form a rock-paper-scissors triangle, so they could be ranked any which way. But Lewis is coming off a KO win while Tybura lost his last fight via first round finish. And Tuivasa, despite knocking out Lewis, comes in last due to his current five-fight losing streak.
STRAWWEIGHT
Virna Jandiroba and Yan Xiaonan swap places. Jandiroba is on a four-fight heater with her last win coming by finish over then ranked 3rd ranked Amanda Lemos.
Marina Rodriguez moves up over Mackenzie Dern, because she has a decisive win over her and nothing Dern has done since then should be enough to overcome that.
Tabatha Ricci, Loopy Godinez and Angela Hill also form a rock-paper-scissors triangle of their own. Ricci has the edge right now, having won two fights in a row, while Godinez’ most recent win over Ricci keeps her ahead of Hill who just lost to Baby Shark.
Amanda Ribas’ last two wins in this weight class have been impressive (head kick over Luana Pinheiro, decision over Jandiroba), but she hasn’t been active enough in this division to justify a top10 ranking, so she drops considerably.
Gillian Robertson and Pinheiro swap spots since Robertson’s most recent body of work is far better. Pinheiro’s last win was a split decision over the now retired Michelle Waterson-Gomez and has been finished in her two fights since then. Robertson is 3-1 since moving down to 115, with a far more convincing win over Waterson-Gomez and her lone loss coming to Ricci.
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Maycee Barber drops two spots despite her six-fight win streak because there are a lot of holes to be poked in her recent stretch. Both the Miranda Maverick and Andrea Lee fights were controversial decisions. Two of those wins came against Montana De La Rosa, not exactly elite competition, and Jessica Eyes, who was well on her way out of the sport. Her only finish during that stretch is over Amanda Ribas, who is better suited for strawweight.
Meanwhile Natalia Silva is on a six-fight win streak of her own with two impressive finishes and convincing wins over Jasmine Jasudavicius, Andrea Lee and Viviane Araújo. Additionally, her last shutout of Jessica Andrade beats any win on Barber’s streak.
Andrade moves ahead of Katlyn Cerminara, because she has a first round KO win over her. Ribas moves up one spot for having beaten Araújo. Jasudavicius drops one spot behind Casey O’Neill, because I rate O’Neill’s last win over a streaking Luana Santos higher than the Canadian’s last two wins over Priscilla Cachoeira and a short-notice strawweight Fatima Kline.
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Mayra Bueno Silva and Irene Aldana’s recent resumes at bantamweight are not so dissimilar, which is why they are tied at 6th, but they have a common opponent in Macy Chiasson. Aldana TKO’d Chiasson while Sheetara lost via doctor stoppage to her, so Bueno Silva drops one spot.
Chelsea Chandler has never won a fight at 135, it is incomprehensible that she would even be in those rankings to begin with. With her departure, Jacqueline Cavalcanti enters on a three-fight win streak, with her last win being her most impressive against Nora Cornolle. Germaine de Randamie and Julia Avila drop to 14th and 15th respectively due to their inactivity and lack of recent wins.
CONCLUSION
I’m not as convinced as Dana White that artificial intelligence is the future of the rankings, but I definitely agree that a change needs to be made. The current panel is full of unrecognizable names from unrecognizable outlets. They don’t engage in any discourse and seemingly no one in the current space has any way to reach them and challenge them on their decisions.
The corrections I illustrated are nothing but temporary changes that would need correction again in a few months if the ranking methodology doesn’t change. The panel should consist of known names within the mma world and should be required to make their own personal rankings public, so they can be forced to defend them. The ballots of award voters in other sports get released to the public, but the personal rankings of the UFC rankings committee aren’t? That doesn’t seem right.
