Pound For Pound Rankings
UFC president Dana White has one more meeting set up with Nurmagomedov in Las Vegas, but it seems the reigning lightweight champ is content to stick to his retirement.
Already considered one of the greatest fighters of all-time, Jones said he wants to turn his attention to heavyweight and says he has no intention of returning to 205 pounds.
Adesanya rolled the dice in a move to light heavyweight but came up short against Jan Blachowicz and says he’ll now return to 185 pounds and prove his dominance as UFC 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 another UFC title shot in the near future.
Holloway delivered a record-breaking destruction of Calvin Kattar and now looks like he’ll get a chance to regain the UFC featherweight title later this year.
Khabib Nurmagomedov proved to be too much for Gaethje at UFC 254, but ‘The Highlight’ could very well get another title shot in the very near future.
Blachowicz realizes there are some that doubt his legitimacy as UFC champion, but his win over a previously undefeated Israel Adesanya went a long way toward silencing those critics.
Costa was frustrated after suffering the first loss of his career and will now face another monster in Robert Whittaker in his trail back to a title shot.
Honorable Mentions
USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, March 16: Dan Ige’s $50K KO means a bump
One of the most stunning results at UFC Fight Night 187 this past Saturday was a quick knockout from Dan Ige.
Ige (15-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) needed just 22 seconds to put Gavin Tucker (13-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) out cold in their featured featherweight in Las Vegas. The big KO let “50K” live up to his nickname with a $50,000 post-fight bonus. After three decision wins and a loss to Calvin Kattar, it was Ige’s first bonus in nearly two years, when he had a 77-second submission of Danny Henry.
It probably could not have come at a better time for him, either, since his wife is about to give birth to a baby boy. But now Ige has something else to be proud about: a rise in the 145-pound rankings.
Ige went into UFC Fight Night 187 as the No. 11 fighter in the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie featherweight rankings. But how far did he climb with his bonus-winning KO? Check out the new featherweight list, as well as all the other divisions, in the drop-down 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.