Pound For Pound Rankings
Jones is one of the greatest fighters of all time, and though he was pushed to the limit by Dominick Reyes, he retained his belt and now returns to the top of MMA Junkie’s pound-for-pound rankings.
If you had ‘global pandemic’ on your ‘Why Khabib vs. Tony Ferguson will be canceled for a fifth time’ bingo card, congratulations.
Cejudo insists he’s walking away from the sport despite serving as a reigning UFC champion, though we’ll give him a little cooling off period before we formally pull him from the rankings.
Cormier admits he shied from the gameplan at UFC 241, and it cost him dearly in a loss to Stipe Miocic. Now, at age 41, Cormier has decided to give it one more go against Miocic before calling it a career.
After fulfilling his dream of adding a global belt to his collection of championships, ‘Mighty Mouse’ now looks to add ONE’s flyweight belt to the grand prix title he already earned.
Adesanya got to add Yoel Romero to his list of career victories, even if it wasn’t exactly a thrilling affair, and it appears the undefeated Paulo Costa is up next.
Bader’s heavyweight title defense with Cheick Kongo ended in rather odd fashion, but now it’s back to light heavyweight to defend that belt.
Miocic had to wait more than a year to get his rematch with Daniel Cormier, but he made the opportunity count, gutting through some tough rounds early to score a late knockout and reclaim the UFC title.
Following an emotional build-up to a grudge match with Colby Covington, Usman was brilliant, notching the first defense of his UFC welterweight title.
Volkanovski has said from the beginning that he deserved to be considered among the world’s best, and now he is, cracking the pound-for-pound list for the first time.
Gaethje debuts on the pound-for-pound list after an absolutely brilliant dismantling of Tony Ferguson and could take an even bigger leap if he’s able to unseat Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Holloway is considered an all-time great, but a pair of losses in 2019 leaves ‘Blessed’ in a position to think about exactly what he wants to do next.
Ferguson’s loss to Justin Gaethje was his first setback in eight years, and ‘El Cucuy’ must now begin a new drive back to title contention.
Whittaker’s recent journey has been full of challenges, but at just 29, he promises there are still plenty of good days ahead.
Honorable Mentions
USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, May 26: UFC’s welterweight picture to become clear?
The UFC is all set to host the promotion’s first event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas this weekend, and a few top welterweights hope the company’s title picture becomes a bit more clear.
Former UFC champion Tyron Woodley (19-4-1 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) and Gilbert Burns (18-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) meet in Saturday’s main event, which airs on ESPN and streams on ESPN+. Woodley checks in at No. 2 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie welterweight rankings, while Burns has already claimed the No. 12 spot with wins over Demian Maia, Gunnar Nelson and Aleksei Kunchenko.
Of course, the welterweight division is filled with contenders hoping to unseat current champion Kamaru Usman. “BMF” titleholder Jorge Masvidal and British challenger Leon Edwards would certainly seem to have the inside track. But Colby Covington is still hoping for a rematch of their December clash, and Conor McGregor is a game-changing wild card that can pop up at any point.
Can Woodley or Burns do enough to separate themselves from the pack. We’ll find out Saturday night. In the meantime, take a look at the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings across all divisions.
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.