Pound For Pound Rankings
As Nurmagomedov seemingly rides off into the sunset, he ascends to No. 1 status in the pound-for-pound ranks with an absolutely scintillating win over Justin Gaethje.
Already considered one of the greatest fighters of all-time, Jones said he wants to turn his attention to heavyweight in hopes of building an even more impressive legacy – though he seems awfully caught up in Israel Adesanya at the moment.
While we’re still waiting on an official announcement, it seems Adesanya is going to be gunning for UFC champ-champ status soon against Jan Blachowicz.
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.
Usman may not be the most popular figure on the UFC roster, but he’s certainly effective and is starting to put his name in the history books with his dominant run.
With his trilogy win over Daniel Cormier secured, Miocic is widely considered the greatest heavyweight in UFC history – and perhaps even all of MMA.
Bader was certainly disappointed to lose his Bellator champ-champ status, but he does still have one belt and promises to return in top form.
It wasn’t as convincing as the first time around, but Volkanovski picked up a second win over Max Holloway and says he wants to continue taking out top contenders.
Khabib Nurmagomedov proved to be too much for Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, but ‘The Highlight’ could very well get another title shot in the very near future.
With a fantastic win over Jared Cannonier, Whittaker proved himself the No. 1 contender in the UFC’s middleweight division but made it clear he doesn’t want to fight again until 2021.
Costa was frustrated after suffering the first loss of his career and has been campaigning for a rematch with Israel Adesanya, though it certainly doesn’t seem to be in the cards right now.
Yan and his devastating boxing skills have earned him a UFC title, and his first defense will come against an impressive challenger in Aljamain Sterling.
Honorable Mentions
USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Nov. 24: Deiveson Figueiredo climbs P4P list
With his first title defense under his belt, Deiveson Figueiredo is making moves.
Figueiredo, the reigning UFC flyweight champion, looked impressive this past Saturday at UFC 255, where he defeated Alex Perez by first-round submission. That result was good enough have him climb two spots in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie pound-for-pound rankings, moving him from No. 9 to No. 7 and leapfrogging a pair of champions in Ryan Bader and Alex Volkanovski.
But at flyweight, Figueiredo stays put at No. 2 behind former UFC champion and ONE Championship star Demetrious Johnson – but barely. Here’s the explanation from our rankings chair, “Gorgeous” George Garcia:
“This one is tough. Figueiredo is now 8-1 in the past 36 months. He’s finally got a title defense under his belt, 20-1 overall, five-fight winning streak. Johnson is 4-1 in his past 36 months. ONE just hasn’t rebounded the way UFC has, so the inactivity stands out. As now, we still don’t have an exact date for Johnson’s next fight, but we expect the first quarter of 2021. ONE titleholder Adriano Moraes is a quality opponent, but he’s not top 15. Figueiredo keeps getting the top guys, and now Moreno is on tap.
“We’re talking about one of the GOATs of this sport in Johnson. What he did is pretty amazing, but that’s slowly wearing off in terms of these rankings. I think one more fight is worth the wait. If Figueiredo wins at UFC 256, he goes to No. 1. After that, he’ll probably take some time off. Johnson would have a chance to overtake him at that point.”
Aside from Figueiredo, there were other movers and shakers to come out of UFC 255, as well as Bellator 253, where undefeated featherweight A.J. McKee scored the biggest win of his career with a slick submission of Darrion Caldwell in the promotion’s grand prix semifinals.
Find out where McKee and others ended up by clicking through the dropdowns 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.