Conor McGregor is now only behind Demetrious Johnson in the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings.
We have the newly updated UFC rankings here, and a card like UFC 205 has predictably shaken up the list in several weight classes. Of note, Conor McGregor’s thumping of Eddie Alvarez to become the UFC’s lightweight champion has seen him take the #2 spot in the P4P rankings. The only man he’s behind is the only flyweight champion the UFC has ever had, Demetrious Johnson.
The full UFC rankings can be found here.
Pound-for-Pound: We’ve already talked about McGregor, who was previously 4th in the P4P list. Dominick Cruz and Daniel Cormire were bumped down to 3rd and 4th, respectively. Cris Cyborg has surged from 15th to 10th, with Joanna Jedrzejczyk going up to 7th, Tyron Woodley up to 8th, and Michael Bisping up to 9th. Amanda Nunes rose two spots to 13th, sending TJ Dillashaw down to 14th. Khabib Nurmagomedov rounds out the P4P list.
Women’s Strawweight: No changes
Flyweight: This isn’t a “change” per se, but as a reminder, Matheus Nicolau has a potential USADA violation, so he’s been removed from his #12 ranking. The 12-15 spots are now comprised of Louis Smolka, Brandon Moreno, Ray Borg, and Sergio Pettis.
Women’s Bantamweight: Miesha Tate’s loss and subsequent retirement plunged her from #1 to #10, and she might be off the rankings entirely very soon. Ronda Rousey is now the new #1 ranked contender, with Valentina Shevchenko in 2nd, followed by Julianna Pena. Raquel Pennington rose from 9th to 5th, with Holly Holm remaining in 4th. Liz Carmouche rose to 8th, Bethe Correia to 9th, and Ashlee Evans-Smith to 11th. Germaine de Randamie dipped to 12th.
Men’s Bantamweight: No changes
Featherweight: No changes
Lightweight: Khabib is overtaken Tony Ferguson as the #1 contender at lightweight. Eddie Alvarez is ranked below both men at #3, which means Rafael dos Anjos is 4th. Alvarez going from champion to 3rd spot dropped everyone else ranked 3rd-15th down a spot. Will Brooks is once again unranked.
Welterweight: Stephen Thompson was actually the #2 contender behind Robbie Lawler, but after his draw with Tyron Woodley, he’s actually now #1 while Lawler is #2. Kelvin Gastelum probably won’t be fighting at 170 anymore, so he’s dropped from 5th to 8th. Donald Cerrone, Johny Hendricks, and Lorenz Larkin make up spots 5-7.
Middleweight: Yoel Romero is now the #1 ranked contender, leaping 3 spots after his flying knee destruction of Chris Weidman. Luke Rockhold drops to #2, while Weidman falls from 2nd to 4th. Tim Boetsch replaces Rafael Natal at #14 after knocking him out on the UFC 205 prelims.
Light Heavyweight: No changes
Heavyweight: With Antonio Silva out of the UFC and Roy Nelson suspended, several fighters have been bumped up. Stefan Struve, Francis Ngannou, Daniel Omielanczuk, Timothy Johnson, and Shamil Abdurakhimov make up 11th-15th.
