The Middleweight changing of the guard has arrived.
Over the weekend (Sat., Aug. 24, 2024), Caio Borralho smacked around Jared Cannonier for most of five-rounds, ascending far up the Middleweight ladder into the Top Five as a result. Cannonier, a former title challenger and perennial contender, has dropped from those same ranks for the first time since defeating Anderson Silva in 2019.
Here’s how UFC compiles its official rankings:
Rankings were generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings.
Take a look at what the latest rankings field looks like courtesy of UFC.com. Note: (+/- = movement in rankings, T = tie, *NR = Not previously ranked).
MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Islam Makhachev2. Alex Pereira3. Jon Jones4. Ilia Topuria5. Dricus Du Plessis +16. Belal Muhammad -16. Sean O’Malley +18. Tom Aspinall +29. Leon Edwards -110. Alexander Volkanovski -111. Max Holloway -112. Alexandre Pantoja13. Sean Strickland +214. Charles Oliveira15. Israel Adesanya -2
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexandre Pantoja
1. Brandon Royval2. Brandon Moreno3. Amir Albazi4. Kai Kara France5. Tatsuro Taira6. Alex Perez7. Matheus Nicolau 8. Steve Erceg 9. Manel Kape10. Tim Elliott11. Matt Schnell12. Tagir Ulanbekov13. Bruno Silva14. Asu Almabayev15. Cody Durden
You can expect these rankings to change in about two weeks, particularly in the Welterweight division, following the UFC Vegas 97: “Burns vs. Brady” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., Sept. 7, 2024 at APEX in Las Vegas.
