Ian Machado Garry beat former 170-pound champion Belal Muhammad in the UFC Qatar co-main event last weekend in Doha. The victory marked his second straight, having previously defeated Top 10 welterweight Carlos Prates, and sent the 28 year-old “Future” all the way up to No. 2 in this week’s rankings update.
Garry (17-1) replaced Shavkat Rakhmonov, despite losing to “Nomad” at UFC 310 last December.
Arman Tsarukyan was also victorious at UFC Qatar but already held the No. 1 ranking at 155 pounds, so defeating
No. 6-ranked Dan Hooker didn’t have an effect on the lightweight lineup. As for the flyweight class, the much-ballyhooed return of Kyoji Horiguchi shook up the Top 10 rankings at 125 pounds.
Here’s how the rankings are compiled, at least until AI takes over:
Rankings are 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 Makhachev
2. Ilia Topuria
3. Merab Dvalishvili
4. Khamzat Chimaev
5. Alexandre Pantoja
6. Alex Pereira
7. Alexander Volkanovski
8. Tom Aspinall
9. Dricus Du Plessis +1
10. Max Holloway +1
11. Jack Della Maddalena -2
12. Magomed Ankalaev
13. Arman Tsarukyan +1
14. Charles Oliveira +1
15. Belal Muhammad -2
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexandre Pantoja
1. Joshua Van
2. Brandon Moreno
3. Brandon Royval
4. Amir Albazi
5. Tatsuro Taira
6. Manel Kape
7. Asu Almabayev +1
8. Kyoji Horiguchi *NR
9. Tim Elliott
10. Steve Erceg
11. Alex Perez -4
12. Tagir Ulanbekov -1
13. Charles Johnson -1
14. Bruno Silva -1
15. Lone’er Kavanagh *NR
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Merab Dvalishvili
1. Umar Nurmagomedov
2. Sean O’Malley
3. Petr Yan
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Song Yadong
6. Deiveson Figueiredo
7. Aiemann Zahabi
8. Marlon Vera
9. Mario Bautista
10. Henry Cejudo
11. David Martinez
12. Rob Font
13. Vinicius Oliveira
14. Kyler Phillips
15. Marcus McGhee
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Movsar Evloev
2. Diego Lopes
3. Yair Rodriguez
4. Lerone Murphy
5. Aljamain Sterling
6. Arnold Allen
7. Youssef Zalal
8. Steve Garcia
9. Brian Ortega
10. Josh Emmett
11. Jean Silva
12. Patricio Pitbull
13. Dan Ige
14. David Onama
15. Giga Chikadze
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Ilia Topuria
1. Arman Tsarukyan
2. Charles Oliveira
3. Max Holloway
4. Justin Gaethje
5. Paddy Pimblett
6. Dan Hooker
7. Mateusz Gamrot
8. Benoit Saint Denis
9. Rafael Fiziev
10. Renato Moicano
11. Michael Chandler
12. Beneil Dariush
13. Grant Dawson
14. Mauricio Ruffy
15. Ignacio Bahamondes
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Jack Della Maddalena
2. Ian Machado Garry +4
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov +1
4. Michael Morales -1
5. Belal Muhammed -3
6. Carlos Prates -1
7. Sean Brady
8. Kamaru Usman
9. Leon Edwards
10. Joaquin Buckley
11. Gabriel Bonfim
12. Gilbert Burns
13. Colby Covington
14. Geoff Neal
15. Daniel Rodriguez
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Khamzat Chimaev
1. Dricus Du Plessis
2. Nassourdine Imavov
3. Sean Strickland
4. Anthony Hernandez
5. Brendan Allen
6. Israel Adesanya
7. Caio Borralho
8. Reinier De Ridder
9. Robert Whittaker
10. (T) Michael Page
10. (T) Jared Cannonier
12. Roman Dolidze
13. Paulo Costa
14. Marvin Vettori
15. Gregory Rodrigues
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Alex Pereira
1. (T) Magomed Ankalaev
1. (T) Jiri Prochazka
3. Carlos Ulberg
4. Khalil Rountree
5. Jan Blachowicz
6. Jamahal Hill
7. Azamat Murzakanov
8. Dominick Reyes
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Aleksandar Rakic
11. Bogdan Guskov
12. Johnny Walker
13. Nikita Krylov
14. Zhang Mingyang +1
15. Alonzo Menifield -1
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Tom Aspinall
1. Ciryl Gane
2. Alexander Volkov
3. Sergei Pavlovich
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Waldo Cortes Acosta +1
6. Jailton Almeida -1
7. Serghei Spivac
8. Derrick Lewis
9. Marcin Tybura
10. Ante Delija
11. Shamil Gaziev
12. Tai Tuivasa
13. Mick Parkin
14. Valter Walker
15. Tallison Teixeira
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Kayla Harrison
3. Zhang Weili
4. Natalia Silva
5. Mackenzie Dern
6. Manon Fiorot
7. Erin Blanchfield
8. Julianna Pena +1
9. Alexa Grasso -1
10. Virna Jandiroba
11. Raquel Pennington
12. Tatiana Suarez
13. Rose Namajunas
14. Yan Xiaonan
15. Norma Dumont
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Mackenzie Dern
1. Zhang Weili +1
2. Tatiana Suarez -1
3. Virna Jandiroba
4. Yan Xiaonan
5. Amanda Lemos
6. Loopy Godinez
7. Iasmin Lucindo
8. Tabatha Ricci
9. Jessica Andrade
10. Gillian Robertson
11. Amanda Ribas
12. Fatima Klein
13. Denise Gomes
14. Angela Hill
15. Alexia Thainara
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Manon Fiorot
2. Natalia Silva
3. Alexa Grasso
4. Erin Blanchfield
5. Maycee Barber
6. Rose Namajunas
7. Jasmine Jasudavicius
8. Tracy Cortez
9. Karine Silva
10. Miranda Maverick
11. Casey O’Neill
12. Wang Cong
13. Eduarda Moura
14. JJ Aldrich
15. Gabriella Fernandes
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Kayla Harrison
1. Julianna Pena
2. Raquel Pennington
3. Norma Dumont
4. Ketlen Vieira
5. Yana Santos
6. Irene Aldana
7. Macy Chiasson
8. Ailin Perez
9. Karol Rosa
10. Jacqueline Cavalcanti
11. Mayra Bueno Silva
12. Nora Cornolle
13. Miesha Tate
14. Joselyne Edwards
15. Luana Santos
You can expect these rankings to change in roughly two weeks, particularly in the bantamweight division, following the UFC 323: “Merab vs. Yan 2” pay-per-view (PPV) mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., Dec. 6, 2025 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.
