Former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was stopped by Joe Pyfer in the UFC Seattle main event last weekend on Paramount+, his fourth straight loss and third straight finish. “The Last Stylebender,” who turns 37 in July, refuses to retire and may end up in a situation like Anderson Silva, where the promotion was forced to save “The Spider” from himself.
We’re not there yet … but we’re also not far off.
Adesanya (24-6) dropped out of the middleweight Top 5 in the latest UFC rankings update.
As for Pyfer (16-3), the winner of four straight with three finishes, he climbed eight spots to land at No. 6, tied with fellow middleweight contender Anthony Hernandez. In addition, Brendan Allen was able to benefit from the shakeup, rising a pair of slots to No. 4, just behind former champion Sean Strickland.
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. Khamzat Chimaev
4. Alexander Volkanovski
5. Alex Pereira
6. Petr Yan
7. Tom Aspinall
8. Merab Dvalishvili
9. Alexandre Pantoja
10. Joshua Van
11. Charles Oliveira
12. Dricus Du Plessis
13. Jack Della Maddalena
14. Magomed Ankalaev
15. Arman Tsarukyan
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Joshua Van
1. Alexandre Pantoja
2. Manel Kape
3. Tatsuro Taira
4. Brandon Royval
5. Kyoji Horiguchi
6. Lone’er Kavanagh
7. Amir Albazi
8. Asu Almabayev
9. Brandon Moreno
10. Alex Perez
11. Tim Elliott
12. Steve Erceg
13. Charles Johnson
14. Tagir Ulanbekov
15. Bruno Silva
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Petr Yan
1. Merab Dvalishvili
2. (T) Umar Nurmagomedov
2. (T) Sean O’Malley
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Song Yadong
6. Aiemann Zahabi
7. Deiveson Figueiredo
8. Mario Bautista
9. David Martinez
10. Marlon Vera
11. Payton Talbott
12. Vinicius Oliveira
13. Raul Rosas Jr.
14. Montel Jackson
15. Farid Basharat
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Movsar Evloev
2. Diego Lopes
3. Lerone Murphy
4. Yair Rodriguez
5. Aljamain Sterling
6. Jean Silva
7. Youssef Zalal
8. Arnold Allen
9. Steve Garcia
10. Kevin Vallejos
11. Brian Ortega
12. Melquizael Costa
13. Patricio Pitbull
14. David Onama
15. Josh Emmett
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Ilia Topuria
1. Justin Gaethje (interim champion)
2. Arman Tsarukyan
3. Charles Oliveira
4. Max Holloway
5. Benoit Saint Denis
6. Paddy Pimblett
7. Dan Hooker
8. Mateusz Gamrot
9. Mauricio Ruffy
10. (T) Rafael Fiziev
10. (T) Renato Moicano
12. Beneil Dariush
13. Michael Chandler
14. Manuel Torres
15. Fares Ziam
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Jack Della Maddalena
2. Ian Machado Garry
3. Michael Morales
4. Belal Muhammed
5. Carlos Prates
6. Sean Brady
7. Kamaru Usman
8. Leon Edwards
9. Joaquin Buckley
10. Gabriel Bonfim
11. Gilbert Burns
12. Michael Page
13. Uros Medic
14. Daniel Rodriguez +1
15. Colby Covington -1
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Khamzat Chimaev
1. Dricus Du Plessis
2. Nassourdine Imavov
3. Sean Strickland
4. Brendan Allen +2
5. Caio Borralho
6. (T) Anthony Hernandez +1
6. (T) Joe Pyfer +8
8. Reinier De Ridder
9. Israel Adesanya -5
10. Robert Whittaker -1
11. Jared Cannonier -1
12. Gregory Rodrigues -1
13. Christian Leroy Duncan -1
14. Paulo Costa -1
15. Roman Dolidze
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Alex Pereira
1. Magomed Ankalaev
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Carlos Ulberg
4. Khalil Rountree
5. Jan Blachowicz
6. Azamat Murzakanov
7. Jamahal Hill
8. Bogdan Guskov
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Dominick Reyes
11. Aleksandar Rakic
12. Johnny Walker
13. Nikita Krylov
14. Dustin Jacoby
15. Zhang Mingyang
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Tom Aspinall
1. Ciryl Gane
2. Alexander Volkov
3. Sergei Pavlovich
4. Waldo Cortes Acosta
5. Curtis Blaydes -1
6. Serghei Spivac
7. Rizvan Kuniev
8. Derrick Lewis
9. Ante Delija +1
10. Tyrell Fortune *NR
11. Marcin Tybura -3
12. Tallison Teixeira -1
13. Shamil Gaziev
14. Mick Parkin -2
15. Valter Walker -1
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Kayla Harrison
3. Zhang Weili
4. Natalia Silva
5. Manon Fiorot
6. Mackenzie Dern
7. Alexa Grasso +2
8. Erin Blanchfield -1
9. Julianna Pena -1
10. Tatiana Suarez
11. Virna Jandiroba
12. Raquel Pennington
13. Yan Xiaonan
14. Rose Namajunas
15. Maycee Barber
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Mackenzie Dern
1. Zhang Weili
2. Tatiana Suarez
3. Virna Jandiroba
4. Yan Xiaonan
5. Gillian Robertson
6. Loopy Godinez
7. Tabatha Ricci
8. Amanda Lemos
9. Jessica Andrade
10. Amanda Ribas
11. Fatima Klein
12. Denise Gomes
13. Alexia Thainara
14. Angela Hill
15. Mizuki Inoue
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Natalia Silva
2. Manon Fiorot
3. Alexa Grasso
4. Erin Blanchfield -1
5. Maycee Barber
6. Rose Namajunas
7. Jasmine Jasudavicius
8. Tracy Cortez
9. (T) Miranda Maverick
9. (T) Karine Silva +1
11. Casey O’Neill +1
12. Wang Cong -1
13. Eduarda Moura
14. JJ Aldrich +1
15. Gabriella Fernandes -1
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Kayla Harrison
1. Julianna Pena
2. Raquel Pennington
3. Norma Dumont
4. Ketlen Vieira
5. Yana Santos
6. (T) Irene Aldana
6. (T) Ailin Perez
8. Karol Rosa
9. Macy Chiasson
10. Jacqueline Cavalcanti
11. Joselyne Edwards
12. Mayra Bueno Silva
13. Nora Cornolle
14. Luana Santos
15. Miesha Tate
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the lightweight division, following the UFC Vegas 115: “Moicano vs. Duncan” MMA event on Paramount+, scheduled for Sat., April 4, 2026 at Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.
