In the ever-shifting MMA landscape, ranking the world’s greatest fighters might seem like a fool’s errand, but that’s exactly what we’ve set out to do with the MMA Fighting Global Rankings. Here, our esteemed panel sorts out the movers and shakers from every division to provide you with the most definitive list of the best fighters on the planet.
UFC White House has come and gone and days later, Justin Gaethje’s dream remains a reality: He is the undisputed lightweight champion.
Gaethje was MMA Fighting’s
No. 5-ranked fighter at 155 pounds heading into his duel with the undefeated Ilia Topuria, with Charles Oliveira (who previously finished Gaethje), Max Holloway (ditto), and Arman Tsarukyan ahead of him. Twice, Gaethje has held the interim title, a dubious honor that seemed to label him as destined to always be a runner-up. A competitive win over Paddy Pimblett did little to inspire confidence that the undisputed crown was in his future.
And yet, here we are. Look at that lightweight graphic below. No. 1. Justin Gaethje. Still doesn’t seem real.
The other big fight at the White House saw Ciryl Gane fend off Alex Pereira to join Gaethje as the only UFC fighters to win an interim title twice. Fortunately for “Poatan,” his ranking remains unchanged as he was moving up from his home at light heavyweight to chase unprecedented three-division glory. The immediate future of 205 is cloudy right now with Pereira insisting he’s staying at heavyweight and current light heavyweight champion Carlos Ulberg on the mend after injuring his knee the same night he won the title at UFC 327. For now, everyone holds on to their spots.
Check out the latest edition of the MMA Fighting Global Rankings below.
HEAVYWEIGHT
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 2 Francis Ngannou def. Philipe Lins, No. 3 Ciryl Gane def. No. 1 LHW Alex Pereira, No. 4 Alexander Volkov def. No. 6 Waldo Cortes-Acosta, No. 5 Sergei Pavlovich def. Tallison Teixeira, No. 7 Josh Hokit def. No. 15 Derrick Lewis, No. 10 Phil De Fries def. Marcin Wojcik
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 9 Rizvan Kuniev vs. Tyrell Fortune (UFC Abu Dhabi, July 25), No. 14 Ante Delija vs. Johnny Walker (UFC Belgrade, Aug. 1), No. 15 Valter Walker vs. Thomas Peterson (UFC Abu Dhabi, July 25)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Derrick Lewis (2), Alex Pereira (1), Brando Pericic (1)
Falling out of the rankings: No. 15 Derrick Lewis
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 3 HW Ciryl Gane def. No. 1 Alex Pereira (heavyweight bout)
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 3 Magomed Ankalaev vs. No. 5 Khalil Rountree (UFC Abu Dhabi, July 25), No. 6 Jan Blachowicz vs. No. 12 Bogdan Guskov (UFC Belgrade, Aug. 1), No. 14 Nikita Krylov vs. No. 12 MW Robert Whittaker (UFC 329, July 11), No. 15 Aleksandar Rakic vs. Marcin Tybura (heavyweight bout) (UFC Belgrade, Aug. 1)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Modestas Bukauskas (2), Johnny Walker (1)
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 3 Sean Strickland def. No. 1 Khamzat Chimaev, No. 7 Brendan Allen def. Edmen Shahbazyan
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 12 Robert Whittaker vs. No. 14 LHW Nikita Krylov (UFC 329, July 11), No. 13 Johnny Eblen vs. Impa Kasanganay (PFL Austin, July 18), No. 14 Jared Cannonier vs. Christian Leroy Duncan (UFC OKC, July 18)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Shara Bullet (1)
WELTERWEIGHT
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 7 Carlos Prates def. No. 2 Jack Della Maddalena, No. 15 Gabriel Bonfim def. No. 7 Belal Muhammad, No. 8 Sean Brady def. No. 11 Joaquin Buckley, No. 14 Yaroslav Amosov def. Joel Alvarez
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Islam Makhachev vs. No. 3 (tied) Ian Machado Garry (UFC 330, Aug. 15), No. 14 Thad Jean vs. Shamil Musaev (PFL Washington DC, July 25), No. 15 Uros Medic vs. Daniel Rodriguez (UFC Belgrade, Aug. 1)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Jason Jackson (2)
LIGHTWEIGHT
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 5 Justin Gaethje def. No. 1 Ilia Topuria, No. 10 Mauricio Ruffy def. Michael Chandler, Quillan Salkilld def. No. 13 Beneil Dariush
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 5 Max Holloway vs. Conor McGregor (welterweight bout) (UFC 329, July 11), No. 6 Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Archie Colgan (PFL New York, July 31), No. 7 Benoit Saint Denis vs. No. 12 Paddy Pimblett (UFC 329, July 11), No. 14 Rafael Fiziev vs. Manuel Torres (UFC Baku, June 27)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Beneil Dariush (2), Alfie Davis (1)
Falling out of the rankings: No. 13 Beneil Dariush
FEATHERWEIGHT
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 3 Diego Lopes def. No. 11 Steve Garcia, No. 4 Aljamain Sterling def. No. 9 Youssef Zalal, No. 8 Arnold Allen def. No. 13 Melquizael Costa
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Josh Emmett (1), Movlid Khaybulaev (1), A.J. McKee (1), Pat Sabatini (1)
BANTAMWEIGHT
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 5 Sean O’Malley def. No. 8 Aiemann Zahabi, No. 7 Song Yadong def. No. 9 Deiveson Figueiredo, No. 15 Magomed Magomedov def. Leandro Higo
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 3 Umar Nurmagomedov vs. No. 9 David Martinez (UFC Abu Dhabi, July 25), No. 5 Cory Sandhagen vs. No. 6 Mario Bautista (UFC 329, July 11), No. 12 Sergio Pettis vs. Lewis McGrillen (PFL Austin, July 18)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Farid Basharat (2), Marcus McGhee (2), Magomed Magomedov (1), Vinicius Oliveira (1), Payton Talbott (1), Raufeon Stots (1)
Falling out of the rankings: No. 15 Magomed Magomedov
FLYWEIGHT
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 2 Joshua Van def. No. 5 Tatsuro Taira, No. 7 Muhammad Mokaev def. Jorge Calvo, No. 13 Alex Perez vs. Sumudaerji ends in a no-contest, No. 14 Steve Erceg def. Tim Elliott
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 3 Kyoji Horiguchi vs. No. 4 Manel Kape (UFC Vegas 119, June 20), No. 6 Brandon Royval vs. No. 8 Lone’er Kavanagh (UFC 329, July 11), No. 11 Asu Almabayev vs. No. 15 Charles Johnson (UFC Baku, June 27)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Tim Elliott (2), Yuya Wakamatsu (2), Tagir Ulanbekov (1)
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 10 Joselyne Edwards def. No. 4 Norma Dumont, No. 5 Ketlen Vieira def. No. 9 Jacqueline Cavalcanti, Michelle Montague def. No. 14 Mayra Bueno Silva
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 8 Karol Rosa vs. No. 15 Luana Santos (UFC Vegas 119, June 20), No. 12 Bia Mesquita vs. Melissa Mullins (UFC Vegas 119, June 20)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Nina Milosevic (1), Mayra Bueno Silva (1)
Falling out of the rankings: No. 2 Raquel Pennington (inactivity), No. 13 Jennifer Maia (inactivity), No. 14 Mayra Bueno Silva
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 10 Jasmine Jasudavicius def. No. 15 Karine Silva, No. 11 Taila Santos vs. Yan Qihui
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 4 Erin Blanchfield vs. No. 10 Jasmine Jasudavicius (UFC 330, Aug. 15), No. 6 Dakota Ditcheva vs. Denise Kielholtz (PFL New York, July 31), No. 7 Liz Carmouche vs. Viviane Araujo (PFL San Diego, June 27), No. 12 Tracy Cortez vs. Wang Cong (UFC 329, July 11)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): JJ Aldrich (3), Viviane Araujo (1), Jena Bishop (1), Gabriella Fernandes (1), Carli Judice (1)
STRAWWEIGHT
Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 15 Angela Hill def. Xiong Jing Nan
Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 2 Mackenzie Dern vs. No. 6 Gillian Robertson (UFC 330, Aug. 15), No. 10 Tabatha Ricci vs. No. 14 Fatima Kline (UFC OKC, July 18)
Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Denise Gomes (4), Loma Lookboonmee (1)
A refresher on the ground rules:
- The five-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, Damon Martin, and Jed Meshew.
- Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout in a given weight class. Updates to the rankings are typically completed following each month’s UFC pay-per-view.
- Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice. (Let’s put it this way: We’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did.)
- Holding a promotion’s title does not guarantee that fighter will be viewed as the best in their promotion. Additionally, fighters who regularly compete or hold titles in multiple weight classes are eligible to be ranked in multiple lists.
Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.
