Make way for Khamzat Chimaev!
The newly-crowned middleweight champion, who stripped the strap from Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319 last weekend in Chicago, rose a whopping 10 spots to No. 4 on the promotion’s pound-for-pound leaderboard following the official UFC rankings update.
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Du Plessis sank seven spots to No. 11.
Chimaev’s title-winning performance also impacted the middleweight rankings, but he wasn’t alone. Striking sensation Michael Page booted former 185-pound title challenger Jared Cannonier from the Top 10 after their UFC 319 showdown in “The Windy City.”
That’s not all.
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 John Morgan. Note: (+/- = movement in rankings, T = tie, *NR = Not previously ranked).
MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Ilia Topuria
2. Islam Makhachev
3. Merab Dvalishvili
4. Khamzat Chimaev +10
5. Alexandre Pantoja
6. Alexander Volkanovski
7. Magomed Ankalaev
8. Jack Della Maddalena
9. Tom Aspinall
10. Alex Pereira
11. Dricus Du Plessis -7
12. Max Holloway -1
13. Belal Muhammad -1
14. Arman Tsarukyan -1
15. Shavkat Rakhmonov *NR
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FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Alexandre Pantoja
1. Joshua Van
2. Brandon Moreno
3. Brandon Royval
4. Amir Albazi
5. Tatsuro Taira
6. Kai Kara France
7. Manel Kape
8. Alex Perez
9. Asu Almabayev
10. Tim Elliott +1
11. Steve Erceg -1
12. Tagir Ulanbekov
13. Ramazan Temirov
14. Bruno Silva
15. Charles Johnson *NR
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Merab Dvalishvili
1. Sean O’Malley
2. Umar Nurmagomedov
3. Petr Yan
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Song Yadong
6. Deiveson Figueiredo
7. Marlon Vera
8. Mario Bautista
9. Rob Font
10. Aiemann Zahabi
11. Henry Cejudo
12. Vinicius Oliveira
13. Marcus McGhee
14. Kyler Phillips
15. Montel Jackson
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FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Movsar Evloev
2. Diego Lopes
3. Yair Rodriguez
4. Lerone Murphy +2
5. Brian Ortega -1
6. Arnold Allen -1
7. Aljamain Sterling
8. Josh Emmett
9. Youssef Zalal
10. Jean Silva
11. Patricio Pitbull
12. Steve Garcia
13. David Onama
14. Dan Ige
15. Giga Chikadze
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Ilia Topuria
1. Islam Makhachev
2. Arman Tsarukyan
3. Charles Oliveira
4. Max Holloway
5. Justin Gaethje
6. Dan Hooker
7. Paddy Pimblett +2
8. Mateusz Gamrot -1
9. Beneil Dariush -1
10. Rafael Fiziev
11. Renato Moicano
12. Michael Chandler
13. Benoit Saint Denis
14. Grant Dawson
15. Mauricio Ruffy *NR
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WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Jack Della Maddalena
1. Belal Muhammed
2. Sean Brady
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov
4. Leon Edwards
5. Kamaru Usman
6. Ian Machado Garry
7. Michael Morales
8. Joaquin Buckley
9. Carlos Prates +3
10. Colby Covington -1
11. Gilbert Burns -1
12. Geoff Neal -1
13. Gabriel Bonfim
14. Daniel Rodriguez
15. Kevin Holland *NR
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Khamzat Chimaev
1. Dricus Du Plessis -1
2. Nassourdine Imavov -1
3. Sean Strickland -1
4. Israel Adesanya
5. Reinier De Ridder
6. Anthony Hernandez +1
7. Caio Borralho -1
8. Robert Whittaker
9. Brendan Allen +1
10. Michael Page *NR
11. Jared Cannonier -2
12. Roman Dolidze -1
13. Paulo Costa -1
14. Marvin Vettori -1
15. Roman Kopylov
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LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Magomed Ankalaev
1. Alex Pereira
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Carlos Ulberg
4. Khalil Rountree
5. Jan Blachowicz
6. Jamahal Hill
7. Aleksandar Rakic
8. Dominick Reyes
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Bogdan Guskov
11. Azamat Murzakanov
12. Nikita Krylov
13. Johnny Walker
14. Zhang Mingyang
15. Alonzo Menifield
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Tom Aspinall
1. Ciryl Gane
2. Alexander Volkov
3. Sergei Pavlovich
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Jailton Almeida
6. Marcin Tybura
7. Waldo Cortes Acosta
8. Serghei Spivac
9. Derrick Lewis
10. Tai Tuivasa
11. Shamil Gaziev
12. Mick Parkin
13. Tallison Teixeira
14. Valter Walker
15. Rizvan Kuniev
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WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Zhang Weili
3. Kayla Harrison
4. Manon Fiorot
5. Julianna Pena
6. Natalia Silva
7. Alexa Grasso
8. Erin Blanchfield
9. Virna Jandiroba
10. Raquel Pennington
11. Tatiana Suarez
12. Rose Namajunas
13. Yan Xiaonan
14. Amanda Lemos
15. Maycee Barber
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Virna Jandiroba
2. Tatiana Suarez
3. Yan Xiaonan
4. Amanda Lemos
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Mackenzie Dern
7. Iasmin Lucindo
8. Tabatha Ricci
9. Gillian Robertson
10. Amanda Ribas
11. Loopy Godinez
12. Angela Hill
13. Tecia Pennington
14. Loma Lookboonmee
15. Denise Gomes
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WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Natalia Silva
2. Manon Fiorot
3. Alexa Grasso
4. Erin Blanchfield
5. Jasmine Jasudavicius
6. Maycee Barber
7. Rose Namajunas
8. Tracy Cortez
9. Jessica Andrade
10. Karine Silva +1
11. Miranda Maverick -1
12. Casey O’Neill
13. Wang Cong
14. JJ Aldrich
15. Eduarda Moura
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Kayla Harrison
1. Julianna Pena
2. Raquel Pennington
3. Ketlen Vieira
4. Norma Dumont
5. Macy Chiasson
6. Irene Aldana
7. Ailin Perez
8. Mayra Bueno Silva
9. Karol Rosa
10. Yana Santos
11. Jacqueline Cavalcanti
12. Nora Cornolle
13. Miesha Tate
14. Joselyne Edwards
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You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the light heavyweight division, following the UFC Shanghai: “Walker vs. Zhang” event on ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., Aug. 23, 2025 at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, China.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.
