UFC rankings update: Israel Adesanya overtakes Stipe Miocic in men's pound-for-pound list
The official updates to the UFC rankings have been released by the promotion following last Saturday’s UFC 253 pay-per-view event held at the Yas Islands in Abu Dhabi and unsurprisingly, there have been quite a few significant changes in the rankings.
The most notable change following last Saturday's card is the fact that reigning UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya has cannoned his way up to the third spot in the men’s pound-for-pound list, moving past UFC heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic. Adesanya's massive rise in the pound-for-pound rankings can be credited to his impeccable display against Paulo Costa at UFC 253, where "The Last Stylebender" smoked his formerly unbeaten Brazilian opponent with a vicious second-round knockout.
With a huge knockout win over Dominick Reyes in the co-main event of UFC 253, recently crowned light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz moved into the championship slot, allowing a long list of other contenders to move up the pecking order.
See the updated UFC rankings below (via MMA Mania):
UFC MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND RANKINGS
1. Jon Jones
2. Khabib Nurmagomedov
3. Israel Adesanya +1
4. Stipe Miocic -1
5. Kamaru Usman
6. Alexander Volkanovski
7. Dustin Poirier +1
8. Justin Gaethje -1
9. Max Holloway
10. Petr Yan +1
11. Conor McGregor -1
12. Deiveson Figueiredo +2
13. Tony Ferguson -1
14. Robert Whittaker -1
15. Francis Ngannou
UFC FLYWEIGHT RANKINGS
Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo
1. Joseph Benavidez
2. Brandon Moreno
3. Askar Askarov
4. Alex Perez
5. Alexandre Pantoja
6. Jussier Formiga
7. Brandon Royval +2
8. Kai Kara France -1
9. Rogerio Bontorin -1
10. Matt Schnell
11. David Dvorak
12. Raulian Paiva -1
13. Tim Elliott
14. Jordan Espinosa
15. Tyson Nam
UFC BANTAMWEIGHT RANKINGS
Champion: Petr Yan
1. Marlon Moraes
2. Aljamain Sterling
3. Cody Garbrandt
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Frankie Edgar
6. Pedro Munhoz
7. Jose Aldo
8. Jimmie Rivera
9. Raphael Assuncao
10. Dominick Cruz
11. Rob Font
12. Cody Stamann
13. Merab Dvalishvili
14. Song Yadong
15. Marlon Vera
UFC FEATHERWEIGHT RANKINGS
Champion: ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI
1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. Zabit Magomedsharipov
4. Chan Sung Jung
5. Yair Rodriguez
6. Calvin Kattar
7. Josh Emmett
8. Jeremy Stephens
9. Arnold Allen
10. (T) Dan Ige
10. (T) Shane Burgos +3
12. Sodiq Yusuff -1
13. Ryan Hall -1
14. Edson Barboza
15. Bryce Mitchell
UFC LIGHTWEIGHT RANKINGS
Champion: KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV
1. Justin Gaethje
2. Dustin Poirier
3. Tony Ferguson
4. Dan Hooker
5. Conor McGregor
6. Charles Oliveira
7. Paul Felder
8. Diego Ferreira
9. Al Iaquinta
10. Kevin Lee
11. Beneil Dariush
12. Islam Makhachev
13. Gregor Gillespie
14. Drew Dober
15. Donald Cerrone
UFC WELTERWEIGHT RANKINGS
Champion: KAMARU USMAN
1. Colby Covington
2. Gilbert Burns
3. Leon Edwards
4. Jorge Masvidal
5. Stephen Thompson
6. Demian Maia
7. Tyron Woodley
8. Michael Chiesa
9. Rafael dos Anjos
10. (T) Vicente Luque
10. (T) Neil Magny
12. Geoff Neal
13. Nate Diaz
14. Anthony Pettis
15. Robbie Lawler
UFC MIDDLEWEIGHT RANKINGS
Champion: ISRAEL ADESANYA
1. Robert Whittaker
2. Paulo Costa
3. Jared Cannonier
4. Jack Hermansson
5. Yoel Romero
6. Darren Till
7. Derek Brunson
8. Kelvin Gastelum
9. Chris Weidman
10. Uriah Hall
11. Edmen Shahbazyan
12. Brad Tavares
13. Omari Akhmedov
14. Marvin Vettori
15. Ian Heinisch
UFC LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT RANKINGS
Champion: Jan Blachowicz
1. Thiago Santos +1
2. Dominick Reyes -1
3. Glover Teixeira +1
4. Aleksandar Rakic +1
5. Jiri Prochazka +1
6. Volkan Oezdemir +1
7. Anthony Smith +1
8. Nikita Krylov +1
9. Johnny Walker +1
10. Misha Cirkunov +1
11. Magomed Ankalaev +2
12. Ryan Spann
13. Mauricio Rua +1
14. Paul Craig +1
15. Ovince Saint Preux *NR
UFC HEAVYWEIGHT RANKINGS
Champion: STIPE MIOCIC
1. Francis Ngannou
2. Curtis Blaydes
3. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
4. Derrick Lewis
5. Alistair Overeem
6. Alexander Volkov
7. Junior dos Santos
8. Walt Harris
9. Shamil Abdurakhimov
10. Augusto Sakai
11. Aleksei Oleinik
12. Sergei Pavlovich
13. Ciryl Gane +1
14. Blagoy Ivanov -2
15. Tanner Boser
UFC WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND RANKINGS
1. Amanda Nunes
2. Weili Zhang
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Rose Namajunas
5. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
6. Jessica Andrade
7. Tatiana Suarez
8. Holly Holm
9. Germaine De Randamie
10. Aspen Ladd
11. Katlyn Chookagian
12. Claudia Gadelha
13. Cynthia Calvillo
14. Julianna Pena
15. Nina Ansaroff
UFC WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT RANKINGS
Champion: WEILI ZHANG
1. Rose Namajunas
2. Jessica Andrade
3. Tatiana Suarez
4. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
5. Nina Ansaroff
6. Carla Esparza
7. Claudia Gadelha
8. Michelle Waterson
9. Marina Rodriguez
10. Yan Xiaonan
11. Tecia Torres
12. Amanda Ribas
13. Angela Hill
14. Mackenzie Dern
15. Virna Jandiroba
UFC WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT RANKINGS
Champion: VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO
1. Katlyn Chookagian
2. Cynthia Calvillo
3. Jennifer Maia
4. Lauren Murphy
5. Jessica Eye
6. Joanne Calderwood
7. Roxanne Modafferi
8. Viviane Araujo
9. Andrea Lee
10. Maycee Barber
11. Alexis Davis
12. Montana De La Rosa
13. Antonina Shevchenko
14. Alexa Grasso
15. Gillian Robertson
UFC WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT RANKINGS
Champion: AMANDA NUNES
1. Germaine de Randamie
2. Holly Holm
3. Aspen Ladd
4. Julianna Pena
5. Raquel Pennington
6. Irene Aldana
7. Ketlen Vieira
8. Yana Kunitskaya
9. Sara McMann
10. Marion Reneau
11. Macy Chiasson
12. Lina Lansberg
13. Sijara Eubanks
14. Pannie Kianzad
15. Julia Avila