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Rankings

Pound For Pound Rankings

# 1

Jon Jones

Win 27 Loss 1 Draw 0

Already considered one of the greatest fighters of all-time, Jones says he wants to turn his attention to heavyweight and has no intention of returning to 205 pounds.

# 2

Kamaru Usman

Win 20 Loss 4 Draw 0

With back-to-back knockout victories, Usman is proving himself to be even more dangerous than was previously known and is starting to carve his name into the UFC's record books.

# 3

Israel Adesanya

Win 24 Loss 3 Draw 0

While he failed in his bid to become a champ-champ, Adesanya looked quite dominant in his most recent middleweight title defense and is expected to face Robert Whittaker next.

# 4

Demetrious Johnson

Win 25 Loss 4 Draw 1

After suffering the first knockout loss of his career, Johnson openly contemplated the idea of potentially competing in kickboxing next, which he could also do under the ONE Championship banner.

# 5

Francis Ngannou

Win 17 Loss 3 Draw 0

Ngannou claimed the UFC heavyweight title with a brilliant win over Stipe Miocic but is now openly expressing his frustration with the promotion after an interim title fight was announced.

# 6

Stipe Miocic

Win 20 Loss 4 Draw 0

Miocic apologized for deviating from the gameplan against the dangerous Francis Ngannou, a mistake that cost him the UFC heavyweight title.

# 7

Ryan Bader

Win 31 Loss 8 Draw 0

Bader was certainly disappointed to lose his Bellator champ-champ status, but he's advancing in Bellator's light heavyweight grand prix and may be able to win his 205-pound title back.

# 8

A.J. McKee

Win 22 Loss 1 Draw 0

The undefeated Bellator champion looked absolutely incredible in his run through the promotion's featherweight grand prix and is willing to take on anyone in defense of his new title.

# 9

Alexander Volkanovski

Win 26 Loss 7 Draw 0

It wasn't as convincing as the first time around, but Volkanovski picked up a second win over Max Holloway and says he wants to continue taking out top contenders.

# 10

Brandon Moreno

Win 21 Loss 8 Draw 2

Moreno claimed gold with a scintillating victory over Deiveson Figueiredo and now seems destined for stardom in his native Mexico.

# 11

Deiveson Figueiredo

Win 23 Loss 3 Draw 1

Figueiredo handed over his UFC title with a submission loss to new champ Brandon Moreno and now must battle his way back to a trilogy fight.

# 12

Charles Oliveira

Win 34 Loss 10 Draw 0

It was a long way to the top for 'Do Bronx,' but Oliveira is truly firing on all cylinders now and will look to put together a run as UFC lightweight champion.

# 13

Dustin Poirier

Win 30 Loss 8 Draw 0

Upcoming Fight: vs Islam Makhachev | Jun 01, 2024 - UFC 302: Makhachev vs. Poirier

Poirier continues to be one of the most exciting fighters in the game, and his grit is immeasurable – qualities he hopes will net him the UFC lightweight title.

# 14

Max Holloway

Win 26 Loss 4 Draw 0

Holloway delivered a record-breaking destruction of Calvin Kattar and now looks like he'll get a chance to regain the UFC featherweight title later this year.

# 15

Robert Whittaker

Win 25 Loss 7 Draw 0

Upcoming Fight: vs Khamzat "The Wolf" Chimaev | Jun 22, 2024 - UFC Fight Night: Whittaker vs. Chimaev

Whittaker is on quite the run since losing the UFC middleweight title and seems to have earned a rematch with Israel Adesanya.

Honorable Mentions

# 16

Jan Blachowicz

light-heavy
Win 29 Loss 9 Draw 1

# 17

Aljamain Sterling

bantam
Win 24 Loss 4 Draw 0

# 18

Petr Yan

bantam
Win 17 Loss 5 Draw 0

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USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Sept. 7: Behold blond Brunson

Five-fight winning streaks in the UFC don’t come easy, but Derek Brunson is currently enjoying just such a run.

After Brunson (23-7 MMA, 14-5 UFC) scored an impressive submission win over Darren Till at UFC Fight Night 191, the middleweight contender is unbeaten since his November 2018 loss to now-champ Israel Adesanya. Brunson believes his next fight should be for the UFC title, pending the result of a planned matchup between Adesanya and Robert Whittaker.

Whether or not that pans out remains to be seen, but it’s hard to argue with his results. His latest victory also sees Brunson rise to No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie middleweight rankings, settling in just behind the two men set to clash next.

After his latest win, check out the new look of the middleweight rankings, with Till dropping slightly to No. 12. Additionally, check out other divisions using the dropdown menu above.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

Ranking Criteria

The rankings take into account a fighter's wins/losses, quality of competition, finishing rate/dominance and frequency of fights.

Fighters are no longer eligible to be ranked after they've been inactive for 24 months, either due to injuries, drug/conduct suspensions, contract disputes or self-imposed hiatuses.

Fighters serving drug/conduct suspensions are eligible to be ranked, so long as they're not inactive for more than 24 months.

To the best of our ability, fighters will be ranked in their primary weight class. Catchweight fights and bouts outside the fighter's primary weight class can have a positive or negative impact on the ranking. However, non-titleholders can be ranked in only one weight class at a given time, and in most cases, they won't be ranked in a new weight class until they've had their first fight at that weight.

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