Khamzat Chimaev jumps to No. 3 in UFC 273 rankings update — behind Leon Edwards

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently updated its “official” rankings in the wake of the UFC 273 pay-per-view (PPV) event last Sat. night (April 9) in Jacksonville, Fla., and undefeated welterweight bruiser Khamzat Chimaev is now a legitimate contender at 170 pounds after defeating Gilbert Burns, who was previously ranked No. 2 in the division.

But the rankings committee stopped short of making an even trade and “Borz” will have to settle for No. 3, one spot behind longtime contender Leon Edwards. “Rocky” takes over the No. 2 spot and Burns slips two places to No. 4. As expected, several other contenders lost some ground to make room for Chimaev, including Vicente Luque and Belal Muhammad.

Edwards is expected to face Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title this summer.

Here’s how UFC compiles its official rankings:

Rankings were 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. Kamaru Usman
2. Alexander Volkanovski +1
3. Israel Adesanya -1
4. Francis Ngannou
5. Charles Oliveira
6. Max Holloway
7. Jon Jones
8. Dustin Poirier
9. Glover Teixeira +1
10. Deiveson Figueiredo +1
11. Stipe Miocic +1
12. Aljamain Sterling *NR
13. Petr Yan -4
14. Brandon Moreno -1
15. Robert Whittaker -1

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo

1. Brandon Moreno
2. Kai Kara France
3. Askar Askarov
4. Alexandre Pantoja
5. Alex Perez
6. Brandon Royval
7. Matheus Nicolau
8. Rogerio Bontorin
9. Matt Schnell
10. David Dvorak
11. Tim Elliott
12. Su Mudaerji
13. Amir Albazi
14. Manel Kape
15. Tagir Ulanbekov

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Aljamain Sterling

1. Petr Yan (Interim champion)
2. T.J. Dillashaw
3. Jose Aldo
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Rob Font
6. Merab Dvalishvili
7. Dominick Cruz
8. Marlon Vera
9. (T) Pedro Munhoz
9. (T) Song Yadong
11. Frankie Edgar
12. Ricky Simon
13. Sean O’Malley
14. Marlon Moraes
15. Raphael Assuncao

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Alexander Volkanovski

1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. Yair Rodriguez
4. Calvin Kattar +1
5. Chan Sung Jung -1
6. Arnold Allen
7. Josh Emmett
8. Giga Chikadze
9. Bryce Mitchell
10. Dan Ige
11. Sodiq Yusuff
12. Edson Barboza
13. Movsar Evloev
14. Shane Burgos
15. Ilia Topuria

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: Charles Oliveira

1. (T) Justin Gaethje
1. (T) Dustin Poirier +1
3. Islam Makhachev
4. Beneil Dariush
5. Michael Chandler
6. Rafael dos Anjos
7. Tony Ferguson
8. Gregor Gillespie
9. Conor McGregor
10. Rafael Fiziev
11. Arman Tsarukyan
12. Mateusz Gamrot
13. Dan Hooker
14. Brad Riddell
15. Diego Ferreira

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Kamaru Usman

1. Colby Covington
2. Leon Edwards +1
3. Khamzat Chimaev +8
4. Gilbert Burns -2
5. Vicente Luque -1
6. Belal Muhammed -1
7. Stephen Thompson -1
8. Jorge Masvidal -1
9. Sean Brady -1
10. Neil Magny -1
11. Michael Chiesa -1
12. Geoff Neal
13. Li Jingliang
14. Santiago Ponzinibbio
15. Muslim Salikhov

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Israel Adesanya

1. Robert Whittaker
2. Jared Cannonier
3. Marvin Vettori
4. (T) Derek Brunson
4. (T) Paulo Costa
4. (T) Sean Strickland
7. Jack Hermansson
8. Darren Till
9. Uriah Hall
10. Kelvin Gastelum
11. Nassourdine Imavov
12. Brad Tavares
13. Andre Muniz
14. Chris Weidman
15. Edmen Shahbazyan

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Glover Teixeira

1. Jan Blachowicz
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Aleksandar Rakic
4. Magomed Ankalaev
5. Anthony Smith
6. Thiago Santos
7. Dominick Reyes
8. Paul Craig
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Jamahal Hill
11. Nikita Krylov
12. Johnny Walker
13. Ryan Spann
14. Jim Crute
15. Dustin Jacoby

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Francis Ngannou

1. Ciryl Gane
2. Stipe Miocic
3. Tai Tuivasa
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Derrick Lewis
6. Tom Aspinall
7. Alexander Volkov
8. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
9. (T) Chris Daukaus
9. (T) Marcin Tybura +1
11. Sergei Pavlovich
12. Shamil Abdurakhimov
13. Augusto Sakai
14. Walt Harris
15. Blagoy Ivanov

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Amanda Nunes
3. Rose Namajunas
4. Julianna Pena
5. Weili Zhang
6. Jessica Andrade
7. Holly Holm
8. Carla Esparza
9. Marina Rodriguez
10. Katlyn Chookagian
11. Yan Xiaonan
12. Mackenzie Dern +1
13. Irene Aldana -1
14. Lauren Murphy
15. Raquel Pennington *NR

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Rose Namajunas

1. Zhang Weili
2. Carla Esparza
3. Marina Rodriguez
4. Mackenzie Dern +1
5. Yan Xiaonan -1
6. Nina Nunes
7. Tecia Torres
8. Amanda Ribas +1
9. Michelle Waterson -1
10. Amanda Lemos
11. Virna Jandiroba
12. Angela Hill
13. Jessica Penne
14. Brianna Van Buren
15. Luana Pinheiro

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Valentina Shevchenko

1. Jessica Andrade
2. Katlyn Chookagian
3. Lauren Murphy
4. Talia Santos
5. Alexa Grasso
6. Manon Fiorot +1
7. Jennifer Maia -1
8. Viviane Araujo
9. Andrea Lee
10. Joanne Wood
11. Cynthia Calvillo
12. Jessica Eye
13. Casey O’Neill
14. Maycee Barber
15. Erin Blanchfield

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Julianna Pena

1. Amanda Nunes
2. Holly Holm
3. Irene Aldana
4. Raquel Pennington +3
5. Ketlen Vieira
6. Yana Kunitskaya
7. Aspen Ladd -3
8. Sara McMann
9. Miesha Tate
10. Macy Chiasson
11. Lina Lansberg
12. Pannie Kianzad
13. Karol Rosa
14. Julia Avila
15. Norma Dumont

There you have it.

You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week following the UFC Vegas 51 mixed martial arts (MMA) event, particularly in the welterweight division (again), after Vicente Luque (No. 5) and Belal Muhammad (No. 6) run it back for a spot in the crowded 170-pound title chase.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.