Jon Jones is the best pound-for-pound fighter in mixed martial arts.
According to UFC CEO Dana White, any educated adult knows that all media personnel assigned to the official rankings panel should leave their jobs in combat sports and receive an education consistent with White's expectations.
Or maybe… just maybe… White is simply doing his job as a promoter.
After all, Jones has a fight coming up against Stipe Miocic (eventually) so all the marketing helps, but light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira will likely be ranked this week at No. 2, just above “Bones” at No. 3.
Here's the official UFC rankings update following UFC 303, where Pereira defended his 205-pound belt with a win over former light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka. But first, the usual preface about the rankings process and how the list is compiled.
Here's how the UFC compiles its official rankings.
The rankings were created by a voting panel made up of members of the media. Members of the media were asked to vote for who they thought was the top fighter in each UFC weight class and pound-for-pound. Only fighters currently active in the UFC were eligible to vote. A fighter can compete in more than one weight class at a time. Champions and interim champions are not eligible to vote in their weight classes, as they are considered the top fighter in their respective weight classes. Champions, however, can vote for pound-for-pound rankings.
Check out the latest rankings field via the UFC App: Notes: (+/- = rankings change, T = tie, *NR = not previously ranked).
Men's Pound-for-Pound
1. Islam Makhachev
2. Alex Pereira +2
3. Jon Jones -1
4. Leon Edwards -1
5. Ilia Topuria
6. Sean O'Malley
7. Alexander Volkanovski
8. Max Holloway
9. Drix du Plessis
10. Alexandre Pantoja
11. Tom Aspinall +2
12. Israel Adesanya -1
13. Charles Oliveira -1
14. Sean Strickland
15. Aljamain Sterling
Flyweight
Winner: Alexandre Pantoja
1. Brandon Royval
2. Brandon Moreno
3. Amir Albazi
4. Kai Kara-France
5. Tatsuro Taira
6. Muhammad Mokaev
7. Alex Perez
8. Manel Cape
9. Steve Erceg
10. Matheus Nicolau
11. Tim Elliott
12. Matt Schnell
13. Tagir Uranbekov
14. (T) David Dvorak
14. (T) Cody Darden +1
15. Sumdaelji *NR
Bantamweight
Winner: Sean O'Malley
1. Merab Dvalishvili
2. Corey Sandhagen
3. Petr Yan
4. Marlon Vera
5. Henry Cejudo
6. Deiveson Figueiredo
7. Song Yadong
8. Jose Aldo
9. Rob Font
10. Umar Nurmagomedov
11. Kyler Phillips
12. Mario Bautista
13. Dominic Cruz
14. Jonathan Martinez
15. Pedro Muñoz
Featherweight
Champion: Ilia Topuria
1. Alexander Volkanovski
2. Max Holloway
3. Brian Ortega
4. Yair Rodriguez
5. Movsar Evloev
6. Arnold Allen
7. Josh Emmett
8. Aljamain Sterling
9. Calvin Cutter
10. Giga Chikaze -1
11. Lerone Murphy
12. Diego Lopez +2
13. Bryce Mitchell -1
14. Dan Ige -1
15. Edson Barboza
lightweight
Winner: Islam Makhachev
1. Arman Tsarukyan
2. Charles Oliveira
3. Justin Gaethje
4. Dustin Poirier
5. Mateusz Gamrot
6. Michael Chandler
7. Beneel Dariush
8. Rafael Fiziev
9. Max Holloway
10. Renato Moicano
11. Dan Hooker
12. Benoit Saint-Denis
13. Jalyn Turner
14. Rafael dos Anjos
15. Bobby Green
Welterweight
Winner: Leon Edwards
1. Kamaru Usman
2. Belal Muhammad
3. Shavkat Rahmonov
4. Colby Covington
5. Jack della Maddalena
6. Gilbert Burns
7. Ian Machado Garry
8. Shawn Brady
9. Stephen Thompson
10. Geoff Neal
11. Joaquin Buckley
12. Neil Magny
13. Vicente Luque
14. Michael Page
15. Kevin Holland
Middleweight
Winner: Dricus du Plessis
1. Sean Strickland
2. Israel Adesanya
3. Robert Whittaker
4. Nasrudin Imavov
5. Jared Cannonier
6. Marvin Vetri
7. Brendan Allen
8. Paulo Costa
9. Jack Hermanson
10. Roman Dorize
11. Khamzat Chimaev
12. Caio Borrallo
13. Michelle Pereira
14. Anthony Hernandez
15. Chris Curtis
Light Heavyweight
Winner: Alex Pereira
1. Jiri Prochazka
2. Magomed Ankaraev
3. Jamahal Hill
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Aleksandar Rakic
6. Nikita Krylov
7. Volkan Ozdemir +2
8. Khalil Rowntree
9. Johnny Walker -2
10. Carlos Ulberg +1
11. Anthony Smith -1
12. Bogdan Guskov
13. Dominic Reyes
14. Azamat Murzakhanov +1
15. Alonzo Menifield -1
Heavyweight
Winner: Jon Jones
1. Tom Aspinall
2. Cyril Gane
3. Alexander Volkov +2
4. Curtis Blades
5. Sergey Pavlovich -2
6. Stipe Miocic
7. Jailton Almeida
8. Marcin Tybra
9. Sergey Spivats
10. Tai Tuivasa
11. Derrick Lewis
12. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
13. Alexander Romanov
14. Marcos Rogerio de Lima
15. Rodrigo Nascimento
Women's Pound-for-Pound
1. Alexa Grasso
2. Zhang Weili
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Manon Fiorot
5. Juliana Peña
6. Raquel Pennington -1
7. Rose Namajunas
8. Erin Blanchfield
9. Tatiana Suarez
10. Yang Xiaonan
11. Jessica Andrade
12. Amanda Lemos
13. Kayla Harrison +1
14. Ketren Vieira -1
15. Macy Barber
Women's Strawweight
Winner: Zhang Weili
1. Tatiana Suarez
2. Yang Xiaonan
3. Amanda Lemos
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Virna Jandiroba
6. Marina Rodriguez
7. Mackenzie Dern
8. Amanda Rivas
9. Angela Hill
10. Loopy Godinez
11. Tabatha Richie
12. Luana Pinheiro
13. Gillian Robertson +2
14. Iasmin Lucindo -1
15. Michelle Waterson Gomez -1
Women's Flyweight
Winner: Alexa Grasso
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Manon Fiorot
3. Erin Blanchfield
4. Macy Barber
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Rose Namajunas
7. Katrin Cerminara
8. Natalia Silva
9. Amanda Rivas
10. Vivian Araujo
11. Tracy Cortez
12. Karine Silva
13. Ariane da Silva
14. Casey O'Neill
15. Jasmine Yasdavičius
Women's Bantamweight
Winner: Raquel Pennington
1. Juliana Peña
2. Ketren Vieira
3. Kayla Harrison +1
4. Irene Aldana +1
5. Macy Chiasson +2
6. Mayra Bueno Silva -3
7. Holly Holm -1
8. Karol Rosa +1
9. Miesha Tate -1
10. Norma Dumont
11. Panny Kianzad
12. Jana Santos
13. Julia Avila
14. Chelsea Chandler
15. Germaine de Randamie
These rankings are expected to change, particularly in the women's flyweight division, within approximately two weeks following the UFC Denver: Namajunas vs. Cortez mixed martial arts (MMA) event, scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 13, 2024 at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado (broadcast on ESPN and ESPN+).
For more details on the upcoming fight card, click here
