Combat Press MMA Rankings: March 2024

Combat Press provides monthly MMA rankings for each weight class from heavyweight to flyweight, as well as pound-for-pound rankings (including all men and women).

Note: Numbers in parentheses represent the fighter's ranking for the previous month.

1. John Jones (2)
2. Cyril Gane (3)
3. Tom Aspinall (4)
4. Sergei Pavlovich (5)
5. Curtis Blaydes (6)
6. Alexander Volkov (7)
7. Jailton Almeida (8)
8. Thailand Tuivasa (10)
9. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (-)
10. Marcin Tibura (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Francis Ngannou (1), Ryan Bader (9)

Francis Ngannou has been removed from the rankings after being inactive in MMA for over two years. This move moved him up from second place to his eighth place.

On February 24, the Professional Fighters League held its first major event since the Bellator acquisition, with a PFL vs. Bellator card featuring champions from each organization competing in multiple divisions. It was nearly a winless affair for the Bellator champion until Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader suffered a TKO loss just 21 seconds into the match against PFL's 2023 heavyweight tournament champion Renan Ferreira in the main event. With Bader losing his ninth place and Ngannou out of the rankings, 10th place Tai Tuivasa has moved up to eighth, Jairzinho Rozenstruik in ninth and Marcin Tybura in 10th.

1. Alex Pereira (1)
2. Jiří Prochaska (2)
3. Jamahal Hill (3)
4. Glover Teixeira (4)
5. Magomed Ankalaev (6)
6. Jan Blachowicz (7)
7. Aleksandar Rakic ​​(8)
8. Corey Anderson (9)
9. Phil Davis (10)
10. johnnie walker (-)

Dropped from the ranking: Vadim Nemkov (5)

The former Bellator light heavyweight champion vacated the title and moved up to heavyweight permanently in January 2024, making his regional debut with a technical submission victory over Bruno Capellozza on the PFL vs. Bellator card. Nemkov will be removed from the 205-pound rankings.Everyone below Nemkov moves up one place, with Johnny Walker in 10th place.

1. Sean Strickland (1)
2. Israel Adesanya (2)
3. Dorix du Plessis (3)
4. Robert Whittaker (4)
5. Jared Cannonier (5)
6. Marvin Vettori (6)
7. Khamzat Chimaev (7)
8. Paulo Costa (8)
9. Johnny Eblen (9)
10. Derek Brunson (10)

At UFC 298 on February 17, former UFC middleweight champion and world No. 4 Robert Whittaker returned to winning ways with a dominant decision over No. 8 Paulo Costa, earning a unanimous decision victory. One week later, Bellator middleweight champion and No. 9 ranked Johnny Eblen earned a split decision win over 2023 PFL Light Heavyweight Tournament winner Impa Kasanganay. The ranking remains unchanged.

1. Leon Edwards (1)
2. Kamaru Usman (2)
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov (3)
4. Colby Covington (4)
5. Belal Muhammad (5)
6. Gilbert Burns (6)
7. Sean Brady (7)
8. Jason Jackson (10)
9. Ian Garry (-)
10. Stephen Thompson (8)

Dropped from the rankings: Jeff Neal (9)

In PFL vs. Bellator, Bellator welterweight champion and No. 10 ranked Jason Jackson faced two-time PFL welterweight tournament champion Ray Cooper III. Jackson won by TKO just 23 seconds into the second round. A week ago at UFC 298, Ian Machado Garry took on No. 9 Jeff Neal. In a back-and-forth three-round battle, Garry won by split decision. Jackson moved up to 8th place, with Stephen Thompson dropping to 10th place and Gary replacing Neil in 9th place.

1. Islam Makhachev (1)
2. Charles Oliveira (2)
3. Justin Gaethje (3)
4. Dustin Poirier (4)
5. Arman Tsarukyan (5)
6. Michael Chandler (6)
7. Mateusz Gamrot (7)
8. Beneil Darish (8)
9. Rafael Fiziev (9)
10. AJ McKee (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Usman Nurmagomedov (10)

At PFL vs. Bellator, former Bellator featherweight champion AJ McKee continued his winning ways in the lightweight division, defeating 2023 PFL Lightweight Tournament runner-up Clay Collard in just 70 seconds. This extends his winning streak at 155 pounds to four, and with Bellator lightweight titleholder and world No. 10 Usman Nurmagomedov benched after accidentally ingesting a banned substance, McKee is ranked No. 10 in the world at lightweight. I slipped into position.

1. Ilia Topuria (6)
2. Brian Ortega (4)
3. Alex Volkanovski (1)
4. Max Holloway (3)
5. Yair Rodriguez (2)
6. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (5)
7. Movsar Evloev (8)
8. Jang Sung Jeong (9)
9. Josh Emmett (10)
10. Calvin Cathal (-)

Unranked: AJ McKee (7th place)

There was a big change at the top of the featherweight rankings in February. At UFC 298 on February 17th, longtime division champion Alexander Volkanovskiy was finally stripped of his title after being knocked out by No. 6 Ilya Topria in the second round of the headliner. A week later at UFC Mexico City, No. 4-ranked Brian Ortega came back from the dead and avenged his last fight 19 months ago. In the third round of the co-main event fight, Ortega submitted No. 2 ranked Yair Rodriguez after Rodriguez won by TKO due to a shoulder injury in their first encounter. Topria fell to first, Ortega to second and Volkanovski to third. Between these moves and AJ McKee's move to lightweight, the rest of the featherweight division saw a slight movement, with Calvin Kattar moving into the No. 2 spot in the rankings. .Ten

1. Sean O'Malley (1)
2. Demetrius Johnson (2)
3. Aljamain Sterling (3)
4. Merab Dvalishvili (4)
5. Cory Sandhagen (5)
6. TJ Dillashaw (6)
7. Petr Yan (7)
8. Henry Cejudo (-)
9. Marlon Vera (8)
10. patchy mix (9)

Dropped from the ranking: Adriano Moraes (10)

The only bantamweight fighters fighting in February were Merab Dvalishvili and Henry Cejudo, who both met at UFC 298. After three rounds, fourth-placed Dvalishvili defeated former champion Cejudo by unanimous decision and was likely to move into the next spot. title shot. Despite losing his last two fights since coming out of retirement, Cejudo pushed Marlon Vera and Patchy Mix into eighth place in the rankings, knocking Adriano Moraes out of the top 10.

1. Alexandre Pantoja (1)
2. Brandon Roybal (7)
3. Brandon Moreno (2)
4. Deiveson Figueiredo (3)
5. Amir Albazi (4)
6. Askar Askarov (5)
7. Kai Kara France (6)
8. Alex Perez (8)
9. Mateus Nicolau (9)
10. Rogelio Bontorin (10)

In the headliner of UFC Mexico City, world No. 7 Brandon Roybal and world No. 2 Brandon Moreno will face off after Moreno won by TKO in his first fight in November 2020. ' was held. This match was decided. Much to the chagrin of the Mexican crowd, Roybal won by split decision, avenging his previous loss. Royval moved up to second place, and all the players above him fell one place.

1. Islam Makhachev (1)
2. John Jones (3)
3. Charles Oliveira (5)
4. Justin Gaethje (7)
5. Demetrius Johnson (6)
6. Leon Edwards (8)
7. Dustin Poirier (9)
8. Ilia Topria (-)
9. Amanda Nunes (10)
10. Alexandre Pantoja (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Alexander Volkanovski (2), Francis Ngannou (4)

After Francis Ngannou's inactivity and Alexander Volkanovski's two-fight losing streak, the pound-for-pound rankings have seen some changes and some new faces. All of them moved up two spots, except for 10th place Amanda Nunes, who only moved up one spot. Jon Jones slid into second place and Charles Oliveira into third. Newly crowned UFC Featherweight Champion Ilia Topuria will be in 8th place, and UFC Flyweight Title Holder Alexandre Pantoja will be in 10th place.

Editor's Note: Fighters who have competed within the past 18 months are eligible to be ranked. A fighter who chooses to change weight classes will be ranked in her previous weight class until she competes twice in the new weight class. Fighters who announce their retirement will remain on the rankings for six months after their last fight.