MMA pound-for-pound rankings: UFC 300 winners and losers cause chaos across the charts

Welcome to the latest update to the MMA Fighting Pound-for-Pound Rankings. Each month in this ranking, our esteemed panel organizes a variety of information to answer his one question: Who are the best male and female MMA fighters in the world, overall? mosquito?

The event is, UFC 300 To say it had an impact on the rankings would be an understatement. So where did Saturday night's biggest winners and losers rank on the list?

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC, Getty Images

Alex Pereira has a huge responsibility to break the pound-for-pound rankings, so it makes sense that he would do so. near here to conquer them.

Pereira, who suffered a first-round knockout loss to Jamahal Hill in Saturday's main event, moved up two spots to second place. He's far behind Islam Makhachev in points (the UFC lightweight champion is still our unanimous No. 1 pick), but he's far ahead of schedule considering his lack of professional MMA experience.

There's no need to rehash the absurdity of Pereira's two UFC titles (and his first successful defense). Simply put, nothing can match what “Poitan” accomplished in just his eight fights in his UFC career. Typically, such a rise up the pound-for-pound charts requires a champion to have a long title reign. Instead, Pereira is left to carve his own path, competing at a high level in two weight classes and threatening a third weight if his proposal to move to heavyweight goes through.

It's unlikely that Pereira will become the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world, but then again, everything about his rise to fame was improbable.

Brazil's light heavyweight king isn't the only big move this month. Fan favorite Max Holloway moved up seven places to 11th place, while Arman Tsarukyan made his debut in 14th place.

It's no surprise that Holloway is back at the top of the top 10. That's because he defeated Justin Gaethje in a breathtaking storm with one second left in the bout for the most memorable victory not only at UFC 300 but in his entire storied career. . A win for the 'BMF' Championship would all but guarantee Holloway a shot at the lightweight or featherweight title, and could see the former UFC champion accelerate his climb even further up the ladder.

As for Tsarukyan, he established himself as one of the best young fighters at 155 pounds, defeating Charles Oliveira in a hard-fought split decision. Once the best fighter in the world finishes his fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 on June 1st, a rematch with Makhachev looms.

Recent results for ranked fighters (view previous rankings): No. 4 Alex Pereira def. Jamahal Hill, Arman Tsarukyan def. 6th Charles Oliveira, 18th (tie) Max Holloway def. 14th (tie) Justin Gaethje, 18th (tie) Aljamain Sterling def. Calvin Cathal

Upcoming matches featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Islam Makhachev vs. Dustin Poirier (UFC 302, June 1), No. 6 Alexandre Pantoja vs. Steve Erceg (UFC 301, May 4), No. 13 Patchy Mix vs. Magomed Magomedov (Bellator Champions Series: Paris, May 17), No. 17 Sean Strickland vs. Paulo Costa (UFC 302, June 1), No. 19 Khamzat Chimaev vs. Robert Whittaker (UFC Fight Night, June 22)

Fighters are also getting votes (show how many appeared on the ballot): Anatoly Malihin (3), Shavkat Rakhmonov (3), Johnny Evren (2), Justin Gaethje (2), Patricio Pitbull (2), Dustin Poirier (2), Kamaru Usman (2), Yan – Blachowicz (1), AJ McKee (1), Belal Muhammad (1), Usman Nurmagomedov (1), Vadim Nemkov (1), Jiri Prochaska (1)

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC, Getty Images

She's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Kayla Harrison's high rankings during her time in the PFL have always felt shaky given the lack of depth on the league's roster that she ran through en route to tournament titles in 2019 and 2021. She knew there was a potentially dominant fighter coming up, but she also felt like she was next. One loss and reality will be severely checked.

When she suffered her first loss to Larissa Pacheco (after defeating Pacheco in their previous two fights), it didn't take long for Harrison to plummet down the pound-for-pound list. Her lukewarm victory over Aspen Ladd did little to get her back into the conversation.

But did you know, after making the jump to the UFC, moving down to 135 pounds (which she had never competed in before), and defeating perennial title contender Holly Holm? I'm back on top again. Female fighters from around the world. The two-time Olympic judo champion just missed the top 10, moving up eight places.

There's no telling how consistently Harrison will be able to hit 135 pounds (or if she can, considering she needed a pound of non-title allowance this time around), but if she takes the belt… It would be hard not to believe if I had the chance to do so. We think she has the potential to not end the story and put together a memorable UFC championship run. Amanda Nunes, where are you?

Outside of UFC 300 (in which Weili Zhang maintained her No. 1 ranking with a win over Yang Xiaonan), flyweight contestant Manon Fiorot caused the most controversy. The Frenchwoman can now call herself one of the top five pound-for-pound fighters in the world after handing blue chipper Erin Blanchfield her first loss in the UFC in a not-so-close fight. .

Recent results for ranked fighters (view previous rankings): No.1 Zhang Weili def. No.10 Yang Xiaonan, No.8 Manon Fiorotto def. 5th place Erin Blanchfield, 11th place Liz Carmouche def. No.15 Juliana Velasquez, No.13 Seika Izawa def. Shiyoon Park, No.14 Rose Namajunas def. Amanda Rivas, No.15 Jessica Andrade def. Marina Rodriguez, No.16 Tyra Santos DF Ilara・Joanne, 19th Kayla Harrison def. No. 20 (tie) Holly Holm

Upcoming matches featuring ranked fighters: No.20 Stamp Fairtex vs. Dennis Zamboanga (ONE 167, June 7)

Fighters are also getting votes (show how many appeared on the ballot): Macy Barber (5), Vilna Jandirova (2), Marina Rodriguez (2), Eileen Aldana (1), Holly Holm (1), Lauren Murphy (1), Ketlen Vieira (1)

Finally, let's review some basic rules.

• The eight-person voting committee includes mixed martial arts staff members Sean Al Shatty, Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, E. Casey Leydon, Stephen Marko, Damon Martin, and Jed Messiux. It consists of
• Ranking updates are completed after each UFC pay-per-view. Fighters who have not fought within 18 months of their most recent fight will be removed from the rankings.
• When a fighter announces retirement, our committee will decide whether that fighter should be immediately removed from the rankings or should remain in that position until further notice (Let's put it this way: we Khabib Nurmagomedov fell off the rankings much faster than the UFC).

Just to be clear, the concept of pound-for-pound advantage is always subjective in nature. There's no real right answer when debating whether someone like Justin Gaethje should be ranked higher than someone like Max Holloway. In other words, this is not serious business, folks.

What are your thoughts? Have questions? Concerns? Let your voice be heard in the comments section below.