As MMA continues to grow its presence with the UFC, Bellator MMA, KSW, PFL and ONE Championship, fighters are constantly jockeying for position in the eyes (and rankings) of the media.
Every month, Combat Press will rank each weight class from heavyweight to strawweight, as well as the pound-for-pound rankings (including all genders).
Note: the numbers in parentheses represent the fighter’s ranking from the previous rankings.
- Stipe Miocic (1)
- Daniel Cormier (2)
- Francis Ngannou (3)
- Curtis Blaydes (4)
- Junior dos Santos (5)
- Derrick Lewis (6)
- Alexander Volkov (7)
- Jair Rozenstruik (8)
- Alistair Overeem (9)
- Ryan Bader (10)/Augusto Sakai (10)
Despite some criticism from UFC President Dana White, the UFC on ESPN 11 main event was a complete beatdown. Fourth-ranked Curtis Blaydes took down former Bellator champion Alexander Volkov at will en route to the unanimous-decision win. Blaydes stays in fourth, with Volkov maintaining his seventh spot in the rankings.
- Jon Jones (1)
- Ryan Bader (2)
- Dominick Reyes (3)
- Thiago Santos (4)
- Jan Błachowicz (5)
- Corey Anderson (6)
- Glover Teixeira (7)
- Anthony Smith (8)
- Volkan Oezdemir (9)
- Vadim Nemkov (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Israel Adesanya (1)
- Robert Whittaker (2)
- Paulo Costa (3)
- Yoel Romero (4)
- Darren Till (5)
- Kelvin Gastelum (6)
- Jared Cannonier (7)
- Rafael Lovato Jr. (8)
- Jack Hermansson (9)
- Gegard Mousasi (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Kamaru Usman (1)
- Gilbert Burns (2)
- Colby Covington (3)
- Jorge Masvidal (4)
- Leon Edwards (5)
- Tyron Woodley (6)
- Nate Diaz (7)
- Michael Chiesa (8)
- Douglas Lima (9)
- Stephen Thompson (10)/Anthony Pettis (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Khabib Nurmagomedov (1)
- Justin Gaethje (2)
- Dustin Poirier (4)
- Tony Ferguson (3)
- Conor McGregor (5)
- Dan Hooker (6)
- Paul Felder (7)
- Donald Cerrone (8)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (9)
- Charles Oliveira (10)
The UFC on ESPN 12 main event may go down as not only 2020’s “Fight of the Year” but one of the best fights in UFC history. Former interim titleholder Dustin Poirier outlasted a very game Kiwi in sixth-ranked Dan Hooker to rebound from his title loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov. Poirier moves up to third with the hard-fought win, while Hooker keeps his previous ranking despite the defeat.
- Alex Volkanovski (1)
- Max Holloway (2)
- Brian Ortega (3)
- Zabit Magomedsharipov (4)
- Chan Sung Jung (5)
- Frankie Edgar (6)
- Yair Rodriguez (7)
- Renato Moicano (8)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (9)
- Bibiano Fernandes (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Henry Cejudo (1)
- Marlon Moraes (2)
- Demetrious Johnson (3)
- José Aldo (4)
- Aljamain Sterling (7)
- Cory Sandhagen (5)
- Petr Yan (8)
- Pedro Munhoz (9)
- Cody Garbrandt (10)
- Raphael Assunção (6)
UFC 250 was key for the 135-pound division, as four top-10 fighters were in the cage. In the co-main event, former champion Cody Garbrandt scored a highlight-reel knockout of perennial contender Raphael Assunção. Garbrandt moves into ninth with the win, with Assunção crashing from sixth to 10th. Also in action, Aljamain Sterling likely locked up a title shot with his first-round demolition of Cory Sandhagen. The 88-second submission win vaults Sterling into fifth and drops Sandhagen to sixth.
- Deiveson Figueiredo (1)
- Joseph Benavidez (2)
- Alexandre Pantoja (3)
- Brandon Moreno (4)
- Alex Perez (-)
- Jussier “Formiga” da Silva (5)
- Askar Askarov (8)
- Kai Kara-France (9)
- Hiromasa Ogikubo (10)
- Rogério Bontorin (-)
Dropped from the rankings: John Moraga (6), Dustin Ortiz (7)
There were plenty of shakeups in the flyweight ranks in June. Both John Moraga and Dustin Ortiz fall from the top 10 due to inactivity. That opens the door for two new faces. One of those fighters, Alex Perez, made a huge statement at UFC 250, where he stopped Brazilan Jussier “Formiga” da Silva with leg kicks. Perez claims the fifth spot with the impressive performance. Another Brazilian, Rogério Bontorin, enters the rankings in 10th.
- Jarred Brooks
- Haruo Ochi
- Mitsuhisa Sunabe
- Adam Antolin
- Tatsuya So
- Gexi Sanlang
- Hiroaki Ijima
- Akhmednabi Magomedov
- Ryo Hatta
- Dôglas Cunha
Beginning this month, the strawweights join our rankings. While the unique weigh-in rules of ONE Championship make its “strawweight” athletes ineligible for this weight class — they do qualify as flyweights though — there are still plenty of other 115-pounders out there worthy to contend for a top-10 position. Jarred Brooks debuts as the No. 1 strawweight after a 2019 campaign in which he bested Haruo Ochi, who checks in at No. 2.
- Jon Jones (1)
- Amanda Nunes (2)
- Henry Cejudo (3)
- Khabib Nurmagomedov (4)
- Demetrious Johnson (5)
- Stipe Miocic (6)
- Valentina Shevchenko (7)
- Kamaru Usman (8)
- Daniel Cormier (9)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (10)
UFC 250 was a showcase for arguably the sport’s greatest female fighter of all-time. Amanda Nunes put on a clinic in her five-round dismantling of Felicia Spencer and has now defended both her bantamweight and featherweight titles. She is firmly locked into the No. 2 spot in our rankings.
Editor’s Note: Fighters are eligible to be ranked if they have competed in the last 18 months. Any fighter that chooses to switch weight classes will be ranked in their previous weight class until they have competed twice in their new division. Fighters who announce their retirement will remain ranked for a period of six months following their final bout.