Every month, Combat Press will provide MMA rankings for 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 month.
- Francis Ngannou (1)
- Stipe Miocic (2)
- Derrick Lewis (3)
- Ciryl Gane (4)
- Curtis Blaydes (5)
- Alexander Volkov (6)
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik (7)
- Alistair Overeem (8)
- Junior dos Santos (9)
- Augusto Sakai (10)/Ryan Bader (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the past month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Jon Jones (1)
- Jan Błachowicz (2)
- Jiří Procházka (3)
- Glover Teixeira (4)
- Vadim Nemkov (5)
- Corey Anderson (6)
- Aleksandar Rakić (7)
- Dominick Reyes (8)
- Thiago Santos (9)
- Anthony Smith (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the past month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Israel Adesanya (1)
- Robert Whittaker (2)
- Paulo Costa (3)
- Yoel Romero (4)
- Marvin Vettori (5)
- Jared Cannonier (6)
- Darren Till (7)
- Jack Hermansson (8)
- Kelvin Gastelum (9)
- Derek Brunson (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the past month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Kamaru Usman (1)
- Gilbert Burns (2)
- Colby Covington (3)
- Leon Edwards (4)
- Stephen Thompson (5)
- Michael Chiesa (6)
- Vicente Luque (7)
- Yaroslav Amosov (8)
- Jorge Masvidal (9)/Belal Muhammad (9)
- Douglas Lima (10)
In the UFC 264 co-main event, former title challengers Gilbert Burns and Stephen Thompson locked horns. The Brazilian Burns used a smart game plan to neutralize the karate savant Thompson en route to a unanimous-decision victory. Burns remains in second after the win, with Thompson staying at fifth in defeat.
- Charles Oliveira (1)
- Dustin Poirier (2)
- Justin Gaethje (3)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (4)
- Michael Chandler (6)
- Beneil Dariush (7)
- Conor McGregor (5)
- Dan Hooker (8)
- Rafael dos Anjos (9)
- Tony Ferguson (10)
UFC 264: Poirier vs. McGregor 3 was headlined by the trilogy between second-ranked Dustin Poirier and former champion Conor McGregor. For the second time in 2021, Poirier left the cage with a victory, only this time, McGregor suffered a horrific ankle injury in the process. Poirier is in prime position to challenge top-ranked Charles Oliveira for UFC gold in his next bout. Meanwhile, the Irishman McGregor has not won a fight in the lightweight division since 2016 and his aura of invincibility is nothing more than a memory. He falls to seventh and an argument could be made that he should not be ranked at all.
- Alex Volkanovski (1)
- Max Holloway (2)
- Brian Ortega (3)
- A.J. McKee (9)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (4)
- Zabit Magomedsharipov (5)
- Chan Sung Jung (6)
- Yair Rodriguez (7)
- Bibiano Fernandes (8)
- Edson Barboza (10)
The most impressive performance of the month came at Bellator 263. Undefeated A.J. McKee put a stamp on the promotion’s featherweight grand prix, capturing the million-dollar prize and Bellator gold by demolishing Patricio “Pitbull” Freire. After stunning the Brazilian with a head kick, McKee choked him to the point of the referee intervening. McKee skyrockets to fourth in the rankings as the new champion, with Pitbull falling to fifth in defeat.
- Petr Yan (1)
- Aljamain Sterling (2)
- T.J. Dillashaw (-)
- Cory Sandhagen (3)
- Adriano Moraes (4)
- Demetrious Johnson (5)
- José Aldo (6)
- Frankie Edgar (7)
- Kyoji Horiguchi (8)
- Pedro Munhoz (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Rob Font (10)
UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs. Dillashaw featured the return of disgraced former champion T.J. Dillashaw. After a two-year suspension for doping, Dillashaw returned to eke past third-ranked Cory Sandhagen on the scorecards. The decision was debatable, but Dillashaw proved that he could still compete with the division’s elite even without the aid of PEDs. He re-enters the rankings in third, pushing Sandhagen to fourth. Dillashaw’s inclusion also bumps 10th-ranked Rob Font outside the top 10.
- Brandon Moreno (1)
- Deiveson Figueiredo (2)
- Askar Askarov (3)
- Joseph Benavidez (4)
- Alex Perez (5)
- Jussier “Formiga” da Silva (6)
- Alexandre Pantoja (7)
- Brandon Royval (8)
- Kai Kara-France (9)
- Joshua Pacio (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the past month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Namiki Kawahara (1)
- Haruo Ochi (2)
- Gexi Sanlang (3)
- Ryosuke Noda (4)
- Toshiya Takashima (5)
- Yuta Miyazawa (6)
- Ryo Hatta (7)
- Keito Yamakita (8)
- Tatsuki Ozaki (9)
- Billy Pasulatan (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the past month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Amanda Nunes (1)
- Jon Jones (2)
- Kamaru Usman (3)
- Valentina Shevchenko (4)
- Jan Błachowicz (5)
- Israel Adesanya (6)
- Alexander Volkanovski (8)
- Francis Ngannou (9)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (7)
- Rose Namajunas (10)
Patricio “Pitbull” Freire dropping his featherweight belt at Bellator 263 certainly didn’t do him any favors in the rankings. However, the Brazilian still owns the promotion’s lightweight strap and his resume is full of big wins. He slides to ninth in the pound-for-pound rankings, but remains ranked based on his body of work.
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.