Islam Makhachev (Dave Mandel/Sherdog)

Combat Press MMA Rankings: November 2022

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.

Heavyweight
  1. Francis Ngannou (1)
  2. Ciryl Gane (2)
  3. Stipe Miocic (3)
  4. Tai Tuivasa (4)
  5. Curtis Blaydes (5)
  6. Tom Aspinall (6)
  7. Alexander Volkov (7)
  8. Ryan Bader (8)
  9. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (9)
  10. Sergei Pavlovich (10)

There were no fighters in action during the month, so the rankings remain unchanged.


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Light Heavyweight
  1. Jiří Procházka (1)
  2. Glover Teixeira (2)
  3. Jan Błachowicz (3)
  4. Corey Anderson (4)
  5. Vadim Nemkov (5)
  6. Magomed Ankalaev (6)
  7. Aleksandar Rakić (7)
  8. Jamahal Hill (8)
  9. Dominick Reyes (9)
  10. Anthony Smith (10)

There were no fighters in action during the month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Middleweight
  1. Israel Adesanya (1)
  2. Robert Whittaker (2)
  3. Marvin Vettori (3)
  4. Jared Cannonier (4)
  5. Alex Pereira (5)
  6. Paulo Costa (6)
  7. Derek Brunson (7)
  8. Sean Strickland (8)
  9. Johnny Eblen (9)
  10. Jack Hermansson (10)

There were no fighters in action during the month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Welterweight
  1. Leon Edwards (1)
  2. Kamaru Usman (2)
  3. Colby Covington (3)
  4. Khamzat Chimaev (4)
  5. Gilbert Burns (5)
  6. Belal Muhammad (6)
  7. Yaroslav Amosov (7)
  8. Stephen Thompson (8)
  9. Sean Brady (9)
  10. Shavkat Rakhmonov (10)

Belal Muhammed continued his march through the UFC’s welterweight division with a standing-TKO finish of fellow ranked fighter Sean Brady at UFC 280. Both men stay put in their respective positions in the top 10. Muhammad will likely need to beat someone higher up in the poll if he wants to advance further.

Lightweight
  1. Islam Makhachev (4)
  2. Charles Oliveira (1)
  3. Dustin Poirier (2)
  4. Justin Gaethje (3)
  5. Michael Chandler (5)
  6. Beneil Dariush (6)
  7. Rafael Fiziev (7)
  8. Conor McGregor (9)
  9. Mateusz Gamrot (8)
  10. Dan Hooker (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Rafael dos Anjos (10)

The lightweight division has a new champion. Islam Makhachev caught Charles Oliveira in an arm-triangle choke in the second round of their UFC 280 title fight to walk away with the belt. Makhachev jumps to the top of the lightweight rankings, and he already has a potential upcoming defense against featherweight kingpin Alexander Volkanovski in the works. Oliveira slides to second in defeat.

Featherweight
  1. Alex Volkanovski (1)
  2. Max Holloway (2)
  3. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (3)
  4. Yair Rodriguez (4)
  5. Brian Ortega (5)
  6. A.J. McKee (6)
  7. Josh Emmett (7)
  8. Arnold Allen (-)
  9. Chan Sung Jung (9)
  10. Calvin Kattar (8)

Dropped from the rankings: Giga Chikadze (10)

A win is a win, right? Arnold Allen emerged with an injury TKO finish of Calvin Kattar in the pair’s UFC Fight Night headliner. Kattar landed wrong on his leg while throwing a punch. While he was initially able to continue, Kattar collapsed in pain just eight seconds into the following round. Allen joins the top 10 at eighth following the win, while Kattar slips to No. 10. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire continued his reign over the Bellator featherweight division with a successful defense of his belt against Ádám Borics at Bellator 286. Pitbull took the win via a unanimous verdict. The Brazilian champ, who maintains his spot as the No. 3 featherweight in the world, has a showdown with RIZIN titleholder Kleber Koike Erbst set for New Year’s Eve.

Bantamweight
  1. Aljamain Sterling (1)
  2. Demetrious Johnson (5)
  3. Sean O’Malley (-)
  4. Petr Yan (2)
  5. T.J. Dillashaw (3)
  6. Cory Sandhagen (4)
  7. Merab Dvalishvili (6)
  8. Adriano Moraes (7)
  9. Marlon Vera (8)
  10. José Aldo (9)

Dropped from the rankings: Sergio Pettis (10)

Perhaps the least expected change in the rankings this month comes in the bantamweight division, where “Sugar” Sean O’Malley eked out a split-decision victory over former UFC champion Petr Yan. O’Malley’s win at UFC 280 vaults him to third in the rankings, while also helping to push ONE champ Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson into the No. 2 spot. Yan slides to fourth in defeat. Aljamain Sterling made a successful defense of his UFC crown at the same event. Sterling scored a TKO finish of T.J. Dillashaw in the second stanza of their contest. Sterling remains at the top of our poll, while Dillashaw slips to fifth in defeat. O’Malley’s debut in the rankings also bumps Sergio Pettis from the top 10.

Flyweight
  1. Deiveson Figueiredo (1)
  2. Brandon Moreno (2)
  3. Kai Kara-France (3)
  4. Alexandre Pantoja (4)
  5. Askar Askarov (5)
  6. Brandon Royval (6)
  7. Alex Perez (7)
  8. Matheus Nicolau (8)
  9. Rogério Bontorin (9)
  10. Jarred Brooks (10)

There were no fighters in action during the month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Strawweight
  1. Keito Yamakita (1)
  2. Daichi Kitakata (2)
  3. Gexi Sanlang (3)
  4. Ryo Hatta (4)
  5. Ryosuke Noda (5)
  6. Toshiya Takashima (6)
  7. Jo Arai (7)
  8. Kohei Wakabayashi (8)
  9. Billy Pasulatan (9)
  10. Junji Ito (10)

There were no fighters in action during the month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Pound-For-Pound
  1. Alexander Volkanovski (1)
  2. Valentina Shevchenko (2)
  3. Francis Ngannou (4)
  4. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (5)
  5. Deiveson Figueiredo (6)
  6. Islam Makhachev (-)
  7. Dustin Poirier (8)
  8. Charles Oliveira (3)
  9. Kamaru Usman (7)
  10. Brandon Moreno (-)

Dropped from rankings: Israel Adesanya (9), Amanda Nunes (10)

Islam Makhachev’s title victory over Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 sends ripples through our pound-for-pound top 10. Oliveira falls to eighth, while Makhachev debuts at sixth. This change also shuffles the bottom part of the top 10, with Israel Adesanya and Amanda Nunes dropping out of the poll and Brandon Moreno entering in the No. 10 spot.


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.


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