Combat Press MMA Rankings: December 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.

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.

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

Dropped from rankings: Dominick Reyes (9)

Two November fights lead to several shuffles in our light-heavyweight rankings. At Bellator 288, Vadim Nemkov successfully defended his title against challenger Corey Anderson. Nemkov’s third successful title defense, which came via unanimous decision, is finally enough to elevate him to the No. 4 spot in our poll, while Anderson slips to sixth. Meanwhile, Dominick Reyes departs the top 10 after a devastating first-round knockout loss to Ryan Spann at UFC 281. Spann is flirting with a spot in the top 10, but he’s not quite there yet. Instead, Thiago Santos reemerges to claim the ninth spot.

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

Alex Pereira added yet another victory over Israel Adesanya to his resume, but this time it came in the realm of MMA. The two kickboxing rivals tangled in the UFC 281 headliner with the UFC middleweight title on the line. In a hard-fought battle, Pereira finally finished off Adesanya with strikes in the fifth round. The Brazilian vaults from fifth to first in our poll, while Adesanya falls to second.

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)

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

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

UFC 281’s impact on the rankings can be felt in several divisions, including lightweight. At the event, Dustin Poirier secured a rear-naked choke submission of Michael Chandler in the third round, while Dan Hooker landed a body kick to finish Claudio Puelles via TKO. Poirier stays put at No. 3 in our poll, while Hooker climbs one spot to ninth. Chandler’s loss drops him a notch to sixth.

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 (8)
9. Chan Sung Jung (9)
10. Calvin Kattar (10)

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

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

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

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.

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)

Jo Arai maintained his recent winning ways, but the seventh-ranked strawweight did so in a flyweight affair and therefore does not see a change in his standing in our poll. Arai scored a first-round finish of Yo Otake at Shooto 2022 Vol. 7.

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

Dustin Poirier’s UFC 281 victory over Michael Chandler is not enough to elevate his standing in our pound-for-pound rankings. The perennial contender holds steady at seventh.

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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.