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)
- Ciryl Gane (2)
- Stipe Miocic (3)
- Sergei Pavlovich (10)
- Curtis Blaydes (5)
- Tom Aspinall (6)
- Alexander Volkov (7)
- Ryan Bader (8)
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik (9)
- Tai Tuivasa (4)
Sergei Pavlovich makes a giant leap up to fourth in our heavyweight poll following his 54-second thrashing of Tai Tuivasa at UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Holland. Tuivasa, meanwhile, tumbles to the No. 10 spot in defeat. Jairzinho Rozenstruik also posted a finish in December. In fact, he was even more efficient than Pavlovich. The Surinamese fighter needed just 23 seconds to dispatch of Chris Daukaus at UFC 282. The win snaps a two-fight skid for Rozenstruik, but he stays put at ninth in the rankings.
- Jiří Procházka (1)
- Glover Teixeira (2)
- Jan Błachowicz (3)
- Magomed Ankalaev (7)
- Vadim Nemkov (4)
- Aleksandar Rakić (5)
- Corey Anderson (6)
- Jamahal Hill (8)
- Thiago Santos (9)
- Anthony Smith (10)
The light-heavyweight division was a center for disappointment in December. The top two fighters in the weight class were set to meet in the UFC 282 headliner, but a severe injury to UFC champion Jiří Procházka ultimately ended up leading to a vacated belt and a new title fight. However, that contest, which featured contenders Jan Błachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev, was surrounded in controversy when the judges ruled it a split draw. Ankalaev’s performance in that fight boosts his standing in our rankings and lands him in fourth.
- Alex Pereira (1)
- Israel Adesanya (2)
- Robert Whittaker (3)
- Marvin Vettori (4)
- Jared Cannonier (5)
- Paulo Costa (6)
- Derek Brunson (7)
- Sean Strickland (8)
- Roman Dolidze (-)
- Johnny Eblen (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Jack Hermansson (9)
Roman Dolidze brought an early end to the night for Jack Hermansson at UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Holland. Dolidze, who already has his next fight lined up against Marvin Vettori, replaces Hermansson as our ninth-ranked middleweight. Jared Cannonier bounced back from his failed title bid with a split nod over Sean Strickland. Both men hold tight in their previous spots in our top 10.
- Leon Edwards (1)
- Kamaru Usman (2)
- Colby Covington (3)
- Khamzat Chimaev (4)
- Gilbert Burns (5)
- Belal Muhammad (6)
- Stephen Thompson (8)
- Yaroslav Amosov (7)
- Sean Brady (9)
- Shavkat Rakhmonov (10)
Stephen Thompson got the better of Kevin Holland in the pair’s UFC Fight Night headliner. Thompson ticks up one spot to seventh in our welterweight poll.
- Islam Makhachev (1)
- Charles Oliveira (2)
- Dustin Poirier (3)
- Justin Gaethje (4)
- Beneil Dariush (5)
- Michael Chandler (6)
- Rafael Fiziev (7)
- Conor McGregor (8)
- Dan Hooker (9)
- Mateusz Gamrot (10)
There were no fighters in action during the month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Alex Volkanovski (1)
- Max Holloway (2)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (3)
- Yair Rodriguez (4)
- Brian Ortega (5)
- A.J. McKee (6)
- Josh Emmett (7)
- Arnold Allen (8)
- Chan Sung Jung (9)
- Calvin Kattar (10)
Patricio “Pitbull” Freire gave Bellator bragging rights when he outworked Rizin champion Kleber Koike Erbst at the year-end co-promoted show. The Bellator kingpin holds steady at third in the rankings. The same event also featured a headlining bout between A.J. McKee and Roberto de Souza. McKee emerged with the unanimous nod. The second-generation MMA fighter retains his standing as our No. 6 featherweight.
- Aljamain Sterling (1)
- Demetrious Johnson (2)
- Sean O’Malley (3)
- Petr Yan (4)
- T.J. Dillashaw (5)
- Cory Sandhagen (6)
- Merab Dvalishvili (7)
- Adriano Moraes (8)
- Marlon Vera (9)
- José Aldo (10)
There were no fighters in action during the month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Deiveson Figueiredo (1)
- Brandon Moreno (2)
- Kai Kara-France (3)
- Alexandre Pantoja (4)
- Askar Askarov (5)
- Brandon Royval (6)
- Alex Perez (7)
- Matheus Nicolau (8)
- Jarred Brooks (10)
- Rogério Bontorin (9)
Matheus Nicolau employed a ground-and-pound attack to finish Matt Schnell in their UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Holland encounter. The Brazilian remains our eighth-ranked flyweight. “The Monkey God” Jarred Brooks is now the ONE flyweight titleholder. Brooks outworked fellow former elite strawweight Joshua Pacio to claim the belt. Brooks moves up to ninth in our rankings with the victory.
- Keito Yamakita (1)
- Daichi Kitakata (2)
- Gexi Sanlang (3)
- Ryo Hatta (4)
- Ryosuke Noda (5)
- Toshiya Takashima (6)
- Jo Arai (7)
- Kohei Wakabayashi (8)
- Billy Pasulatan (9)
- Junji Ito (10)
There were no fighters in action during the month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Alexander Volkanovski (1)
- Valentina Shevchenko (2)
- Francis Ngannou (3)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (4)
- Islam Makhachev (5)
- Deiveson Figueiredo (6)
- Dustin Poirier (7)
- Charles Oliveira (8)
- Kamaru Usman (9)
- Brandon Moreno (10)
Patricio “Pitbull” Freire’s year-end win over Kleber Koike Erbst is just one more bullet point in the argument that the Brazilian is the greatest Bellator fighter of all-time. Pitbull remains our fourth-ranked pound-for-pound fighter.
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.