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)
- Sergei Pavlovich (4)
- Curtis Blaydes (5)
- Tom Aspinall (6)
- Alexander Volkov (7)
- Tai Tuivasa (9)
- Ryan Bader (8)
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik (10)
- Serghei Spivac (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Stipe Miocic (3)
In February, the heavyweight division saw some action with Ryan Bader stopping Fedor Emelianenko with a first-round TKO for the second time, keeping his spot in at No. 8. Also, with Stipe Miocic being removed from the rankings due to inactivity, Serghei Spivac, who beat Derrick Lewis in February, made his way to No. 10. Miocic will return to the rankings if he makes his planned return in 2023.
- Jiří Procházka (1)
- Jamahal Hill (2)
- Glover Teixeira (3)
- Magomed Ankalaev (6)
- Jan Błachowicz (4)
- Vadim Nemkov (5)
- Aleksandar Rakić (7)
- Corey Anderson (8)
- Anthony Smith (10)
- Thiago Santos (9)
While no top-10 fighters were in action in February, there were some slight moves due to changes in the Combat Press rankings panel.
- Alex Pereira (1)
- Israel Adesanya (2)
- Robert Whittaker (3)
- Marvin Vettori (4)
- Jared Cannonier (5)
- Paulo Costa (6)
- Johnny Eblen (9)
- Derek Brunson (7)
- Sean Strickland (8)
- Roman Dolidze (10)
In February, undefeated Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen had his first successful title defense when he picked up a unanimous decision victory over Anatoly Tokov at Bellator 290. He jumps Derek Brunson and Sean Strickland, moving to the No. 7 position.
- Leon Edwards (1)
- Kamaru Usman (2)
- Colby Covington (3)
- Khamzat Chimaev (4)
- Gilbert Burns (5)
- Belal Muhammad (6)
- Yaroslav Amosov (7)
- Shavkat Rakhmonov (9)
- Stephen Thompson (8)
- Sean Brady (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Geoff Neal (10)
Undefeated Bellator welterweight champion Yaroslav Amosov made his return to action, after and extended layoff due to the war in the Ukraine, to face interim champ Logan Storley at Bellator 291. After five rounds, the Ukranian champ unified the belt with a unanimous decision victory. Also, the rankings had a slight change at the No. 8 through No. 10 positions due to a shake-up in the Combat Press rankings panel. Geoff Neal dropped out of the rankings from No. 9, and Sean Brady was added at the No. 10 spot.
- Islam Makhachev (1)
- Charles Oliveira (2)
- Dustin Poirier (3)
- Justin Gaethje (4)
- Beneil Dariush (5)
- Michael Chandler (6)
- Rafael Fiziev (7)
- Mateusz Gamrot (9)
- Rafael dos Anjos (8)
- Arman Tsarukyan (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Conor McGregor (10)
In a historic match-up of the No. 1 and No. 2 UFC pound-for-pound fighters, lightweight champ Islam Makhachev picked up a unanimous decision win over featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski in a lightweight scrap at UFC 284. This cements Makhachev at the top of the lightweight rankings. With Conor McGregor being dropped, due to inactivity, Arman Tsarukyan enters the rankings at No. 10.
- Alex Volkanovski (1)
- Yair Rodriguez (3)
- Max Holloway (2)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (5)
- Brian Ortega (4)
- Josh Emmett (7)
- Arnold Allen (8)
- A.J. McKee (6)
- Chan Sung Jung (9)
- Calvin Kattar (10)
With featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski taking a shot at the lightweight title at UFC 284, Yair Rodriguez and Josh Emmett fought for the interim featherweight strap in the co-main event. Rodriguez scored a second-round submission win, moving him up to the No. 2 spot. While no other top-10 featherweights were in action during the month, there was a slight change in the bottom half of the rankings due to a shake-up in the Combat Press rankings panel.
- Aljamain Sterling (1)
- Demetrious Johnson (2)
- Sean O’Malley (3)
- Petr Yan (4)
- Cory Sandhagen (6)
- T.J. Dillashaw (5)
- Merab Dvalishvili (7)
- Marlon Vera (8)
- Adriano Moraes (9)
- José Aldo (10)
There were no fighters in action during the month, but the rankings had a slight change at the No. 5 and No. 6 positions due to a shake-up in the Combat Press rankings panel. T.J. Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen swapped spots.
- Deiveson Figueiredo (1)
- Brandon Moreno (2)
- Kai Kara-France (3)
- Alexandre Pantoja (4)
- Askar Askarov (5)
- Alex Perez (6)
- Brandon Royval (7)
- Matheus Nicolau (8)
- Rogério Bontorin (9)
- Jarred Brooks (10)
No fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Islam Makhachev (4)
- Alexander Volkanovski (1)
- Valentina Shevchenko (2)
- Francis Ngannou (3)
- Charles Oliveira (5)
- Kamaru Usman (6)
- Dustin Poirier (7)
- Alex Pereira (10)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (8)
- Aljamain Sterling (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Amanda Nunes (9)
The top of the pound-for-pound rankings had some moves with Islam Makhachev taking the top spot, pushing down Alexander Volkanovski and Valentina Shevchenko. Also due to a shake-up in the Combat Press rankings panel, Amanda Nunes dropped out from No. 9, with Aljamain Sterling entering at No. 10.
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.