Every month, Combat Press will provide MMA rankings for each weight class from heavyweight to flyweight, 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)
- Jon Jones (2)
- Ciryl Gane (3)
- Sergei Pavlovich (4)
- Curtis Blaydes (5)
- Tom Aspinall (6)
- Alexander Volkov (7)
- Jailton Almeida (8)
- Ryan Bader (9)
- Tai Tuivasa (10)
A few top-10 heavyweights were in action during September. First, on Sep. 2, Ciryl Gane and Serghei Spivac headlined UFC Paris. At the 3:44 mark of the second round, Gane finished Spivac with an impressive TKO victory, cementing his No. 3 spot in the rankings. A week later, at UFC 293 in Australia, No. 7 Alexander Volkov met No. 10 Tai Tuivasa in the co-main event. Near the end of Round 2, Volkov was able to lock in an Ezekiel choke, forcing Tuivasa to tap out. The rankings remain unchanged.
- Jiří Procházka (1)
- Jamahal Hill (2)
- Glover Teixeira (3)
- Alex Pereira (4)
- Vadim Nemkov (5)
- Magomed Ankalaev (6)
- Jan Błachowicz (7)
- Aleksandar Rakić (8)
- Corey Anderson (9)
- Phil Davis (10)
No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Sean Strickland (6)
- Israel Adesanya (1)
- Dricus du Plessis (2)
- Robert Whittaker (3)
- Jared Cannonier (4)
- Marvin Vettori (5)
- Paulo Costa (7)
- Johnny Eblen (9)
- Derek Brunson (8)
- Roman Doldize (10)
September saw a changing of the guard in the middleweight rankings, after Sean Strickland put on a masterclass, out-striking UFC champ Israel Adesanya through their five-round title fight at UFC 293. The unanimous decision victory went to Strickland, and a new UFC champion was crowned. Also in action was Bellator middleweight titleholder Johnny Eblen, who faced Fabian Edwards in his second title defense. Only 21 seconds into Round 3, No. 9 Eblen used his hands to put Edwards away with a devastating knockout. With those wins, Strickland moves into the No. 1 spot, pushing down the first- through fifth-ranked fighters, and Eblen jumps to the No. 8 position, swapping positions with Derek Brunson.
- Leon Edwards (1)
- Kamaru Usman (2)
- Colby Covington (3)
- Khamzat Chimaev (4)
- Belal Muhammad (5)
- Gilbert Burns (6)
- Yaroslav Amosov (7)
- Stephen Thompson (8)
- Sean Brady (9)
- Shavkat Rakhmonov (10)
No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Islam Makhachev (1)
- Charles Oliveira (2)
- Justin Gaethje (3)
- Dustin Poirier (4)
- Beneil Dariush (5)
- Michael Chandler (6)
- Mateusz Gamrot (8)
- Rafael Fiziev (7)
- Usman Nurmagomedov (9)
- Arman Tsarukyan (10)
At UFC Vegas 79 on Sep. 23, No. 7 lightweight Rafael Fiziev took on No. 8 in the evening’s headliner. Two minutes into the second round Fiziev suffered a knee injury, handing the TKO victory to Gamrot. The two men switch positions in the rankings.
- Alex Volkanovski (1)
- Yair Rodriguez (2)
- Max Holloway (3)
- Brian Ortega (4)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (5)
- Ilia Topuria (6)
- A.J. McKee (7)
- Arnold Allen (8)
- Chan Sung Jung (9)
- Josh Emmett (10)
No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Sean O’Malley (1)
- Demetrious Johnson (2)
- Aljamain Sterling (3)
- Merab Dvalishvili (4)
- Cory Sandhagen (5)
- T.J. Dillashaw (6)
- Petr Yan (7)
- Marlon Vera (8)
- Adriano Moraes (9)
- Patchy Mix (10)
No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Alexandre Pantoja (1)
- Brandon Moreno (2)
- Deiveson Figueiredo (3)
- Amir Albazi (4)
- Askar Askarov (5)
- Kai Kara-France (6)
- Brandon Royval (7)
- Alex Perez (8)
- Matheus Nicolau (9)
- Rogério Bontorin (10)
No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Islam Makhachev (1)
- Alexander Volkanovski (2)
- Jon Jones (3)
- Francis Ngannou (4)
- Charles Oliveira (5)
- Demetrious Johnson (6)
- Justin Gaethje (7)
- Leon Edwards (8)
- Dustin Poirier (9)
- Amanda Nunes (10)
No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
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.