MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JULY 26: (L-R) Opponents Leon Edwards of Jamaica and Belal Muhammad face off during the UFC 304 ceremonial weigh-in at Co-op Live on July 26, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Combat Press MMA Rankings: August 2024

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.

Heavyweight
  1. Jon Jones (1)
  2. Ciryl Gane (2)
  3. Tom Aspinall (3)
  4. Alexander Volkov (4)
  5. Curtis Blaydes (5)
  6. Sergei Pavlovich (6)
  7. Jailton Almeida (7)
  8. Marcin Tybura (8)
  9. Jairzinho Rozenstruik (9)
  10. Tai Tuivasa (10)

July was a quiet month at the upper echelon of the MMA world with the only significant fights happening at UFC 304 on Jul. 27. In the co-main event, interim heavyweight champ Tom Aspinall took on No. 6 Curtis Blaydes, and the Englishman walked away after a 60-second knockout in Rd. 1. The rankings remain unchanged.


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Light Heavyweight
  1. Alex Pereira (1)
  2. Jiří Procházka (2)
  3. Jamahal Hill (3)
  4. Magomed Ankalaev (4)
  5. Jan Błachowicz (5)
  6. Aleksandar Rakić (6)
  7. Corey Anderson (7)
  8. Phil Davis (8)
  9. Volkan Oezdemir (9)
  10. Bogdan Guskov (10)

No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Middleweight
  1. Dricus du Plessis (1)
  2. Sean Strickland (2)
  3. Israel Adesanya (3)
  4. Robert Whittaker (4)
  5. Nassourdine Imavov (5)
  6. Marvin Vettori (6)
  7. Khamzat Chimaev (7)
  8. Paulo Costa (8)
  9. Jared Cannonier (9)
  10. Johnny Eblen (10)

No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Welterweight
  1. Belal Muhammad (5)
  2. Leon Edwards (1)
  3. Kamaru Usman (2)
  4. Shavkat Rakhmonov (3)
  5. Colby Covington (4)
  6. Jack Della Maddalena (6)
  7. Sean Brady (7)
  8. Gilbert Burns (8)
  9. Ian Garry (9)
  10. Ramazan Kuramagomedov (10)

In the UFC 304 main event, No. 5 Belal Muhammad dominated welterweight champion in at least three of five rounds to capture the belt. Muhammad jumps to No. 1, and Edwards and three others fall one spot.

Lightweight
  1. Islam Makhachev (1)
  2. Arman Tsarukyan (2)
  3. Charles Oliveira (3)
  4. Justin Gaethje (4)
  5. Dustin Poirier (5)
  6. Michael Chandler (6)
  7. Mateusz Gamrot (7)
  8. Beneil Dariush (8)
  9. Rafael Fiziev (9)
  10. A.J. McKee (10)

No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Featherweight
  1. Ilia Topuria (1)
  2. Brian Ortega (2)
  3. Alex Volkanovski (3)
  4. Max Holloway (4)
  5. Yair Rodriguez (5)
  6. Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (6)
  7. Movsar Evloev (7)
  8. Chan Sung Jung (8)
  9. Josh Emmett (9)
  10. Aljamain Sterling (10)

No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Bantamweight
  1. Sean O’Malley (1)
  2. Demetrious Johnson (2)
  3. Merab Dvalishvili (3)
  4. Cory Sandhagen (4)
  5. T.J. Dillashaw (5)
  6. Petr Yan (6)
  7. Henry Cejudo (7)
  8. Marlon Vera (8)
  9. Patchy Mix (9)
  10. Adriano Moraes (10)

No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

Flyweight
  1. Alexandre Pantoja (1)
  2. Brandon Royval (2)
  3. Brandon Moreno (3)
  4. Deiveson Figueiredo (4)
  5. Amir Albazi (5)
  6. Askar Askarov (6)
  7. Kai Kara-France (7)
  8. Muhammad Mokaev (8)
  9. Tatsuro Taira (9)
  10. Alex Perez (10)

The only flyweight in action this month was at UFC 304 when No. 8 Muhammad Mokaev picked up a unanimous decision over Manel Kape. The rankings remain unchanged.

Pound-For-Pound
  1. Islam Makhachev (1)
  2. Jon Jones (2)
  3. Max Holloway (3)
  4. Demetrious Johnson (4)
  5. Alex Pereira (5)
  6. Belal Muhammad (-)
  7. Dustin Poirier (6)
  8. Amanda Nunes (8)
  9. Ilia Topuria (10)
  10. Justin Gaethje (9)

Dropped from the rankings: Leon Edwards (7)

With Belal Muhammad dominating Leon Edwards at UFC 304 for the welterweight title, there was a shake-up in the pound-for-pound rankings.


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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