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 male and female athletes.
Note: the numbers in parentheses represent the fighter’s ranking from the previous month.
- Jon Jones (1)
- Francis Ngannou (2)
- Ciryl Gane (3)
- Tom Aspinall (4)
- Alexander Volkov (5)
- Curtis Blaydes (6)
- Sergei Pavlovich (7)
- Jailton Almeida (8)
- Serghei Spivac (9)
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik (10)
No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Magomed Ankalaev (1)
- Alex Pereira (2)
- Jiří Procházka (3)
- Jamahal Hill (4)
- Carlos Ulberg (5)
- Aleksandar Rakić (6)
- Corey Anderson (7)
- Jan Błachowicz (8)
- Khalil Rountree Jr. (9)
- Volkan Oezdemir (10)
No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Dricus du Plessis (1)
- Sean Strickland (2)
- Nassourdine Imavov (3)
- Khamzat Chimaev (4)
- Israel Adesanya (5)
- Robert Whittaker (6)
- Roman Dolidze (7)
- Caio Borralho (8)
- Paulo Costa (9)
- Johnny Eblen (10)
No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Belal Muhammad (1)
- Sean Brady (2)
- Leon Edwards (3)
- Kamaru Usman (4)
- Shavkat Rakhmonov (5)
- Joaquin Buckley (6)
- Jack Della Maddalena (7)
- Colby Covington (8)
- Ramazan Kuramagomedov (9)
- Ian Machado Garry (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Gilbert Burns (10)
At UFC Kansas City, on Apr. 26, Ian Machado Garry beat Carlos Prates by unanimous decision to take his record to 16-1. He slides into the No. 10 spot, replacing Gilbert Burns, who is on a three-fight skid.
- Islam Makhachev (1)
- Arman Tsarukyan (2)
- Charles Oliveira (3)
- Justin Gaethje (4)
- Dustin Poirier (5)
- Paddy Pimblett (-)
- Dan Hooker (7)
- Michael Chandler (6)
- Mateusz Gamrot (8)
- Beneil Dariush (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Rafael Fiziev (10)
Well, the time has finally come. The brash and charismatic Paddy Pimblett has finally entered the rankings. At UFC 314, on Apr. 12, Pimblett was able to stop former three-time Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler by TKO in the third round of their co-main event scrap. The Englishman enters at No. 6, Chandler falls to No. 8, those below him move down a spot, and Rafael Fiziev falls out of the rankings.
- Ilia Topuria (1)
- Alex Volkanovski (2)
- Diego Lopes (4)
- Max Holloway (3)
- Brian Ortega (5)
- Yair Rodriguez (6)
- Movsar Evloev (8)
- Jean Silva (-)
- Lerone Murphy (-)
- Aljamain Sterling (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Chan Sung Jung (9), Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (7), Josh Emmett (10)
The featherweight division had the busiest month, by far, but before we get to results, “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung has been removed, due to inactivity.
To start the month, unranked Lerone Murphy defeated No. 10 Josh Emmett by unanimous decision at UFC Vegas 105. Emmett falls out of the rankings, and Murphy ends up entering at No. 9. Everything else at 145 pounds happened at UFC 314 on Apr. 12.
At UFC 314, No. 6 Yair Rodriguez completely handled No. 7 Patricio “Pitbull” Freire in Pitbull’s UFC debut over three rounds. Pitbull is out of the rankings, and No. 8 Movsar Evloev takes his spot. In the fight before that, Jean Silva submitted Bryce Mitchell with a ninja choke to enter the rankings at No. 8.
Before discussing the UFC 314 headliner, it is important to note that, prior to the event UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria vacated his title ahead of the main event to move to lightweight, so former champ Alexander Volkanovski faced Diego Lopes for the vacant featherweight title. Although, until Topuria fights at lightweight, he will remain atop the featherweight rankings. Volkanovski ended up beating Lopes by unanimous decision, but he will remain at No. 2 in the rankings.
By default, Aljamain Sterling, who is 1-1 since returning to featherweight last year, enters the rankings at No. 10.
- Merab Dvalishvili (1)
- Sean O’Malley (2)
- Umar Nurmagomedov (4)
- Cory Sandhagen (5)
- Petr Yan (6)
- Song Yadong (7)
- Patchy Mix (8)
- Deiveson Figueiredo (9)
- Marlon Vera (10)
- Mario Bautista (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Demetrious Johnson (3)
While no top-10 bantamweights fought in April, there was a shake-up in the rankings, as Demetrious Johnson was removed due to inactivity and, ultimately, retirement. Everyone below him moves up a spot, and entering the rankings at No. 10 is Mario Bautista. He is on a seven-fight winning streak in the UFC, dating back to Feb. 2022, and his last win was over former longtime UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo last October.
- Alexandre Pantoja (1)
- Brandon Royval (2)
- Brandon Moreno (3)
- Amir Albazi (5)
- Kai Kara-France (7)
- Muhammad Mokaev (8)
- Manel Kape (9)
- Tatsuro Taira (10)
- Alex Perez (-)
- Asu Almabayev (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Deiveson Figueiredo (4), Askar Askarov (6)
As with bantamweight, the top-10 flyweights didn’t see any action in April, but with No. 6 Askar Askarov being removed for inactivity, and No. 4 Deiveson Figueiredo being removed from flyweight rankings, everyone below them move up one spot. Moving into the No. 9 spot is Alex Perez, followed by Asu Almabayev at No. 10.
- Islam Makhachev (1)
- Jon Jones (2)
- Ilia Topuria (3)
- Alexander Volkanovksi (-)
- Max Holloway (4)
- Dustin Poirier (6)
- Belal Muhammad (7)
- Magomed Ankalaev (8)
- Justin Gaethje (9)
- Alex Pereira (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Demetrious Johnson (5)
As previously mentioned, No. 5 Demetrious Johnson has been removed due to inactivity. No. 4 Max Holloway actually falls into that spot, as Alexander Volkanovski proves he could make a big comeback to win back the UFC featherweight title after devastating back-to-back knockouts. Those losses came from No. 1 Islam Makhachev and No. 3 Ilia Topuria, but Volkanovski gained back the title Topuria vacated when he won a Fight of the Night battle against Diego Lopes at UFC 314.
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.