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)
- Waldo Cortes-Acosta (-)
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Ante Delija (9)
Waldo Cortes-Acosta was a busy guy in November. First, he crushed No. 9 Ante Delija by first-round knockout at UFC Vegas 110 on Nov. 1. In a three-week tournaround, he scored a first-round knockout of Shamil Gaziev at UFC Qatar. Cortes-Acosta replaces Delija at No. 9.
- Alex Pereira (1)
- Magomed Ankalaev (2)
- Jiří Procházka (3)
- Khalil Rountree Jr. (4)
- Carlos Ulberg (5)
- Azamat Murzakanov (6)
- Corey Anderson (7)
- Jamahal Hill (8)
- Jan Błachowicz (9)
- Aleksandar Rakić (10)
No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Khamzat Chimaev (1)
- Dricus du Plessis (2)
- Sean Strickland (3)
- Nassourdine Imavov (4)
- Israel Adesanya (5)
- Brendan Allen (6)
- Reinier de Ridder (7)
- Robert Whittaker (8)
- Anthony Hernandez (9)
- Paulo Costa (10)
No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Islam Makhachev (-)
- Jack Della Maddalena (1)
- Shavkat Rakhmonov (6)
- Michael Morales (-)
- Ian Machado Garry (10)
- Sean Brady (3)
- Carlos Prates (-)
- Belal Muhammad (2)
- Joaquin Buckley (7)
- Ramazan Kuramagomedov (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Kamaru Usman (4), Leon Edwards (5), Colby Covington (8)
One of the most significant rankings shake-ups of the year happened at the welterweight division after November. Most of the action occurred on the main card at UFC 322 on Nov. 15. First, unranked Carlos Prates knocked out No. 5 Leon Edwards in the second round, before unranked Michael Morales scored a first-round TKO over No. 3 Sean Brady. In the main event, former lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev moved up to win a unanimous decision over welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena to become a two-division champ. The following week, at UFC Qatar, No. 10 Ian Machado Garry scored unanimous decision over No. 2 Belal Muhammad.
After the dust settled, Makhachev enters at No. 1, Morales at No. 4, and Prates at No. 7. No. 6 Shavkat Rakhmonov moves up to No. 3, Garry climbs to No. 4, and after various other movements, the three men to fall out of the top-10 rankings are Edwards, Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington.
- Islam Makhachev (1)
- Ilia Topuria (2)
- Arman Tsarukyan (3)
- Charles Oliveira (4)
- Justin Gaethje (5)
- Max Holloway (6)
- Paddy Pimblett (7)
- Benoît Saint Denis (-)
- Dan Hooker (8)
- Michael Chandler (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Beneil Dariush (10)
On Nov. 15, at UFC 322, unranked Benoît Saint Denis scored first-round knockout over No. 10 Beneil Darisuh.
A week later, at UFC 322, Arman Tsarukyan submitted No. 8 Dan Hooker in Round 2. Dariush falls out of the rankings, Saint Denis enters at No. 8, and Hooker and Michael Chandler each fall one notch.
- Ilia Topuria (1)
- Alex Volkanovski (2)
- Diego Lopes (3)
- Yair Rodriguez (4)
- Aljamain Sterling (5)
- Movsar Evloev (6)
- Brian Ortega (7)
- Lerone Murphy (8)
- Jean Silva (9)
- Patricio “Pitbull” Freire (10)
No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Merab Dvalishvili (1)
- Sean O’Malley (2)
- Umar Nurmagomedov (3)
- Cory Sandhagen (4)
- Petr Yan (5)
- Deiveson Figueiredo (6)
- Song Yadong (7)
- Mario Bautista (8)
- Aiemann Zahabi (9)
- Marlon Vera (10)
No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Alexandre Pantoja (1)
- Joshua Van (2)
- Brandon Moreno (3)
- Brandon Royval (4)
- Amir Albazi (5)
- Muhammad Mokaev (6)
- Kai Kara-France (7)
- Manel Kape (8)
- Tatsuro Taira (9)
- Almabayev (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Alex Perez (10)
On Nov. 7 at BRAVE CF 100, No. 6 Muhammed Mokaev knocked out Gerard Burns in Round 2 to win the inaugural Brave CF flyweight championship. Then, at UFC Qatar on Nov. 22, unranked Asu Almabayev submitted No. 10 Alex Perez. Almabayev replaces Perez in the rankings.
- Islam Makhachev (1)
- Jon Jones (2)
- Ilia Topuria (3)
- Alexander Volkanovksi (4)
- Max Holloway (5)
- Jack Della Maddalena (6)
- Valentina Shevchenko (-)
- Justin Gaethje (8)
- Alex Pereira (9)
- Magomed Ankalaev (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Belal Muhammad (7)
With Islam Makhachev defeating Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight title, Valentina Shevchenko beating Zhang Weili, and Ian Garry dominating Belal Muhammad, the only change to the pound-for-pound rankings is Shevchenko replacing Muhammad at No. 7.
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.