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.
- Francis Ngannou (1)
- Ciryl Gane (2)
- Tom Aspinall (3)
- Alexander Volkov (4)
- Josh Hokit (5)
- Curtis Blaydes (6)
- Sergei Pavlovich (7)
- Rizvan Kuniev (8)
- Jailton Almeida (9)
- Waldo Cortes-Acosta (10)
Rizvan Kuniev was the only top-10 heavyweight in action during July. Kuniev stopped former Bellator contender Tyrell Fortune with knees in the third round at UFC Abu Dhabi on July 25, giving him another victory over an established heavyweight. The rankings remain unchanged.
- Alex Pereira (1)
- Carlos Ulberg (2)
- Magomed Ankalaev (3)
- Jiří Procházka (4)
- Khalil Rountree Jr. (5)
- Paulo Costa (6)
- Azamat Murzakanov (7)
- Jamahal Hill (8)
- Corey Anderson (9)
- Jan Błachowicz (10)
Magomed Ankalaev was the only top-10 light heavyweight in action during July. Ankalaev stopped late-replacement opponent Bogdan Guskov in the fifth round of the UFC Abu Dhabi main event on July 25. Guskov replaced Khalil Rountree Jr., who withdrew because of an injury. The rankings remain unchanged.
- Sean Strickland (1)
- Khamzat Chimaev (2)
- Dricus du Plessis (3)
- Nassourdine Imavov (4)
- Joe Pyfer (5)
- Brendan Allen (6)
- Israel Adesanya (7)
- Anthony Hernandez (8)
- Caio Borralho (9)
- Reinier de Ridder (10)
No. 3 Dricus du Plessis was the only top-10 middleweight in action during July. The former UFC champion returned to the win column with a unanimous-decision victory over Kamaru Usman in the UFC Oklahoma City main event on July 18. The rankings remain unchanged.
- Islam Makhachev (1)
- Carlos Prates (2)
- Jack Della Maddalena (3)
- Shavkat Rakhmonov (4)
- Michael Morales (5)
- Ian Machado Garry (6)
- Sean Brady (7)
- Gabriel Bonfim (8)
- Joaquin Buckley (9)
- Belal Muhammad (10)
No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Justin Gaethje (1)
- Ilia Topuria (2)
- Arman Tsarukyan (3)
- Charles Oliveira (4)
- Paddy Pimblett (5)
- Max Holloway (6)
- Benoît Saint Denis (7)
- Mateusz Gamrot (8)
- Dan Hooker (9)
- Mauricio Ruffy (10)
Three top-10 lightweights competed at UFC 329 on July 11. Max Holloway defeated Conor McGregor by first-round injury TKO in a welterweight bout after McGregor injured his right knee. In the co-main event, Paddy Pimblett put Benoît Saint Denis to sleep with a D’Arce choke just 52 seconds into the opening round. The rankings remain unchanged.
- Alex Volkanovski (1)
- Diego Lopes (2)
- Yair Rodriguez (3)
- Aljamain Sterling (4)
- Movsar Evloev (5)
- Brian Ortega (6)
- Lerone Murphy (7)
- Jean Silva (8)
- Aaron Pico (9)
- David Onama (10)
No top-10 fighters were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Petr Yan (1)
- Merab Dvalishvili (2)
- Sean O’Malley (3)
- Umar Nurmagomedov (4)
- Mario Bautista (9)
- Cory Sandhagen (5)
- Song Yadong (6)
- Deiveson Figueiredo (7)
- Aiemann Zahabi (8)
- David Martinez (10)
Two top-10 bantamweights met at UFC 329 on July 11. No. 9 Mario Bautista avenged his previous loss to No. 5 Cory Sandhagen, defeating the longtime contender by unanimous decision. Bautista jumps to No. 5, and the rankings adjust accordingly.
- Joshua Van (1)
- Alexandre Pantoja (2)
- Tatsuro Taira (3)
- Manel Kape (4)
- Kyoji Horiguchi (5)
- Brandon Royval (10)
- Muhammad Mokaev (8)
- Lone’er Kavanagh (6)
- Amir Albazi (7)
- Brandon Moreno (9)
Two top-10 flyweights competed at UFC 329 on July 11. No. 10 Brandon Royval halted No. 6 Lone’er Kavanagh’s rise through the division, submitting the British prospect with a rear-naked choke late in the third round. Royval climbs back up the ladder to No. 6, and the rankings shake up accordingly.
- Islam Makhachev (1)
- Justin Gaethje (2)
- Ilia Topuria (3)
- Alexander Volkanovksi (4)
- Charles Oliveira (5)
- Max Holloway (6)
- Valentina Shevchenko (7)
- Joshua Van (8)
- Sean Strickland (9)
- Ciryl Gane (10)
Max Holloway was the only pound-for-pound-ranked fighter in action during July. Holloway defeated Conor McGregor by first-round injury TKO in the UFC 329 main event on July 11. Although the fight took place at welterweight, it counts toward Holloway’s overall MMA activity and pound-for-pound standing. 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.