Top 10! Middleweight Khamzat shakes up official UFC rankings, Islam tops Volkanovski (but not Jon Jones) on P4P chart

Khamzat Chimaev is now ranked in the Top 10 at 185 pounds.

The path to No. 9 included a decision victory over Kamaru Usman at UFC 294 last weekend in Abu Dhabi. “The Nigerian Nightmare,” who competes at welterweight, agreed to fight “Borz” on short notice after Paulo Costa withdrew because of staph infection in his elbow.

To date, Chimaev holds zero wins over a ranked middleweight.

Elsewhere on the charts, reigning lightweight champion Islam Makhachev leapfrogged Alex Volkanovski on the promotion’s pound-for-pound chart after stopping the featherweight titleholder in the first round of their short-notice UFC 294 pay-per-view (PPV) rematch.

Heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones, however, remains in the top spot.

Here’s how UFC compiles its official rankings:

Rankings were generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings.

Take a look at what the latest rankings field looks like courtesy of UFC.com. Note: (+/- = movement in rankings, T = tie, *NR = Not previously ranked).

MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Jon Jones2. Islam Makhachev +13. Alexander Volkanovski -14. Leon Edwards5. Charles Oliveira6. Sean O’Malley7. Sean Strickland +18. Israel Adesanya +19. Alexandre Pantoja +110. Alex Pereira +111. Aljamain Sterling +212. Max Holloway13. Kamaru Usman -614. Jiri Prochazka15. Jamahal Hill

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexandre Pantoja

1. Brandon Moreno2. Deiveson Figueiredo3. Amir Albazi4. Brandon Royval5. Kai Kara France6. Matheus Nicolau7. Alex Perez8. Manel Kape9. Matt Schnell10. Muhammad Mokaev +111. Tim Elliott -112. Su Mudaerji13. Tagir Ulanbekov14. Steve Erceg15. David Dvorak

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Sean O’Malley

1. Aljamain Sterling2. Merab Dvalishvili3. Henry Cejudo4. Cory Sandhagen5. Petr Yan6. Marlon Vera7. Song Yadong8. Rob Font9. Dominick Cruz10. Pedro Munhoz11. Jonathan Martinez12. Umar Nurmagomedov13. Ricky Simon14. Chris Gutierrez15. Said Nurmagomedov *NR

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Alexander Volkanovski

1. Max Holloway2. Yair Rodriguez3. Brian Ortega4. Arnold Allen5. Ilia Topuria6. Josh Emmett7. Calvin Kattar8. Giga Chikadze9. Movsar Evloev10. Bryce Mitchell11. Edson Barboza12. Sodiq Yusuff13. Dan Ige14. Lerone Murphy15. Alex Caceres

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: Islam Makhachev

1. Charles Oliveira2. Justin Gaethje3. Dustin Poirier4. Beneil Dariush5. Michael Chandler6. Mateusz Gamrot7. Rafael Fiziev8. Arman Tsarukyan9. Dan Hooker10. Rafael dos Anjos11. Jalin Turner12. Bobby Green13. Renato Moicano14. Matt Frevola15. Drew Dober

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Leon Edwards

1. Kamaru Usman2. Belal Muhammed +13. Colby Covington -14. Gilbert Burns +15. Shavkat Rakhmonov +16. Stephen Thompson +17. Geoff Neal +18. Sean Brady +19. Vicente Luque +110. Ian Machado Garry +111. Jack Della Maddalena +112. Kevin Holland +113. Neil Magny +114. Michael Chiesa +115. Rinat Fakhretdinov *NR

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Sean Strickland

1. Israel Adesanya2. Dricus Du Plessis3. Robert Whittaker4. Jared Cannonier5. Marvin Vettori6. Paulo Costa7. Roman Dolidze8. Jack Hermansson 9. Khamzat Chimaev *NR10. Brendan Allen -111. Kelvin Gastelum -112. Nassourdine Imavov -113. Paul Craig -114. Chris Curtis -115. Anthony Hernandez

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Jamahal Hill

1. Jiri Prochazka2. Magomed Ankalaev3. Alex Pereira 4. Jan Blachowicz 5. Aleksandar Rakic 6. Nikita Krylov 7. Johnny Walker 8. Anthony Smith 9. Volkan Oezdemir 10. Ryan Spann11. Khalil Rountree12. Azamat Murzakanov13. Dominick Reyes14. Alonzo Menifield15. Dustin Jacoby

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Jon Jones

1. Ciryl Gane2. Sergei Pavlovich3. Stipe Miocic4. Tom Aspinall5. Curtis Blaydes6. Alexander Volkov7. Serghei Spivac8. Tai Tuivasa9. Jailton Almeida10. Derrick Lewis11. Marcin Tybura12. Jairzinho Rozenstruik13. Alexandr Romanov14. Marcos Rogerio De Lima15. Martin Buday

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Alexa Grasso2. Zhang Weili3. Valentina Shevchenko4. Julianna Pena5. Erin Blanchfield6. Manon Fiorot7. Carla Esparza8. Rose Namajunas9. Yan Xiaonan10. Tatiana Suarez11. Taila Santos12. Jessica Andrade13. Raquel Pennington14. Amanda Lemos15. Mayra Bueno Silva

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Zhang Weili

1. Carla Esparza2. Yan Xiaonan3. Tatiana Suarez4. Amanda Lemos5. Jessica Andrade6. Virna Jandiroba7. Mackenzie Dern8. Marina Rodriguez9. Luana Pinheiro10. Tabatha Ricci11. Amanda Ribas12. Angela Hill13. Loopy Godinez14. Karolina Kowalkiewicz15. Michelle Waterson-Gomez

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexa Grasso

1. Valentina Shevchenko2. Erin Blanchfield3. Manon Fiorot4. Talia Santos5. Katlyn Chookagian6. Jessica Andrade7. Lauren Murphy8. Maycee Barber9. Viviane Araújo10. Amanda Ribas11. Tracy Cortez +112. Natalia Silva +113. Casey O’Neill +114. Karine Silva +115. Andrea Lee *NR

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: VACANT

1. Julianna Pena2. Raquel Pennington3. Mayra Bueno Silva4. Ketlen Vieira5. (T) Irene Aldana5. (T) Holly Holm7. Pannie Kianzad8. Yana Santos9. (T) Macy Chiasson9. (T) Karol Rosa11. Norma Dumont12. Miesha Tate13. Julia Avila14. Josiane Nunes15. Chelsea Chandler

You can expect these rankings to change in roughly two weeks, particularly in the heavyweight division, following the UFC Sao Paulo: “Almeida vs. Lewis” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+ on Sat, Nov. 4, 2023 at Ibirapuera Gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.