Islam Makhachev and Valentina Shevchenko Reach the Top in MMA Rankings
In a day full of emotions for mixed martial arts fans, Islam Makhachev and Valentina Shevchenko managed to climb to the top spot in their respective categories in the ESPN ranking. Both fighters demonstrated their dominance with resounding victories at UFC 322. Although their paths were not identical, both champions left an indelible mark. Shevchenko, current women’s flyweight champion, defended her title with a unanimous decision over Zhang Weili. For his part, Makhachev, former lightweight champion, conquered a new division by defeating Jack Della Maddalena at welterweight. A key difference in their performances was the ranking level of their opponents. While Shevchenko faced Zhang Weili, who was number one at the time, Makhachev defeated Della Maddalena, who was ranked eighth. This could explain why some voters kept Makhachev in second place, below the current lightweight champion, Ilia Topuria. Shevchenko, on the other hand, obtained a unanimous position as number one.Men’s Pound-for-Pound Ranking
- Islam Makhachev
Ilia Topuria
Contents
Previous position: 1
Record: 17-0 Last fight: Victory (KO1) vs. Charles Oliveira, June 28th Next fight: To be defined After knocking out two of the best featherweights in UFC history (Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway) in 2024, it would be difficult for Topuria to top that in 2025. He moved up to lightweight with the goal of challenging Makhachev, but with Makhachev moving up a division, Topuria captured the vacant title by knocking out Oliveira at UFC 317.Merab DvalishviliUFC Bantamweight Champion Record: 21-4 Last fight: Victory (Unanimous Decision) vs. Cory Sandhagen, October 4th Next fight: December 6 vs. Petr Yan Dvalishvili is having one of the most impressive careers in the UFC bantamweight division. Not only did he defeat Sean O’Malley for the second time in nine months at UFC 316, but he also demonstrated a new facet of his game, finishing O’Malley with a guillotine in the third round. Since August 2022, Dvalishvili has defeated José Aldo, Yan, Henry Cejudo, O’Malley (twice), Umar Nurmagomedov, and Sandhagen. And he will defend his title again, in a rematch with Yan, in December, becoming the only champion in UFC history to defend a title four times in a year.Tom Aspinall
UFC Heavyweight Champion Record: 15-3, 1 NC Last fight: NC1 vs. Ciryl Gane, October 25th Next fight: To be defined It can be argued that Aspinall is the most dynamic, skilled, and talented heavyweight the sport has seen. He is dominating his opponents in an unparalleled way. No one can last a round with him. He was hoping to prove his supremacy against Jon Jones, but Jones chose to withdraw, elevating Aspinall from interim champion. His first defense of the undisputed belt ended anticlimactically, as an eye poke resulted in his fight at UFC 321 with Gane being declared a no-contest.Alex Pereira
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Record: 13-3 Last fight: Victory (TKO1) vs. Magomed Ankalaev, October 4th Next fight: To be defined A stellar 2024 consolidated Pereira’s place as a star in the UFC, but he faced possibly his toughest test as a light heavyweight champion when he entered the octagon with Ankalaev at UFC 313. Pereira had faced strikers, but the question was whether he could do the job against a talented grappler. Pereira kept the fight standing, but fell short by unanimous decision. He changed that result violently when he faced Ankalaev in a rematch at UFC 320.Khamzat Chimaev
UFC Middleweight Champion Record: 15-0 Last fight: Victory (Unanimous Decision) vs. Dricus Du Plessis, August 16th Next fight: To be defined After five years of anticipation, Chimaev finally fought for a championship at UFC 319, and the result was one of the most dominant title fight performances in UFC history. Chimaev failed to finish, but completely demolished Du Plessis in their five-round bout and answered questions about his physical condition along the way. If Chimaev can stay healthy and compete frequently, he still has plenty of time to climb to the top of this list.Alexandre Pantoja
UFC Flyweight Champion Record: 30-5 Last fight: Victory (Sum3) vs. Kai Kara-France, June 28th Next fight: December 6 vs. Joshua Van The UFC flyweight king has accumulated four title defenses, including two in pay-per-view main events in 2024. He built his winning streak to eight in his victory over Kara-France at UFC 317, whom he had already defeated before. He will defend the belt against Yan at UFC 323. Pantoja is quickly lapping the 125-pound division.Alexander Volkanovski
UFC Featherweight Champion Previous position: 9 Record: 27-4 Last fight: Victory (Unanimous Decision) vs. Diego Lopes, April 12 Next fight: To be defined It seemed that the sport had begun to write Volkanovski’s eulogy after his knockout loss to Topuria in February 2024. Volkanovski took notice and made a point of showing everyone that he still has a lot left by recapturing the featherweight belt at UFC 314. His age (36) will likely remain a pre-fight topic, which is fine because Volkanovski likes to prove people wrong.Jack Della Maddalena
UFC Welterweight Previous position: 8 Record: 18-3 Last fight: Defeat (Unanimous Decision) vs. Islam Makhachev, November 15 Next fight: To be defined Della Maddalena’s retention in the top 10 might be a surprise, but it speaks to a few things. One, of course, is that there’s no shame in losing to Makhachev. And two, this could be the deepest welterweight division in MMA history. Della Maddalena’s eight-fight win streak in this division still means a lot. And although Della Maddalena had a bad night at UFC 322, the perception of his talent hasn’t changed drastically because of it.Dricus Du Plessis
UFC Middleweight
Record: 23-3 Last fight: Defeat (Unanimous Decision) vs. Khamzat Chimaev, August 16th Next fight: To be definedBefore being submitted by Chimaev and losing the belt, Du Plessis was dominating the middleweight division with 11 consecutive victories, including four in a row over champions or former champions (Sean Strickland twice, Israel Adesanya, and Robert Whittaker). Can he rebuild for another opportunity against Chimaev?
Max Holloway
UFC Lightweight
Record: 27-8 Last fight: Victory (Unanimous Decision) vs. Dustin Poirier, July 19th Next fight: To be defined Holloway has won four of his last five fights, alternating between lightweight and featherweight. The only loss was against Ilia Topuria, who now reigns in Holloway’s current division, lightweight. Other fighters who received votes: Magomed Ankalaev, Umar Nurmagomedov, and Arman Tsarukyan.Women’s Pound-for-Pound Ranking
- Valentina Shevchenko
UFC Flyweight Champion
Previous position: 2 Record: 26-4-1 Last fight: Victory (Unanimous Decision) vs. Zhang Weili, November 15th Next fight: To be defined Shevchenko’s dominance was questioned in 2022 and 2023, when she had a 1-1-1 record in a trilogy with Alexa Grasso. Now, that seems like a long time ago. Shevchenko has reasserted herself as the best flyweight in the world, and now she has asserted herself as the number 1 in the world, period. It wasn’t surprising that she beat Zhang, but it was surprising how easily she did it.Zhang Weili
UFC Flyweight/Strawweight Previous position: 1 Record: 26-4 Last fight: Defeat (Unanimous Decision) vs. Valentina Shevchenko, November 15 Next fight: To be defined It’s difficult to gain weight, especially at the highest level. That sounds obvious, but Zhang had been dominant at 115 pounds for so long that some of us might have taken for granted how big the challenge of moving to 125 would be. UFC 322 was a bad night for Zhang, but she doesn’t have many. And if she decides to stay at 125, it certainly seems reasonable that she will do better in the future.Kayla Harrison
UFC Bantamweight Champion Record: 19-1 Last fight: Victory (Sum2) vs. Julianna Peña, June 7th Next fight: To be defined The face of PFL for a long time is also quickly becoming the face of the UFC women’s divisions. With a dominant victory over Peña at UFC 316, Harrison has a 4-0 record in the UFC and has the hardware to add to her two Olympic judo gold medals. However, she will not have it easy in her first title defense, as Nunes returns with the belt in her sights.Cris Cyborg
PFL Featherweight Record: 28-2, 1 NC Last fight: Victory (Unanimous Decision) vs. Larissa Pacheco, October 19, 2024 Next fight: December 13 vs. Sara Collins It had been a while since Cyborg had faced an elite opponent in MMA until she met Pacheco in 2024. That was a legitimate fight, and many within the industry predicted Cyborg’s downfall. Instead, she eliminated the two-weight PFL champion, upsetting all of Pacheco’s momentum. One of the original pioneers of women’s MMA is still going strong somehow, and will go for the vacant PFL title against Collins, an Australian with a 6-0 record but little high-level experience.Manon Fiorot
UFC Flyweight Record: 13-2 Last fight: Victory (TKO1) vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius, October 18th Next fight: To be defined Fiorot fell short in her challenge against Shevchenko, the champion, at UFC 315. But by defeating Rose Namajunas and Erin Blanchfield in her two previous fights, Fiorot has shown that she has the tools to become a champion.Mackenzie Dern
UFC Strawweight Champion Record: 16-5 Last fight: Victory (Unanimous Decision) vs. Virna Jandiroba, October 25th Next fight: To be defined Dern’s ascent to the 115-pound throne was truly a changing of the guard. She is the first first-time champion of the division since 2019, because the previous three champions (Zhang Weili, Carla Esparza, and Rose Namajunas) were in their second reigns. Dern, almost a decade into her MMA career after multiple world jiu-jitsu championships, has won three fights in a row.Natalia Silva
UFC Flyweight Record: 19-5-1 Last fight: Victory (Unanimous Decision) vs. Alexa Grasso, May 10th Next fight: To be defined Silva looks to be a future UFC champion after a dominant showing against Grasso at UFC 315. Silva’s hit-and-move style has frustrated even top-level opponents, and she has youth on her side, as she won’t turn 30 until 2027.Erin Blanchfield
UFC Flyweight Record: 14-2 Last fight: Victory (Sum2) vs. Tracy Cortez, November 15th Next fight: To be defined Blanchfield avenged her 2019 defeat to Cortez emphatically at UFC 322, submitting her in the second round of their rematch. At only 26 years old, Blanchfield continues to evolve with improved striking ability and a suffocating grip. She will have to wait her turn for a title shot, with Natalia Silva likely next, but Blanchfield’s turn is certainly coming.Dakota Ditcheva
PFL Flyweight Record: 14-0 Last fight: Victory (Unanimous Decision) vs. Sumiko Inaba, July 19th Next fight: February 7 vs. Denise KielholtzDitcheva not only won the PFL flyweight season last year, but she did it in spectacular fashion: a TKO finish over Taila Santos, who once challenged for a UFC title. Ditcheva opened her 2025 campaign by dominating Inaba in the co-main event of the first PFL Champions Series card in Cape Town, South Africa. She will begin 2026 with a matchup against fellow kickboxer Kielholtz.
Julianna Peña
UFC Bantamweight Record: 12-6 Last fight: Defeat (Sum2) vs. Kayla Harrison, June 7th Next fight: To be defined Peña is a two-time women’s bantamweight champion, with one of those reigns made possible by one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, her submission victory in 2021 over Amanda Nunes. Peña’s four most recent appearances have been in title fights, so she is made for big moments. Other fighters who received votes: Alexa Grasso, Virna Jandiroba, Rose Namajunas, and Tatiana Suarez.
