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 rose to the top spot in their respective ranking categories. This achievement came after their impressive victories at the UFC 322 event.
Saturday morning began with Makhachev and Shevchenko ranked second in the ESPN rankings. However, at the end of the day, both athletes rose to number one, demonstrating their dominance in the octagon.
While their paths to the top were not identical, both fighters left an indelible mark on the event. Shevchenko, defending her women’s flyweight title, secured her victory by unanimous decision against Zhang Weili. For his part, Makhachev, former lightweight champion, had no trouble dethroning Jack Della Maddalena in the welterweight category.
A key difference in the performances of Shevchenko and Makhachev was the level of their opponents in the rankings. Zhang, Shevchenko’s rival, was number one in the ESPN rankings, which made their fight a clash between the two best women in MMA. On the other hand, Della Maddalena, whom Makhachev defeated, was in eighth place among the men.
Here are the updated rankings for the weight categories in MMA:
Men’s Pound-for-Pound Ranking
UFC Welterweight Champion
Record: 28-1
Last fight: Victory (Unanimous Decision) vs. Jack Della Maddalena, November 15th
Makhachev proved his worth by becoming a two-division champion, overcoming the striking threat of Della Maddalena with relative ease at UFC 322. This victory equals him with Anderson Silva for the longest winning streak in UFC history, with 16 consecutive wins. With a group of talented welterweight contenders, Makhachev is guaranteed a future full of challenges. The most anticipated fight is against the current lightweight champion, Ilia Topuria.
UFC Lightweight Champion
Record: 17-0
Last fight: Victory (KO1) vs. Charles Oliveira, June 28th
After knocking out two of the best featherweights in UFC history, Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, in 2024, Topuria sought new challenges. He moved up to lightweight with the goal of facing Makhachev, but, with Makhachev’s move to another division, Topuria captured the vacant title by knocking out Oliveira at UFC 317.
UFC 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 an impressive career in the UFC bantamweight division. He defeated Sean O’Malley for the second time in nine months at UFC 316, and demonstrated a new facet of his game by finishing O’Malley with a guillotine in the third round. Since August 2022, Dvalishvili has beaten José Aldo, Yan, Henry Cejudo, O’Malley (twice), Umar Nurmagomedov, and Sandhagen. 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 one year.
UFC Heavyweight Champion
Record: 15-3, 1 NC
Last fight: NC1 vs. Ciryl Gane, October 25th
Aspinall is considered the most dynamic, skilled, and talented heavyweight the sport has seen. He dominates his opponents in an unparalleled way, and no one can last a round with him. He was hoping to prove his superiority against Jon Jones, but Jones decided to withdraw, elevating Aspinall from interim champion. His first defense of the undisputed belt ended anticlimactically, as an eye poke caused his fight at UFC 321 with Gane to be declared a no-contest.
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion
Record: 13-3
Last fight: Victory (TKO1) vs. Magomed Ankalaev, October 4th
2024 consolidated Pereira as a star in the UFC, but he faced his most difficult test as a light heavyweight champion when he faced Ankalaev at UFC 313. Pereira, who had dealt with strikers, faced the question of whether he could beat a talented grappler. Pereira kept the fight standing, but did not achieve victory by unanimous decision. He changed that result violently when he faced Ankalaev in a rematch at UFC 320.
UFC Middleweight Champion
Record: 15-0
Last fight: Victory (Unanimous Decision) vs. Dricus Du Plessis, August 16th
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 did not manage to finish, but completely demolished Du Plessis in their five-round bout and answered questions about his endurance. If Chimaev can stay healthy and compete frequently, he still has plenty of time to reach the top of this list.
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 at UFC 317 over Kara-France, whom he had already defeated before. He will defend the belt against Yan at UFC 323. Pantoja is quickly making his way around the 125-pound division.
UFC Featherweight Champion
Record: 27-4
Last fight: Victory (Unanimous Decision) vs. Diego Lopes, April 12
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 regaining the featherweight belt at UFC 314. His age (36) will likely remain a topic before the fight, which is fine because Volkanovski likes to prove people wrong.
UFC welterweight
Record: 18-3
Last fight: Defeat (Unanimous Decision) vs. Islam Makhachev, November 15
Della Maddalena’s retention of a top 10 spot 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.
UFC Middleweight
Record: 23-3
Last fight: Defeat (Unanimous Decision) vs. Khamzat Chimaev, August 16th
Before 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). Will he be able to fight again for another match against Chimaev?
Lightweight UFC
Record: 27-8
Last fight: Victory (Unanimous Decision) vs. Dustin Poirier, July 19th
Holloway has won four of his last five fights, alternating between lightweight and featherweight. The only defeat 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.
How our panel voted
Brett Okamoto: 1. Islam Makhacgev; 2. Ilia Topuria; 3. Merab Dvalishvili; 4. Tom Aspinall; 5. Alex Pereira; 6. Alexandre Pantoja; 7. Khamzat Chimaev; 8. Alexander Volkanovski 9. Max Holloway; 10. Umar Nurmagomedov.
Andreas Hale: 1. Makhachev; 2. Topuria; 3. Dvalishvili; 4. Aspinall; 5. Pereira; 6. Chimaev; 7. Pantoja; 8. Volkanovski; 9. Dricus Du Plessis; 10. Holloway.
Ian Parker: 1. Makhachev; 2. Topuria; 3. Dvalishvili; 4. Chimaev; 5. Pereira; 6. Pantoja; 7. Jack Della Maddalena; 8. Aspinall; 9. Volkanovski; 10. Holloway.
Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Topuria; 2. Makhachev; 3. Dvalishvili; 4. Pereira; 5. Pantoja; 6. Chimaev; 7. Aspinall; 8. Volkanovski; 9. Della Maddalena; 10. Arman Tsarukyan.
Andrew Davis: 1. Makhachev; 2. Topuria; 3. Dvalishvili; 4. Chimaev; 5. Aspinall; 6. Pereira; 7. Pantoja; 8. Volkanovski; 9. Magomed Ankalaev; 10. Du Plessis.
Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Makhachev; 2. Topuria; 3. Aspinall; 4. Dvalishvili; 5. Chimaev; 6. Pereira; 7. Pantoja; 8. Volkanovski; 9. Du Plessis; 10. Holloway.
Women’s Pound-for-Pound Ranking
UFC Flyweight Champion
Record: 26-4-1
Last fight: Victory (Unanimous Decision) vs. Zhang Weili, November 15th
Shevchenko’s dominance was questioned in 2022 and 2023, when she had a 1-1-1 record in a trilogy with Alexa Grasso. But that seems like a long time ago. Shevchenko has reasserted herself as the best flyweight in the world, and now she has affirmed 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.
UFC flyweight / strawweight
Record: 26-4
Last fight: Defeat (Unanimous Decision) vs. Valentina Shevchenko, November 15
It’s difficult to gain weight, especially at the highest level. That seems obvious, but Zhang had dominated at 115 pounds for so long that some of us might have taken for granted how big the challenge of moving up 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’ll do better in the future.
UFC Bantamweight Champion
Record: 19-1
Last fight: Victory (TechSub2) vs. Julianna Peña, June 7th
Next fight: January 24 vs. Amanda Nunes
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 prize to add to her two Olympic judo gold medals. However, she will not have it easy in her first title defense, because Nunes returns with the belt in sight.
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 fought an elite MMA opponent until she faced Pacheco in 2024. That was a legitimate matchup, and many within the industry predicted Cyborg’s downfall. Instead, she eliminated the PFL two-weight champion, undoing all of Pacheco’s momentum. One of the original pioneers of women’s MMA remains strong, and she will fight for the vacant PFL title against Collins, an Australian with a 6-0 record but little high-level experience.
UFC flyweight
Record: 13-2
Last fight: Victory (TKO1) vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius, October 18th
Fiorot did not achieve 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.
UFC Strawweight Champion
Record: 16-5
Last fight: Victory (Unanimous Decision) vs. Virna Jandiroba, October 25th
Dern’s ascent to the 115-pound throne was truly a changing of the guard. She is the first 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.
UFC flyweight
Record: 19-5-1
Last fight: Victory (Unanimous Decision) vs. Alexa Grasso, May 10
Silva appears to be a future UFC champion after a dominant showing against Grasso at UFC 315. Silva’s hit-and-move style has frustrated even the highest-level opponent, and she has youth on her side, as she won’t turn 30 until 2027.
UFC flyweight
Record: 14-2
Last fight: Victory (Sum2) vs. Tracy Cortez, November 15th
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 and suffocating grappling. She will have to wait her turn for a title shot, with Natalia Silva likely next, but Blanchfield’s turn will certainly come.
PFL flyweight
Record: 14-0
Last fight: Victory (Unanimous Decision) vs. Sumiko Inaba, July 19th
Next fight: February 7 vs. Denise Kielholtz
Ditcheva not only won the PFL flyweight season last year, but she did so 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 open 2026 with a matchup against fellow kickboxer Kielholtz.
UFC bantamweight
Record: 12-6
Last fight: Defeat (Sum2) vs. Kayla Harrison, June 7th
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 2021 submission victory over Amanda Nunes. Peña’s four most recent appearances have been in title fights, so she is prepared for big moments.
Other fighters who received votes: Alexa Grasso, Virna Jandiroba, Rose Namajunas, and Tatiana Suarez.
How our panel voted
Brett Okamoto: 1. Valentina Shevchenko; 2. Zhang Weili; 3. Kayla Harrison; 4. Cris Cyborg; 5. Manon Fiorot; 6. Mackenzie Dern; 7. Natalia Silva; 8. Erin Blanchfield; 9. Rose Namajunas; 10. Virna Jandiroba.
Andreas Hale: 1. Shevchenko; 2. Zhang; 3. Harrison; 4. Cyborg; 5. Silva; 6. Fiorot; 7. Blanchfield; 8. Dakota Ditcheva; 9. Dern; 10. Namajunas.
Ian Parker: 1. Shevchenko; 2. Zhang; 3. Cyborg; 4. Harrison; 5. Dern; 6. Julianna Peña; 7. Fiorot; 8. Jandiroba; 9. Blanchfield; 10. Silva.
Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Shevchenko; 2. Harrison; 3. Cyborg; 4. Zhang; 5. Ditcheva; 6. Dern; 7. Alexa Grasso; 8. Peña; 9. Fiorot; 10. Silva.
Andrew Davis: 1. Shevchenko; 2. Harrison; 3. Zhang; 4. Cyborg; 5. Dern; 6. Silva; 7. Fiorot; 8. Blanchfield; 9. Ditcheva; 10. Peña.
Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Shevchenko; 2. Zhang; 3. Cyborg;
