Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) recently updated its official rankings in the wake of the UFC 301 pay-per-view (PPV) event, which took place last Sat. night (May 4, 2024) at Farmasi Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Former featherweight champion Jose Aldo returned to the bantamweight rankings at No. 8 with his commanding performance against Jonathan Martinez in the co-main event.

That’s not all.

Michel Pereira, previously ranked in the welterweight division, is now listed among the Top 15 middleweights in the world, landing at No. 13 with his submission victory over Ihor Potieria. As for UFC 301 headliner Steve Erceg, he failed to capture the crown from reigning 125-pound titleholder Alexandre Pantoja and as a result, did not gain any significant ground in the flyweight Top 10.

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. Islam Makhachev
2. Jon Jones
3. Leon Edwards
4. Alex Pereira
5. Ilia Topuria
6. Sean O’Malley
7. Alexander Volkanovski
8. Max Holloway
9. Dricus Du Plessis
10. Alexandre Pantoja
11. Israel Adesanya
12. Tom Aspinall
13. Charles Oliveira
14. Sean Strickland
15. Aljamain Sterling

FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexandre Pantoja

1. Brandon Royval
2. Brandon Moreno
3. Amir Albazi
4. Kai Kara France
5. Alex Perez
6. Muhammad Mokaev
7. Manel Kape
8. Matheus Nicolau
9. Steve Erceg +1
10. Tim Elliott -1
11. Matt Schnell
12. Tagir Ulanbekov
13. Tatsuro Taira
14. Su Mudaerji
15. David Dvorak

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Sean O’Malley

1. Merab Dvalishvili
2. Cory Sandhagen
3. Petr Yan
4. Marlon Vera
5. Henry Cejudo
6. Deiveson Figueiredo
7. Song Yadong
8. Jose Aldo *NR
9. Rob Font -1
10. Umar Nurmagomedov -1
11. Kyler Phillips -1
12. Dominick Cruz -1
13. Mario Bautista
14. Jonathan Martinez -2
15. Pedro Munhoz

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Ilia Topuria

1. Alexander Volkanovski
2. Max Holloway
3. Brian Ortega
4. Yair Rodriguez
5. Movsar Evloev
6. Arnold Allen
7. Josh Emmett
8. Aljamain Sterling
9. Calvin Kattar
10. Giga Chikadze
11. Edson Barboza
12. Bryce Mitchell
13. Dan Ige
14. Diego Lopes
15. Sodiq Yusuff

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: Islam Makhachev

1. Arman Tsarukyan
2. Charles Oliveira
3. Justin Gaethje
4. Dustin Poirier
5. Mateusz Gamrot
6. Michael Chandler +1
7. Beneil Dariush -1
8. Rafael Fiziev
9. Max Holloway
10. Renato Moicano
11. Dan Hooker
12. Jalin Turner
13. Benoit Saint-Denis
14. Rafael dos Anjos
15. Bobby Green

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Leon Edwards

1. Kamaru Usman
2. Belal Muhammed
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov
4. Colby Covington
5. Jack Della Maddalena
6. Gilbert Burns
7. Ian Machado Garry
8. Sean Brady
9. Stephen Thompson
10. Geoff Neal
11. Joaquin Buckley
12. Neil Magny
13. Michael Page
14. Vicente Luque
15. Kevin Holland

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Dricus Du Plessis

1. Sean Strickland
2. Israel Adesanya
3. Robert Whittaker
4. Jared Cannonier
5. Marvin Vettori
6. Paulo Costa
7. Brendan Allen
8. Nassourdine Imavov
9. Jack Hermansson +1
10. Khamzat Chimaev +1
11. Roman Dolidze -2
12. Caio Borralho +2
13. Michel Pereira *NR
14. Anthony Hernandez -2
15. Chris Curtis

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Alex Pereira

1. Jiri Prochazka
2. Magomed Ankalaev
3. Jamahal Hill
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Aleksandar Rakic
6. Nikita Krylov
7. Johnny Walker
8. Khalil Rountree
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Anthony Smith
11. Alonzo Menifield
12. Bogdan Guskov
13. Azamat Murzakanov
14. Dominick Reyes
15. Ryan Spann

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Jon Jones

1. Tom Aspinall
2. Ciryl Gane
3. Sergei Pavlovich
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Stipe Miocic
6. Alexander Volkov
7. Jailton Almeida
8. Marcin Tybura
9. Serghei Spivac
10. Tai Tuivasa
11. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
12. Derrick Lewis
13. Alexandr Romanov
14. Marcos Rogerio De Lima
15. Rodrigo Nascimento

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Alexa Grasso
2. Zhang Weili
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Manon Fiorot
5. (T) Julianna Pena
5. (T) Raquel Pennington
7. Rose Namajunas
8. Erin Blanchfield
9. Tatiana Suarez
10. Yan Xiaonan
11. Jessica Andrade
12. Amanda Lemos
13. Ketlen Vieira +1
14. Kayla Harrison -1
15. Maycee Barber *NR

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Zhang Weili

1. Tatiana Suarez
2. Yan Xiaonan
3. Amanda Lemos
4. Jessica Andrade
5. Virna Jandiroba
6. Marina Rodriguez
7. Mackenzie Dern
8. Amanda Ribas
9. Luana Pinheiro
10. Loopy Godinez
11. Tabatha Ricci
12. Angela Hill
13. Iasmin Lucindo *NR
14. Michelle Waterson-Gomez
15. Karolina Kowalkiewicz -2

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Alexa Grasso

1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Manon Fiorot
3. Erin Blanchfield
4. Maycee Barber
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Rose Namajunas
7. Katlyn Cerminara
8. Natalia Silva
9. Amanda Ribas
10. Viviane Araújo
11. Tracy Cortez
12. Karine Silva +1
13. Ariane Da Silva -1
14. Casey O’Neill
15. Miranda Maverick

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Raquel Pennington

1. Julianna Pena
2. Ketlen Vieira
3. Mayra Bueno Silva
4. Kayla Harrison
5. Irene Aldana
6. Holly Holm
7. Macy Chiasson
8. (T) Miesha Tate
8. (T) Karol Rosa +1
10. Norma Dumont
11. Pannie Kianzad
12. Yana Santos
13. Julia Avila
14. Chelsea Chandler
15. Germaine De Randamie

You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the heavyweight division, following the UFC St. Louis: “Lewis vs. Nascimento” mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN and ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., May 11, 2024 at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.

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