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Rankings

Pound For Pound Rankings

# 1

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Win 29 Loss 0 Draw 0

Nurmagomedov announced his retirement in October but is now considering one more fight moving forward based on how things play out with the lightweight division following UFC 257.

# 2

Jon Jones

Win 27 Loss 1 Draw 0

Already considered one of the greatest fighters of all-time, Jones said he wants to turn his attention to heavyweight and has no intention of returning to 205 pounds.

# 3

Israel Adesanya

Win 24 Loss 3 Draw 0

It was a meteoric rise for 'The Last Stylebender' to his place as UFC middleweight champion, and he'll look for champ-champ status in March when he moves to light heavyweight.

# 4

Demetrious Johnson

Win 25 Loss 4 Draw 1

After fulfilling his dream of adding a global belt to his collection of championships, 'Mighty Mouse' now looks to add ONE's flyweight belt to the grand prix title he already earned.

# 5

Kamaru Usman

Win 20 Loss 4 Draw 0

Usman may not be the most popular figure on the UFC roster, but he's certainly effective and is starting to put his name in the history books with his dominant run.

# 6

Stipe Miocic

Win 20 Loss 4 Draw 0

With his trilogy win over Daniel Cormier secured, Miocic is widely considered the greatest heavyweight in UFC history – and perhaps even all of MMA.

# 7

Deiveson Figueiredo

Win 22 Loss 3 Draw 1

Upcoming Fight: vs Cody "No Love" Garbrandt | Apr 13, 2024 - UFC 300: Pereira vs. Hill

A point dediction for a low blow forced Figueiredo to settle for a draw against Brandon Moreno, and the two are expected to meet again in early 2021.

# 8

Ryan Bader

Win 31 Loss 8 Draw 0

Bader was certainly disappointed to lose his Bellator champ-champ status, but he does still have one belt and promises to return in top form.

# 9

Alexander Volkanovski

Win 25 Loss 7 Draw 0

It wasn't as convincing as the first time around, but Volkanovski picked up a second win over Max Holloway and says he wants to continue taking out top contenders.

# 10

Dustin Poirier

Win 30 Loss 8 Draw 0

Poirier continues to be one of the most exciting fighters in the game, and his grit is immeasurable – qualities he hopes will net him another UFC title shot in the near future.

# 11
1

Max Holloway

Win 26 Loss 4 Draw 0

Upcoming Fight: vs Justin "The Highlight" Gaethje | Apr 13, 2024 - UFC 300: Pereira vs. Hill

Holloway delivered a record-breaking destruction of Calvin Kattar and now looks like he'll get a chance to regain the UFC featherweight title later this year.

# 12
1

Justin Gaethje

Win 25 Loss 4 Draw 0

Upcoming Fight: vs Max "Blessed" Holloway | Apr 13, 2024 - UFC 300: Pereira vs. Hill

Khabib Nurmagomedov proved to be too much for Gaethje at UFC 254, but 'The Highlight' could very well get another title shot in the very near future.

# 13

Robert Whittaker

Win 25 Loss 7 Draw 0

With a fantastic win over Jared Cannonier, Whittaker seemed to prove himself the No. 1 contender in the UFC's middleweight division, but Dana White said he'll need one more win for a title shot.

# 14

Paulo Costa

Win 13 Loss 1 Draw 0

Costa was frustrated after suffering the first loss of his career and has been campaigning for a rematch with Israel Adesanya, though it certainly doesn't seem to be in the cards right now.

# 15

Petr Yan

Win 17 Loss 5 Draw 0

Yan and his devastating boxing skills have earned him a UFC title, and his first defense will come against an impressive challenger in Aljamain Sterling.

Honorable Mentions

# 16

Colby Covington

welter
Win 17 Loss 4 Draw 0

# 17

Tony Ferguson

light
Win 25 Loss 10 Draw 0

# 18

Brian Ortega

feather
Win 16 Loss 3 Draw 0

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, Jan. 19: Where does big win leave Max Holloway?

If you don’t agree former UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway had a tremendous performance in his unanimous decision victory over Calvin Kattar in the main event of UFC on ABC 1 on Saturday, you should probably get a seeing-eye dog.

It was a masterful performance, and a credit to Kattar’s toughness that he went the distance before Holloway won on scores of 50-43, 50-43, and 50-42.

The problem here, if there is one, is that there isn’t much space for Holloway to move up, even after such a great fight. He’s still No. 2 at featherweight because the man at No. 1, UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski, got the nod twice in their fights, regardless whether you are one of the many who think “Blessed” deserved the nod in their rematch.

But Holloway remains among the pound-for-pound elite, and as such he moves up one spot in the men’s P4P rankings, vaulting Justin Gaethje for the No. 11 spot.

The main event in Abu Dhabi was just one of several consequential fights. So if you want to see where you favorite — or least favorite — fighters rate in the new edition of the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, click on the drop-down menu above.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

Ranking Criteria

The rankings take into account a fighter's wins/losses, quality of competition, finishing rate/dominance and frequency of fights.

Fighters are no longer eligible to be ranked after they've been inactive for 24 months, either due to injuries, drug/conduct suspensions, contract disputes or self-imposed hiatuses.

Fighters serving drug/conduct suspensions are eligible to be ranked, so long as they're not inactive for more than 24 months.

To the best of our ability, fighters will be ranked in their primary weight class. Catchweight fights and bouts outside the fighter's primary weight class can have a positive or negative impact on the ranking. However, non-titleholders can be ranked in only one weight class at a given time, and in most cases, they won't be ranked in a new weight class until they've had their first fight at that weight.

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