Last Saturday morning, Islam Makhachev woke up as No. 2 on the ESPN men's pound-for-pound rankings. Valentina Shevchenko was No. 2 on our women's list.
By the end of the day, both had ascended to No. 1 after dominant victories at UFC 322.
Their days were not totally parallel, of course. Shevchenko began the day as women's flyweight champion and retained her title with a unanimous decision win over Zhang Weili, who had vacated her strawweight championship to move up in weight. In Makhachev's case, he was the one moving up a division after vacating, but the former lightweight titlist had no trouble dethroning Jack Della Maddalena at welterweight.
Another difference between the Shevchenko and Makhachev performances: Shevchenko's opponent, Zhang, was No. 1 in the ESPN rankings at the time, making their fight a clash of the top two women in MMA. The fighter Makhachev conquered, Della Maddalena, was ranked eighth among men.
For the ESPN divisional MMA rankings, click here.
Note: Results are current; rankings are as of Nov. 19. To be eligible for the rankings, a fighter must have competed over the past 12 months or must have an upcoming fight booked. Fighters who have been dropped for inactivity can be reinstated only after they compete.
Men's pound-for-pound rankings
UFC welterweight champion
Previous ranking: 2
Record: 28-1
Last: W (UD) vs. Jack Della Maddalena, Nov. 15
Next: TBD
Makhachev fulfilled his prophecy of becoming a two-division champion by snuffing out the threat of Della Maddalena's striking with relative ease at UFC 322. The win tied him with Anderson Silva for the longest winning streak in UFC history at 16 and puts Makhachev's name on the short list of greatest MMA fighters of all time. With an incredibly talented crop of contenders at welterweight, he'll have no shortage of opponents. Still, the fight everyone wants to see is a clash with current lightweight champion Ilia Topuria. -- Andreas Hale
2. Ilia Topuria
UFC lightweight champion
Previous ranking: 1
Record: 17-0
Last: W (KO1) vs. Charles Oliveira, June 28
Next: TBD
After knocking out two of the greatest featherweights in UFC history (Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway) in 2024, it was going to be tough 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 instead captured the vacant title by knocking out Oliveira cold at UFC 317. -- Hale
UFC bantamweight champion
Record: 21-4
Last: W (UD) vs. Cory Sandhagen, Oct. 4
Next: Dec. 6 vs. Petr Yan
Dvalishvili is on one of the most impressive runs through the UFC's bantamweight division ever. Not only did he defeat Sean O'Malley for the second time in nine months at UFC 316, but he showcased a new part of his game, finishing O'Malley with a third-round guillotine. Since August 2022, Dvalishvili has beaten Jos 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. -- Brett Okamoto
T-4. Tom Aspinall
UFC heavyweight champion
Record: 15-3, 1 NC
Last: NC1 vs. Ciryl Gane, Oct. 25
Next: TBD
You can make a case that Aspinall is the most dynamic, skillful, talented heavyweight the sport has seen. He is dominating opponents in a way that is unmatched. No one can last a round with him. He had hoped to prove his supremacy against Jon Jones, but Jones opted to retire, elevating Aspinall from interim champion. His first defense of the undisputed belt ended anticlimactically, as an eye poke resulted in his UFC 321 fight with Gane being declared a no contest. -- Okamoto
T-4. Alex Pereira
UFC light heavyweight champion
Record: 13-3
Last: W (TKO1) vs. Magomed Ankalaev, Oct. 4
Next: TBD
A stellar 2024 cemented Pereira's place as a star in the UFC, but he faced arguably his toughest test as light heavyweight champion when he stepped into the Octagon with Ankalaev at UFC 313. Pereira had dealt with strikers, but the question was whether he could get the job done against a talented grappler. Pereira kept the fight standing but fell short by unanimous decision. He changed that outcome violently when he met Ankalaev in a rematch at UFC 320. -- Hale
UFC middleweight champion
Record: 15-0
Last: W (UD) vs. Dricus Du Plessis, Aug. 16
Next: TBD
After five years of hype, 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 record a finish but thoroughly demolished Du Plessis in their five-round bout and answered questions about his cardio along the way. If Chimaev can stay healthy and compete frequently, there is still plenty of time for him to rise to the very top of this list. -- Okamoto
UFC flyweight champion
Record: 30-5
Last: W (Sub3) vs. Kai Kara-France, June 28
Next: Dec. 6 vs. Joshua Van
The UFC's flyweight king has racked up four title defenses, including two in pay-per-view main events in 2024. He built his winning streak to eight in his UFC 317 win over Kara-France, whom he had already defeated before. He will defend the belt against Yan at UFC 323. Pantoja is quickly taking laps around the 125-pound division. -- Okamoto
UFC featherweight champion
Previous ranking: 9
Record: 27-4
Last: W (UD) vs. Diego Lopes, April 12
Next: TBD
It felt as if the sport had started to write Volkanovski's eulogy following his knockout loss to Topuria in February 2024. Volkanovski noticed and made a point of proving to everyone he still has plenty left by recapturing the featherweight belt at UFC 314. His age (36) will likely continue to be a prefight topic, which is fine because Volkanovski enjoys proving people wrong. -- Okamoto
UFC welterweight
Previous ranking: 8
Record: 18-3
Last: L (UD) vs. Islam Makhachev, Nov. 15
Next: TBD
Della Maddalena's retention of a spot in the top 10 might come as a surprise, but it speaks to a few things. One, of course, is there is no shame in losing to Makhachev. And two, this might be the deepest welterweight division in MMA history. Della Maddalena's eight-fight win streak in this division still means a whole lot. And although Della Maddalena had an off night at UFC 322, the perception of his talent hasn't drastically changed because of it. -- Okamoto
T-10. Dricus Du Plessis
UFC middleweight
Record: 23-3
Last: L (UD) vs. Khamzat Chimaev, Aug. 16
Next: TBD
Before being smothered by Chimaev and dropping the belt, Du Plessis was running roughshod over the middleweight division with 11 straight victories, including four in a row over champions or ex-champs (Sean Strickland twice, Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker). Can he build back to another shot at Chimaev? -- Wagenheim
T-10. Max Holloway
UFC lightweight
Record: 27-8
Last: W (UD) vs. Dustin Poirier, July 19
Next: TBD
Holloway has won four of his past five fights while bouncing back and forth between lightweight and featherweight. The one loss was against Ilia Topuria, who now reigns in Holloway's current division, lightweight. -- Wagenheim
Other fighters receiving 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 rankings
UFC flyweight champion
Previous ranking: 2
Record: 26-4-1
Last: W (UD) vs. Zhang Weili, Nov. 15
Next: TBD
Shevchenko's dominance came under question in 2022 and 2023, when she went 1-1-1 in a trilogy with Alexa Grasso. Boy, does that feel like a long time ago now. Shevchenko has more than reasserted herself as the best flyweight in the world, and now she's asserted herself as the No. 1 woman in the world, period. It wasn't surprising that she beat Zhang, but it was surprising how easy she made it look. -- Okamoto
2. Zhang Weili /p>
UFC flyweight / strawweight
Previous ranking: 1
Record: 26-4
Last: L (UD) vs. Valentina Shevchenko, Nov. 15
Next: TBD
It's hard to move up in weight, especially at the highest level. That sounds like it should be obvious, but Zhang had been dominant at 115 pounds for so long, some of us might have taken for granted how big of a challenge 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 she'll fare better in the future. -- Brett Okamoto
UFC bantamweight champion
Record: 19-1
Last: W (TechSub2) vs. Julianna Pea, June 7
Next: TBD
The longtime face of the PFL is quickly becoming the face of the UFC's women's divisions as well. With a dominant win over Pea at UFC 316, Harrison is 4-0 in the UFC and has the hardware to add to her two Olympic judo gold medals. She won't have it easy in her first title defense, though, because Nunes is coming back with the belt in her sights. -- Okamoto
4. Cris Cyborg
PFL featherweight
Record: 28-2, 1 NC
Last: W (UD) vs. Larissa Pacheco, Oct. 19, 2024
Next: Dec. 13 vs. Sara Collins
It had been a while since Cyborg had fought an elite opponent in MMA until she met Pacheco in 2024. That was a legitimate matchup -- and many within the industry were predicting Cyborg's downfall. Instead, she took out the PFL's two-weight champion, upending all of Pacheco's momentum. One of the original pioneers of women's MMA is somehow still going strong, and she'll go for the vacant PFL title against Collins, an Australian with a 6-0 record but little top-level experience. -- Okamoto
5. Manon Fiorot
UFC flyweight
Record: 13-2
Last: W (TKO1) vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius, Oct. 18
Next: TBD
Fiorot fell short in her challenge of Shevchenko, the champ, at UFC 315. But by knocking off Rose Namajunas and Erin Blanchfield in her previous two fights, Fiorot has shown she has the tools to become champion. -- Andreas Hale
UFC strawweight champion
Record: 16-5
Last: W (UD) vs. Virna Jandiroba, Oct. 25
Next: TBD
Dern's rise to the 115-pound throne was truly a changing of the guard. She is the division's first first-time champion since 2019, because the previous three champs -- Zhang Weili, Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas -- all were in their second reigns. Dern, nearly a decade into her MMA career after multiple jiu-jitsu world championships, has won three fights in a row. -- Jeff Wagenheim
UFC flyweight
Record: 19-5-1
Last: W (UD) vs. Alexa Grasso, May 10
Next: TBD
Silva is looking every bit the part of a future UFC champion following a dominant display against Grasso at UFC 315. Silva's stick-and-move style has frustrated even the highest level of opponent, and she's got youth on her side as she won't turn 30 until 2027. -- Okamoto
UFC flyweight
Record: 14-2
Last: W (Sub2) vs. Tracy Cortez, Nov. 15
Next: TBD
Blanchfield avenged her 2019 loss to Cortez in emphatic fashion at UFC 322, submitting her in the second round of their rematch. Still only 26, Blanchfield continues to evolve with improved striking and suffocating grappling. She will have to wait her turn for a title opportunity, with Natalia Silva likely up next, but Blanchfield's turn is certainly coming. -- Hale
PFL flyweight
Record: 14-0
Last: W (UD) vs. Sumiko Inaba, July 19
Next: TBD
Not only did Ditcheva win the PFL's 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. -- Okamoto
10. Julianna Pea
UFC bantamweight
Record: 12-6
Last: L (Sub2) vs. Kayla Harrison, June 7
Next: TBD
Pea 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 win over Amanda Nunes. Pea's four most recent appearances have all been in title bouts, so she's built for big moments. -- Wagenheim
Other fighters receiving 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 Pea; 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. Pea; 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. Pea.
Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Shevchenko; 2. Zhang; 3. Cyborg; 4. Harrison; 5. Fiorot; 6. Silva; 7. Blanchfield; 8. Tatiana Suarez; 9. Ditcheva; 10. Dern.
