MMA Divisional Rankings: Magomed Ankalaev title charge leads slow start to 2025

03/13/2025 10:00 AM

If you're a fan of the phrase "And New," then you've probably had a rough time watching UFC lately.

Outside of this past Saturday's UFC 313 event that saw Magomed Ankalaev complete a long championship climb to knock Alex Pereira off his light heavyweight pedestal, there has been little title movement to write about, and barely any rankings drama at all. It's been a while since we've done a top-to-bottom revision of our division lists because, frankly, what is there to say when four out of five UFC champions have successfully defended their titles through the first week of March?

It's not as if we had a shortage of compelling challengers. Arman Tsarukyan had clearly established himself as the No. 1 contender at 155 pounds, Umar Nurmagomedov and Tatiana Suarez were undefeated, and even Sean Strickland put in the work to earn himself a second crack at Dricus du Plessis.

But then Tsarukyan hurt his back, Nurmagomedov wasn't quite up to the challenge, Suarez barely made a dent against Zhang Weili, and Strickland didn't come close to regaining the middleweight title. Props to Zhang, du Plessis, Islam Makhachev (who ended up fighting late-notice replacement Renato Moicano), and Merab Dvalishvili for taking care of business, but the truth is this kind of consistency isn't always what's best for business.

Not that the UFC's profit margins are in any danger. No matter how you grade the current product from an entertainment standpoint, the machine continues to roll on with what are sure to be record-breaking Kansas City and Des Moines fight cards on the menu in addition to a fresh slate of title fights at UFC 314 and UFC 315.

For the sake of variety and conversation, let's hope we get at least one fresh champion in the coming months, otherwise fan apathy could continue to escalate.

We'd be remiss if we didn't shout out the fighters who did make moves, so respect to the following:

• Light Heavyweight: Magomed Ankalaev up one spot to No. 1. Duh.
• Midleweight: Nassourdine Imavov is all the way up to No. 3, actually having risen four spots in total since defeating two-time UFC champion Israel Adesanya.
• Men's Bantamweight: Song Yadong beat Henry Cejudo to score the biggest win of his career and move three spots closer to the top 10.
• Flyweight: Manel Kape is en fuego, jumping five spots to No. 5 and setting himself up for a title shot next.
• Women's Bantamweight: A major jump? In this division? Seriously? That's right, Ailin Perez flies six spots into the top 10 after defeating Karol Rosa and, more importantly, having sorted out her weight-cutting issues (fingers crossed).

Check out the full division rankings below.

Heavyweight

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 7 Sergei Pavlovich def. No. 12 Jairzinho Rozenstruik, No. 8 Jailton Almeida vs. No. 9 Serghei Spivac, No. 11 Vadim Nemkov def. Timothy Johnson

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 10 Marcin Tybura vs. Mick Parkin (UFC London, March 22)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown):Derrick Lewis (3), Anatoly Malykhin (2), Tai Tuivasa (2), Ryan Bader (1)

Light Heavyweight

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 2 Magomed Ankalaev def. No. 1 Alex Pereira, No. 3 Jiri Prochazka def. No. 6 Jamahal Hill, No. 15 (tied) Bogdan Guzkov def. Billy Elekana

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 5 Jan Blachowicz vs. No. 10 Carlos Ulberg (UFC London, March 22), No. 6 Jamahal Hill vs. No. 7 Khalil Rountree (UFC Kansas City, April 26), No. 9 Nikita Krylov vs. No. 15 (tied) Dominick Reyes (UFC 314, April 12)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Anatoly Malykhin (2), Dovlet Yagshimuradov (2), Roman Dolidze (1), Impa Kasanganay (1)

Middleweight

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 1 Dricus du Plessis def. No. 3 Sean Strickland, 7 Nassourdine Imavov def. No. 4 Israel Adesanya, No. 9 Anthony Hernandez def. No. 12 Brendan Allen, No. 10 Jared Cannonier def. Gregory Rodrigues

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 13 Reinier de Ridder vs. Bo Nickal (UFC Des Moines, May 3), No. 14 Roman Dolidze vs. Marvin Vettori (UFC Vegas 104, March 15)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown):Derek Brunson (2), Michael Page (2), Fabian Edwards (1), Jack Hermansson (1), Roman Kopylov (1)

Welterweight

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown):Shara Magomedov def. No. 13 Michael Page (middleweight bout)

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Belal Muhammad vs. No. 4 Jack Della Maddalena (UFC 315, May 10), No. 2 (tied) Leon Edwards vs. No. 5 Sean Brady (UFC London, March 22), No. 7 (tied) Gilbert Burns vs. Michael Morales, No. 10 Jason Jackson vs. Andrey Koreshkov (PFL 2025 World Tournament, April 3), No. 11 Geoff Neal vs. Carlos Prates (UFC 314, April 12), No. 12 Yaroslav Amosov vs. Curtis Millender (CFFC 140, March 14)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Michael Morales (4), Carlos Prates (2), Rinat Fakhretdinov (1), Vicente Luque (1), Magomed Umalatov (1)

Lightweight

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 1 Islam Makhachev def. No. 12 Renato Moicano, No. 5 Justin Gaethje def. No. 11 Rafael Fiziev, No. 6 Usman Nurmagomedov def. No. 14 Paul Hughes

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 13 Paul Hughes vs. Bruno Miranda (PFL Belfast, May 10), No. 14 Michael Chandler vs. Paddy Pimblett (UFC 314, April 12)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown):Gadzhi Rabadanov (2), Benoit Saint Denis (2), Grant Dawson (1), Matt Frevola (1), Paddy Pimblett (1), Alexandr Shabliy (1), Jalin Turner (1), Fares Ziam (1)

Featherweight

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown):Youssef Zalal def. No. 13 Calvin Kattar

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 2 Alexander Volkanovski vs. No. 5 Diego Lopes (UFC 314, April 12), No. 8 Yair Rodriguez vs. No. 9 Patricio Pitbull (UFC 314, April 12), No. 10 Josh Emmett vs. No. 13 Lerone Murphy (UFC Vegas 105, April 5), No. 14 Giga Chikadze vs. David Onama (UFC Kansas City, April 26)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown):Dan Ige (2), Calvin Kattar (2), Timur Khizriev (2), Adam Borics (1), Kleber Koike Erbst (1), Chepe Mariscal (1), Jean Silva (1)

Bantamweight

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 1 Merab Dvalishvili def. Umar Nurmagomedov, No. 9 Kyoji Horiguchi def. Nkazimulo Zulu (flyweight bout), No. 15 Song Yadong def. No. 10 Henry Cejudo, No. 14 Rob Font def. Jean Matsumoto

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 4 Cory Sandhagen vs. No. 7 Deiveson Figueiredo (UFC Des Moines, May 3), No. 9 Jose Aldo vs. Aiemann Zahabi (UFC 315, May 10), No. 10 Mario Bautista vs. No. 13 Marlon Vera (UFC Des Moines, May 3)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown):Raufeon Stots (3), Magomed Magomedov (2), Kai Asakura (1), Montel Jackson (1), Marcus McGhee (1), Kyler Phillips (1)

Flyweight

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 2 (tied) Kyoji Horiguchi def. Nkazimulo Zulu, No. 10 Manel Kape def. No. 13 Asu Almabayev

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 4 Brandon Moreno vs. No. 13 Steve Erceg (UFC Mexico City, March 29), No. 7 Adriano Moraes vs. Yuya Wakamatsu (ONE 172, March 23)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown):Matheus Nicolau (3), Hiromasa Ougikubo (2), Askar Akarov (1), Tim Elliott (1), Charles Johnson (1)

Women's Bantamweight

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown):Jasmine Jasudavicius def. No. 7 Mayra Bueno Silva (flyweight bout), No. 15 Ailin Perez def. No. 10 Karol Rosa, No. 14 Jacqueline Cavalcanti def. Julia Avila

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 12 Yana Santos vs. Miesha Tate (UFC Des Moines, May 3)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown):Nora Cornolle (2), Miesha Tate (2)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): No. 7 Mayra Bueno Silva (drop to flyweight)

Women's Flyweight

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown):Mackenzie Dern def. No. 12 Amanda Ribas (strawweight bout)

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 2 Alexa Grasso vs. No. 9 Natalia Silva (UFC 315, May 10), No. 6 Taila Santos vs. Juliana Velasquez (PFL 2025 World Tournament, April 11), No. 8 Liz Carmouche vs. Ilara Joanne (PFL 2025 World Tournament, April 11), No. 14 Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. No. 15 Jessica Andrade (UFC 315, May 10)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown):Miranda Maverick (3), Karine Silva (2), Ariane da Silva (1), Jena Bishop (1)

Strawweight

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 1 Zhang Weili def. No. 2 Tatiana Suarez, No. 6 Amanda Lemos def. No. 7 Iasmin Lucindo, No. 8 Mackenzie Dern def. No. 10 Amanda Ribas

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 3 Yan Xiaonan vs. No. 5 Virna Jandiroba (UFC 314, April 12), No. 9 Marina Rodriguez vs. No. 14 Gillian Robertson (UFC Des Moines, May 3), No. 11 Loopy Godinez vs. Julia Polastri (UFC Mexico City, March 29)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown):Tecia Pennington (3), Loma Lookboonmee (2)

A refresher on the ground rules:

• The six-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, E. Casey Leydon, Damon Martin, and Jed Meshew.
• Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout in a given weight class. Updates to the rankings are typically completed following each month's UFC pay-per-view.
• Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice. (Let's put it this way: We'd have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did.)
• Holding a promotion's title does not guarantee that fighter will be viewed as the best in their promotion. Additionally, fighters who regularly compete or hold titles in multiple weight classes are eligible to be ranked in multiple lists.

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.