UFC rankings update: Khabib Nurmagomedov bursts onto pound-for-pound list

Now that UFC 219 is in the rear-view mirror, the UFC has updated its official rankings to reflect the results of the card.

The most notable changes to the UFC rankings occured on the pound-for-pound list, where Khabib Nurmagomedov made his long-awaited debut, a distinction he earned by pounding Edson Barboza into applesauce in the UFC 219 co-main event. UFC 219 main event winner Cris Cyborg also moved up the list in the wake of her thrilling victory of Holly Holm, while Georges St-Pierre and Conor McGregor arbitrarily switched spots on the pound-for-pound list, despite the fact that neither has competed in recent weeks.

The welterweight rankings also experienced a significant shakeup as Neil Magny has rocketed up four spots, while his foe, former interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit, has drifted outside the top-10 for the first time in forever. UFC 219 winner Carla Esparza, who defeated red-hot contender Cynthia Calvillo, also took a rocket-fuelled trip up the rankings, jumping up three spots.

Here are the new UFC rankings as they stand in these first days of the year 2018.

Note:
*NR – Not Previously Ranked
+ Indicates a move up in ranking
– Indicates a drop in ranking

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Conor McGregor +1
3 Georges St-Pierre -1
4 Max Holloway
5 Daniel Cormier
6 TJ Dillashaw
7 Stipe Miocic
8 Tyron Woodley
9 Cris Cyborg +1
10 Tony Ferguson -1
11 Cody Garbrandt
12 Robert Whittaker
13 Amanda Nunes
14 Khabib Nurmagomedov *NR
15 Joanna Jedrzejczyk -1

FLYWEIGHT
Champion : Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Ray Borg
4 Jussier Formiga
5 Sergio Pettis
6 Wilson Reis
7 Brandon Moreno
8 Ben Nguyen
9 John Moraga
10 Dustin Ortiz
11 Alexandre Pantoja + 1
12 Matheus Nicolau *NR
13 Magomed Bibulatov +2
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Louis Smolka -2

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion : TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Jimmie Rivera
5 Marlon Moraes
6 John Lineker
7 Bryan Caraway
8 John Dodson
9 Aljamain Sterling
10 Thomas Almeida
11 Pedro Munhoz
12 Eddie Wineland
13 Brett Johns
14 Rob Font
15 Tim Elliott *NR

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion : Max Holloway
1 Jose Aldo
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Brian Ortega
4 Josh Emmett +1
5 Cub Swanson -1
6 Ricardo Lamas
7 Chan Sung Jung
8 Yair Rodriguez
9 Jeremy Stephens
10 Darren Elkins
11 Dennis Bermudez +1
12 Renato Moicano -1
13 Dooho Choi
14 Myles Jury + 1
15 Mirsad Bektic -1

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion : Conor McGregor
1 Tony Ferguson (Interim Champion)
2 Khabib Nurmagomedov
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Edson Barboza
5 Justin Gaethje
6 Dustin Poirier
7 Kevin Lee
8 Nate Diaz
9 Michael Chiesa
10 Michael Johnson
11 Al Iaquinta
12 Beneil Dariush
13 Anthony Pettis
14 Francisco Trinaldo
14 James Vick

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion : Tyron Woodley
1 Stephen Thompson
2 Rafael Dos Anjos
3 Colby Covington
4 Robbie Lawler
5 Demian Maia
6 Jorge Masvidal
7 Darren Till
8 Neil Magny +4
9 Santiago Ponzinibbio
10 Kamaru Usman +1
11 Donald Cerrone -1
12 Carlos Condit -4
13 Gunnar Nelson
14 Dong Hyun Kim
15 Yancy Medeiros

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion : Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Jacare Souza +1
4 Georges St-Pierre -1
5 Chris Weidman
6 Kelvin Gastelum
7 Michael Bisping
8 Derek Brunson
9 Anderson Silva
10 David Branch
11 Uriah Hall
12 Vitor Belfort
13 Krzysztof Jotko
14 Lyoto Machida
15 Paulo Costa

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion : Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Volkan Oezdemir
3 Glover Teixeira
4 Jimi Manuwa
5 Ovince Saint Preux
6 Mauricio Rua
7 Misha Cirkunov
8 Corey Anderson
9 Ilir Latifi -1
10 Patrick Cummins
11 Rogerio Nogueira
12 Jan Blachowicz
13 Tyson Pedro +1
14 Gadzhimurad Antigulov -1
15 Jared Cannonier

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion : Stipe Miocic
1 Francis Ngannou
2 Alistair Overeem
3 Fabricio Werdum
4 Cain Velasquez
5 Mark Hunt
6 Derrick Lewis
7 Alexander Volkov
8 Marcin Tybura
9 Curtis Blaydes
10 Stefan Struve
11 Aleksei Oleinik
12 Andrei Arlovski
13 Junior Albini
14 Travis Browne
15 Tim Johnson

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion : Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza +3
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Cynthia Calvillo -2
9 Felice Herrig -1
10 Alexa Grasso
11 Cortney Casey
11 Paige VanZant +1
13 Randa Markos +1
14 Joanne Calderwood -1
15 Maryna Moroz

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion : Nicco Montano
1 Sijara Eubanks
2 Lauren Murphy
3 Alexis Davis
4 Roxanne Modafferi
5 Barb Honchak
6 Liz Carmouche
7 Montana De La Rosa
8 Rachael Ostovich
9 Mara Romero Borella
10 Shana Dobson +1
11 Gillian Robertson +1
12 Kalindra Faria +1
13 Bec Rawlings +1
14 Melinda Fabian +1
15 Emily Whitmire *NR

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion : Amanda Nunes
1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Holly Holm
3 Julianna Pena
4 Raquel Pennington
5 Germaine de Randamie
6 Cat Zingano
6 Ketlen Vieira +1
8 Sara McMann
9 Ronda Rousey
10 Marion Reneau
11 Katlyn Chookagian
12 Bethe Correia
13 Leslie Smith
14 Aspen Ladd
15 Sarah Moras -1

WOMEN’S FEATHERWEIGHT
No rankings available for this selection.

What do you think of these new UFC rankings? Do you think Cris Cyborg and Khabib Nurmagomedov deserve higher spots on the pound-for-pound list?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 1/2/2018.