UFC rankings update: Aljamain Sterling forces Conor McGregor off pound-for-pound list

By Tom Taylor - March 9, 2021

The official UFC rankings have been updated after last Saturday’s stacked UFC 259 card, and as expected, there have been some significant changes.

Aljamain Sterling, Cory Sandhagen, UFC 250, UFC rankings

The biggest chances to the UFC rankings concern the men’s pound-for-pound list.

Most notably, Jan Blachowicz made a huge climb up that list after he defeated reigning middleweight champion Israel Adesanya in the card’s main event. Also of note, Aljamain Sterling made his debut on the pound-for-pound list after he beat Petr Yan by disqualification at UFC 259. His entrance onto the list resulted in the exit of former two-division UFC champ Conor McGregor.

See the updated UFC rankings below (via MMA Mania):

Note:
+/- = movement in rankings
*NR = Not previously ranked
(T) = Tie

MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND RANKINGS

1. Khabib Nurmagomedov
2. Jon Jones
3. Kamaru Usman +1
4. Stipe Miocic +1
5. Alexander Volkanovski +1
6. Israel Adesanya -3
7. Dustin Poirier
8. Jan Blachowicz +6
9. Max Holloway -1
10. Deiveson Figueiredo -1
11. Justin Gaethje
12. Petr Yan -2
13. Robert Whittaker -1
14. Francis Ngannou -1
15. Aljamain Sterling *NR

FLYWEIGHT RANKINGS

Champion: Deiveson Figueiredo

1. Brandon Moreno
2. Askar Askarov +1
3. Alexandre Pantoja +2
4. Alex Perez
5. Joseph Benavidez -3
6. Brandon Royval
7. Kai Kara France +2
8. Matt Schnell -1
9. Rogerio Bontorin -1
10. Tim Elliott +2
11. David Dvorak -1
12. Raulian Paiva -1
13. Su Mudaerji +1
14. Amir Albazi -1
15. Tyson Nam

BANTAMWEIGHT RANKINGS

Champion: Aljamain Sterling

1. Petr Yan -1
2. Cory Sandhagen
3. Rob Font
4. Cody Garbrandt
5. Jose Aldo
6. Marlon Moraes
7. Frankie Edgar
8. Pedro Munhoz
9. Dominick Cruz +2
10. Raphael Assuncao -1
11. Jimmie Rivera -1
12. Merab Dvalishvili
13. Cody Stamann
14. Kyler Phillips *NR
15. Marlon Vera

FEATHERWEIGHT RANKINGS

Champion: ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI

1. Max Holloway
2. Brian Ortega
3. Zabit Magomedsharipov
4. Yair Rodriguez
5. Chan Sung Jung
6. Calvin Kattar
7. Josh Emmett
8. Jeremy Stephens
9. Dan Ige
10. Sodiq Yusuff
11. Arnold Allen
12. Shane Burgos
13. Bryce Mitchell
14. Edson Barboza
15. Movsar Evloev

LIGHTWEIGHT RANKINGS

Champion: KHABIB NURMAGOMEDOV

1. Dustin Poirier
2. Justin Gaethje
3. Charles Oliveira
4. Michael Chandler
5. Tony Ferguson
6. Conor McGregor
7. Rafael dos Anjos
8. Dan Hooker
9. Beneil Dariush
10. Paul Felder
11. Islam Makhachev +3
12. Diego Ferreira
13. Kevin Lee -2
14. Al Iaquinta -1
15. Gregor Gillespie

WELTERWEIGHT RANKINGS

Champion: KAMARU USMAN

1. Colby Covington
2. Gilbert Burns
3. Leon Edwards
4. Jorge Masvidal
5. Stephen Thompson
6. Michael Chiesa
7. Tyron Woodley
8. Demian Maia
9. Neil Magny
10. Vicente Luque
11. Geoff Neal
12. Li Jingliang
13. Belal Muhammed
14. Sean Brady *NR
15. Robbie Lawler

MIDDLEWEIGHT RANKINGS

Champion: ISRAEL ADESANYA

1. Robert Whittaker
2. Paulo Costa
3. Jared Cannonier
4. Darren Till
5. Marvin Vettori
6. Jack Hermansson
7. Derek Brunson
8. Kelvin Gastelum
9. Uriah Hall
10. Kevin Holland
11. Chris Weidman
12. Edmen Shahbazyan
13. Omari Akhmedov
14. Brad Tavares
15. Sean Strickland

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT RANKINGS

Champion: Jan Blachowicz

1. Glover Teixeira
2. Aleksandar Rakic +2
3. Dominick Reyes
4. Thiago Santos -2
5. Jiri Prochazka
6. Anthony Smith
7. Magomed Ankalaev
8. Volkan Oezdemir
9. Nikita Krylov
10. Johnny Walker
11. Misha Cirkunov
12. Jim Crute
13. Ryan Spann
14. Paul Craig
15. Jamall Hill

HEAVYWEIGHT RANKINGS

Champion: STIPE MIOCIC

1. Francis Ngannou
2. Derrick Lewis
3. Curtis Blaydes
4. Ciryl Gane
5. Alexander Volkov
6. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
7. Shamil Abdurakhimov +1
8. (T) Augusto Sakai +1
8. (T) Walt Harris +3
10. Chris Daukaus
11. Marcin Tybura +4
12. Blagoy Ivanov +2
13. Tom Aspinall *NR
14. Sergei Pavlovich -1
15. Aleksei Oleinik *NR

Note: Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos have been removed from the heavyweight rankings after being released by the UFC

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND RANKINGS 

1. Amanda Nunes
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. Weili Zhang
4. Rose Namajunas
5. Jessica Andrade
6. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
7. Germaine De Randamie
8. Holly Holm
9. Aspen Ladd
10. Katlyn Chookagian
11. Nina Ansaroff
12. Yan Xiaonan
13. Carla Esparza
14. Cynthia Calvillo
15. Claudia Gadelha

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT RANKINGS

Champion: WEILI ZHANG

1. Rose Namajunas
2. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
3. Yan Xiaonan
4. Carla Esparza
5. Nina Ansaroff
6. Marina Rodriguez
7. Claudia Gadelha
8. Michelle Waterson
9. Tecia Torres
10. Amanda Ribas
11. Mackenzie Dern
12. Angela Hill
13. Virna Jandiroba
14. Amanda Lemos*NR
15. Felice Herrig -1

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT RANKINGS

Champion: VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO

1. Jessica Andrade
2. Katlyn Chookagian
3. Lauren Murphy
4. Jennifer Maia
5. Cynthia Calvillo
6. Joanne Calderwood
7. Viviane Araujo
8. Jessica Eye
9. Roxanne Modafferi
10. Alexa Grasso
11. Andrea Lee +1
12. Antonina Shevchenko +1
13. Talia Santos +1
14. Maycee Barber +1
15. Gillian Robertson *NR

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT RANKINGS

Champion: AMANDA NUNES

1. Germaine de Randamie
2. Holly Holm
3. Aspen Ladd
4. Irene Aldana
5. Yana Kunitskaya
6. Julianna Pena
7. Ketlen Vieira
8. Sara McMann
9. Marion Reneau
10. Lina Lansberg +1
11. Macy Chiasson -1
12. Pannie Kianzad
13. Sijara Eubanks
14. Karol Rosa
15. Julia Avila

What are your thoughts on the updated UFC rankings?


Topics:

Aljamain Sterling Conor McGregor Rankings UFC