The dust has settled after the second of two huge UFC cards on consecutive weekends and the top end of many divisions are now sorted heading into 2022. That includes welterweight and women’s strawweight, where Kamaru Usman and Rose Namajunas maintained their respective positions after big wins at UFC 268.
Usman won his rematch with Colby Covington, surviving five hard-fought rounds for the fourth successful defense of his welterweight championship. Usman remains No. 1 at welterweight in the CBS Sports UFC Divisional Rankings. Covington dropped from No. 2 to No. 3 in defeat, falling behind Leon Edwards. Edwards has a big fight with No. 7 ranked Jorge Masvidal coming up at UFC 269.
Namajunas also retained her No. 1 spot at women’s strawweight with a win over Weili Zhang in a rematch. Zhang remained No. 2 in the division in defeat.
Also of note coming out of the event, No. 3 lightweight Justin Gaethje defeated Michael Chandler in an absolute war. Chandler dropped from No. 5 to No. 7 in the 155-pound division.
Saturday’s UFC 268 features three fights featuring CBS Sports ranked fighters.
- Featherweight: No. 2 Max Holloway vs. No. 5 Yair Rodriguez
Rankings are compiled following the submission of ballots by Brent Brookhouse, Brian Campbell and Brandon Wise. Without further ado, here’s where things stand ahead of Saturday’s card.
For Brian Campbell’s updated Pound for Pound Rankings, click here.
Flyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Brandon Moreno (c) |
19-5-2 |
|
2. Deiveson Figueiredo |
20-2-1 |
|
3. Askar Askarov |
14-0-1 |
|
4. Matt Schnell |
15-6 |
|
5. Alexandre Pantoja |
23-5 |
|
6. Kai Kara-France |
22-9 |
|
7. Joseph Benavidez |
28-8 |
|
8. Alex Perez |
24-6 |
|
9. Brandon Royval |
12-6 |
|
10. Jussier Formiga |
23-8 |
Bantamweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Petr Yan |
16-2 |
|
2. Aljamain Sterling (c) |
19-4 |
|
3. TJ Dillashaw |
17-4 |
|
4. Rob Font |
19-4 |
|
5. Cory Sandhagen |
14-4 |
|
6. Jose Aldo |
30-7 |
|
7. Merab Dvalishvili |
14-4 |
|
8. Pedro Munhoz |
19-6 |
|
T9. Cody Garbrandt |
12-4 |
|
T9. Jimmie Rivera |
23-5 |
Featherweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Alexander Volkanovski (c) |
22-1 |
|
2. Max Holloway |
22-6 |
|
3. Zabit Magomedsharipov |
18-1 |
|
4. Brian Ortega |
15-2 |
|
5. Yair Rodriguez |
13-2 |
|
6. Korean Zombie |
17-6 |
|
7. Giga Chikadze |
14-2 |
|
8. Calvin Kattar |
22-5 |
|
9. Josh Emmett |
16-2 |
|
10. Edson Barboza |
22-10 |
Lightweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Dustin Poirier |
28-6 |
|
2. Charles Oliveira (c) |
31-8 |
|
3. Justin Gaethje |
23-3 |
|
4. Islam Makhachev |
21-1 |
|
5. Beneil Dariush |
21-4-1 |
|
6. Rafael dos Anjos |
30-13 |
|
7. Michael Chandler |
22-7 |
|
8. Dan Hooker |
20-11 |
|
9. Gregor Gillespie |
14-1 |
|
10. Tony Ferguson |
25-6 |
Welterweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Kamaru Usman (c) |
20-1 |
|
2. Leon Edwards |
19-3 |
|
3. Colby Covington |
16-3 |
|
4. Gilbert Burns |
20-4 |
|
5. Vicente Luque |
21-7-1 |
|
6. Stephen Thompson |
16-5-1 |
|
7. Jorge Masvidal |
35-15 |
|
8. Michael Chiesa |
18-5 |
|
T9. Neil Magny |
25-8 |
|
T9. Khamzat Chimaev |
10-0 |
Middleweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Israel Adesanya (c) |
21-1 |
|
2. Robert Whittaker |
23-5 |
|
3. Marvin Vettori |
18-5-1 |
|
4. Derek Brunson |
23-7 |
|
5. Jared Cannonier |
14-5 |
|
6. Paulo Costa |
13-2 |
|
7. Jack Hermansson |
22-6 |
|
8. Sean Strickland |
24-3 |
|
9. Kelvin Gastelum |
16-8 |
|
10. Darren Till |
18-4-1 |
Light heavyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Glover Teixeira (c) |
33-7 |
|
2. Jiri Prochazka |
28-3-1 |
|
3. Jan Blachowicz |
28-9 |
|
4. Aleksandar Rakic |
14-2 |
|
5. Anthony Smith |
36-16 |
|
6. Thiago Santos |
22-9 |
|
7. Magomed Ankalaev |
15-1 |
|
8. Dominick Reyes |
12-3 |
|
9. Johnny Walker |
18-6 |
|
10. Nikita Krylov |
26-8 |
Heavyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Francis Ngannou (c) |
16-3 |
|
2. Stipe Miocic |
20-4 |
|
3. Ciryl Gane |
10-0 |
|
4. Curtis Blaydes |
15-3 |
|
5. Derrick Lewis |
25-8 |
|
6. Alexander Volkov |
34-9 |
|
7. Marcin Tybura |
22-7 |
|
8. Chris Daukaus |
12-3 |
|
9. Jairzinho Rozenstruik |
12-3 |
|
10. Tai Tuivasa |
12-3 |
Women’s strawweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Rose Namajunas (c) |
11-4 |
|
2. Weili Zhang |
21-3 |
|
3. Carla Esparza |
18-6 |
|
4. Marina Rodriguez |
14-1-2 |
|
T5. Yan Xiaonan |
13-2 |
|
T5. Joanna Jedrzejczyk |
16-4 |
|
T7. Mackenzie Dern |
11-1 |
|
T7. Tatiana Suarez |
8-0 |
|
9. Amanda Ribas |
11-2 |
|
10. Jessica Andrade |
22-9 |
Women’s flyweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Valentina Shevchenko (c) |
22-3 |
|
2. Jessica Andrade |
22-9 |
|
3. Jennifer Maia |
19-7-1 |
|
4. Lauren Murphy |
15-5 |
|
5. Maycee Barber |
9-2 |
Women’s bantamweight
|
Fighter |
Record |
|
1. Amanda Nunes (c) |
21-4 |
|
2. Germaine de Randamie |
10-4 |
|
3. Holly Holm |
14-5 |
|
4. Julianna Pena |
10-4 |
|
5. Irene Aldana |
13-6 |
|
6. Aspen Ladd |
9-2 |
|
7. Yana Kunitskaya |
14-6 |
|
8. Julia Avila |
9-2 |
|
9. Ketlen Vieira |
11-2 |
|
10. Miesha Tate |
19-7 |
