Published On: Wed, Nov 19th, 2025

Men's MMA pound-for-pound rankings: A new No. 1 after UFC 322

How do the best mixed martial artists on the planet measure up against each other, regardless of division? That’s the question our USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie men’s pound-for-pound rankings aims to answer.

UFC 322 this past Saturday had an impact on the latest rankings, with Islam Makhachev dominating Jack Della Maddalena for clean-sweep unanimous decision to claim the welterweight title after vacating the lightweight belt earlier this year. Looking ahead to UFC Fight Night 265 on Saturday in Qatar, two men have a chance to make a move depending on how their fights unfold.

See below to find out how the top 15 rank.

Note: Results are through Nov. 15.

More rankings: Complete USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings by division

1. Islam Makhachev (+1)

Nov 15, 2025; New York, NY, UNITED STATES; Islam Makhachev (blue gloves) fights Jack Della Maddalena (red gloves) in the welterweight championship bout during UFC 322 at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

How do you replace Ilia Topuria at the top of the pound-for-pound rankings? You move up a division and make the sitting champion look silly over the course of 25 minutes for a clean sweep on the judges’ scorecards. That’s exactly what Makhachev did to Della Maddalena at UFC 322, dominating him for his 16th win in a row, a streak that dates back to 2016.

2. Ilia Topuria (-1)

Topuria was named the 2024 Male Fighter of the Year following his two knockouts of Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway to win and then defend the UFC featherweight title before vacating to moving up to lightweight to claim the vacant 155-pound title with a knockout of former champ Oliveira in his only appearance of 2025. Has there ever been a more impressive three-fight stretch in the history of the sport?

3. Merab Dvalishvili

No champion in UFC history has ever defended their title four times in a calendar year. And yet, that’s what Dvalishvili aims to do when he faces Yan in a rematch at UFC 323. Already in 2025 Dvalishvili has defeated Umar Nurmagomedov, Sean O’Malley in a rematch, and Cory Sandhagen to cap off a 14-fight winning streak since 2018. They don’t call him “The Machine” for nothing.

4. Alexandre Pantoja

Pantoja has been the steadiest UFC flyweight champion since Demetrious Johnson lost the title and left the promotion in late 2018. Pantoja seeks his fifth consecutive title defense when he meets the dangerous Van at UFC 323.

5. Khamzat Chimaev

Thanks to a run of unfortunate circumstances, which included multiple withdrawals, a bad weight miss that resulted in changing divisions, and an injury layoff, Chimaev’s run to a UFC title came later than expected, but it happened earlier this year when he dominated Du Plessis to claim the middleweight championship. Chimaev already has been talking about a move up to light heavyweight to face champ Alex Pereira, but he’s got a list of contenders at 185 pounds he should focus on instead.

6. Alex Pereira

Alex Pereira def. Magomed Ankalaev, UFC 320

Just when it seemed like the end of the “Poatan” Era had arrived, Pereira came through in a big way by dismantling Ankalaev in their rematch to reclaim the UFC light heavyweight title seven months after losing it. What comes next for the two-division champ remains to be seen, but a move to heavyweight isn’t out of the question.

7. Alexander Volkanovski

With Topuria vacating the UFC featherweight title, Volkanovski capitalized on his opportunity to reclaim the belt by defeating Diego Lopes earlier this year at UFC 314. The win came after Volkanovski had lost three of four fights, including two in a row, and now we wait to see how long this reign at 145 pounds can last.

8. Dricus Du Plessis

Du Plessis’ 11-fight winning streak, which included nine UFC appearances, came to halt when he ran into the buzzsaw that is Chimaev to lose the middleweight title. But that streak included wins over former champs Israel Adesanya, Sean Strickland, and Robert Whittaker, which is nothing to be ashamed of.

9. Magomed Ankalaev (+1)

Ankalaev couldn’t follow up his brilliant performance against Pereira in their first encounter with an encore, and now it’s back to the drawing board for the Russian, who hadn’t tasted defeat since his second UFC appearance in September 2018.

10. Jack Della Maddalena (-1)

While Della Maddalena did well taking the fight to Belal Muhammad and beating him at his own game, wrestling, to claim the welterweight championship in May, the same could not be said for his performance against Islam Makhachev at UFC 322. Della Maddalena looked like a fish out of water while suffering his first defeat since his second professional bout in May 2016.

11. Belal Muhammad

May 10, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CANADA; Belal Muhammad (red gloves) fights Jack Della Maddalena (blue gloves) during UFC 315 at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images

Muhammad has a big opportunity to get back on track in his first fight since losing the welterweight championship when he meets Ian Machado Garry on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 265. Given what transpired at UFC 322 in the 170-pound division, Muhammad will need a statement win to even be considered for a title shot afterward.

12. Tom Aspinall

After enduring all the Jon Jones heavyweight title-unification drama for what seemed like forever, we ended up with Aspinall finally returning and his first fight as undisputed champion ending in a no contest thanks to a nasty eye poke by Ciryl Gane. Whomp whomp, better luck next time. An immediate rematch is what appears to be next.

13. Francis Ngannou

Who knows when Ngannou will return to the cage – or if he will, given he’s eyeing a return to boxing next over the PFL – but the not-so-long-ago “Baddest Man on the Planet” needs a fight soon to stay in these rankings. It’s been more than a year since he pounded out Ferreira, and before that it had been 21 months without MMA.

14. Shavkat Rakhmonov

Rakhmonov is still recovering from a serious knee injury suffered in his win over Machado Garry, which is a shame considering he had positioned himself to be the next title challenger at 170 pounds.

15. Arman Tsarukyan

Apr 13, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Arman Tsarukyan during UFC 300 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

In an alternate universe, Tsarukyan could be UFC lightweight champion right now. Instead, because of a bad weight cut that forced him out of his UFC 311 matchup with Makhachev, Tsarukyan will return Saturday to fight Dan Hooker after a 21-month layoff. If he wins, though, that would figure to secure him his long-awaited shot at the title.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Men’s MMA pound-for-pound rankings: UFC 322 delivers new No. 1

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