Conor McGregor removed from UFC pound-for-pound rankings
Irishman has lost two of his last three fights, having been knocked out by Dustin Poirier in January
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Former UFC champion Conor McGregor has been removed from the promotion’s men’s pound-for-pound rankings.
McGregor captured the UFC featherweight title in December 2015 with a 13-second win over Jose Aldo and became the company’s first ever dual-weight titleholder in November 2016 by finishing Eddie Alvarez in the second round of the pair’s lightweight contest.
As such, he was one of the top fighters in the UFC’s men’s pound-for-pound list, which contains 15 names – as do the rankings for every division in the promotion.
READ MORE: What’s next for Conor McGregor? • Fights to make in aftermath of UFC 259
But with three defeats in his last six bouts, the Irishman slipped down to the bottom spot in the pound-for-pound rankings.
‘Notorious’ was submitted by Khabib Nurmagomedov in the rivals’ infamous lightweight clash in October 2018, won his next outing in January 2020 by stopping Donald Cerrone inside 40 seconds at welterweight, then suffered a second-round knockout loss toDustin Poirier two months ago.
Conor McGregor ‘ready to roll’ as UFC targets Dustin Poirier trilogy this summer, says president Dan White
UFC 259 results: Jan Blachowicz hands Israel Adesanya first career loss as Aljamain Sterling beats Petr Yan via DQ
UFC 259: Fights to make next as Israel Adesanya comes up short in pursuit of Jan Blachowicz’s gold
And following UFC 259 last weekend, McGregor has fallen out of the pound-for-pound rankings entirely. The 32-year-old, who has also slipped to sixth in the lightweight rankings, was replaced by new bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling in the pound-for-pound list this week.
Sterling dethroned Petr Yan in controversial fashion in Las Vegas, as a UFC title changed hands via disqualification for the first time ever. Russian Yan landed an illegal knee on his Jamaican-American challenger in the fourth round of their five-round contest, losing his belt in his first defence and falling from 12th to 14th on the pound-for-pound list.
Elsewhere in those rankings, light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz surged from 14th to eighth following his successful first defence of his title, having outpointed middleweight titleholder Israel Adesanya in UFC 259’s main event to end ‘The Last Stylebender’s quest for champ-champ status.
As a result, Adesanya fell from third to sixth in the pound-for-pound list.
UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings
1. Khabib Nurmagomedov (lightweight champion)
2. Jon Jones
3. Kamaru Usman (welterweight champion)
4. Stipe Miocic (heavyweight champion)
5. Alexander Volkanovski (featherweight champion)
6. Israel Adesanya (middleweight champion)
7. Dustin Poirier
8. Jan Blachowicz (light heavyweight champion)
9. Max Holloway
10. Deiveson Figueiredo (flyweight champion)
11. Justin Gaethje
12. Petr Yan
13. Robert Whittaker
14. Francis Ngannou
15. Aljamain Sterling (bantamweight champion)
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments