UFC rankings: The Independent’s pound-for-pound fighters list
Here are our top 10 men’s fighters in the UFC, in a list to be updated throughout the year
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The UFC is home to some of the best mixed martial artists on the planet, so it is no surprise that fans often debate how the elite fighters compare to one another.
Alongside its weekly-updated rankings for each weight class, the UFC has its own pound-for-pound rankings, containing 15 names – as with each list for every division.
Here, The Independent has constructed its own top 10, pound-for-pound rankings for men’s UFC fighters, to be updated after each pay-per-view-event.
While there is no exact science to putting together lists such as this, a number of factors have been considered in making the rankings, including each fighter’s overall record, recent record, level of activity and calibre of opposition.
Without further ado... Here are our rankings after UFC 305 on 17 August:
10. Max Holloway (26-7, featherweight)
Re-entered our rankings after his stunning stoppage of Justin Gaethje at UFC 300 – one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history. After a previous, failed endeavour at lightweight in 2019, the featherweight icon returned to 155lb and beat up Gaethje for five rounds. Then, with 10 seconds left on the clock, the Hawaiian called on Gaethje to trade hands in the centre of the cage, risking the victory. What happened? Holloway faceplanted Gaethje with one second left, claiming the ‘Baddest Motherf***er’ belt. And at 145lb, save for a trio of decision losses to Alexander Volkanovski, Holloway has been phenomenal for years, previously reigning as champion and recording wins over a who’s-who of featherweights. He has a chance to regain the featherweight belt against our No 8 in October...
9. Sean O’Malley (18-1, 1 No Contest; bantamweight champion)
Some fans accused the UFC of fast-tracking “Sugar Sean” through the 135lb division because of his crossover potential, but O’Malley has done enough to justify that decision. There were missteps along the way to his title win – a TKO by Marlon Vera in 2020, a No Contest against Pedro Munhoz in 2022 – and the American was perhaps lucky to be handed a decision win against ex-champ Petr Yan. However, when O’Malley eventually challenged an incumbent champion, he delivered in devastating fashion, knocking out Aljamain Sterling in August 2023. Then, in his first title defence, O’Malley put on a masterclass against Vera to avenge his sole professional loss, showing that he has finetuned his flashy performances to resemble something like genius in the striking department.
8. Ilia Topuria (15-0, featherweight champion)
Spoke ‘arrogantly’ about his chances against featherweight great Alexander Volkanovski in February, only for his words to prove prophetic. Topuria, 27, brutally knocked out the Australian in the second round, taking the 145lb title and becoming the first UFC champion to represent Spain or Georgia. That win also kept Topuria unbeaten, moving him to 15-0. “El Matador”’s versatility is evidenced by his record, too; eight of his wins have come by submission, five via knockout.
There was also much talk of his power ahead of his fight with Volkanovski, and that talk was justified. Previously, Topuria showed his submission threat by tapping out grappling specialist Bryce Mitchell in 2022, before he outclassed Josh Emmett in every area of the game for a decision win in 2023. Many fans felt Topuria would be set for a dominant reign, but the announcement of a first title defence against Holloway has changed a few opinions...
7. Leon Edwards (22-4, 1 NC; welterweight)
Edwards became Britain’s second UFC champion with a stunning, last-gasp knockout of Kamaru Usman in 2022. After taking down the Nigerian-American – something no fighter had ever done in the UFC – Edwards continually rose to his feet amid an onslaught of grappling pressure, keeping himself in the fight. Then, with a minute left on the clock, he knocked Usman out cold with a head kick.
In 2023, Edwards outpointed Usman in London to solidify his status as champion, before further cementing that status by beating Colby Covington. Edwards put on clinical displays in both decision wins, showing just how well rounded he is – one of the best examples of the modern mixed martial artist.
The Jamaican-born southpaw, 32, won 12 fights in a row after a points loss to Usman in 2015, save for a No Contest against Belal Muhammad in 2021. And his fine run was finally ended by Muhammad in July 2024, as the Palestinian-American outpointed Edwards in Manchester. That result saw Edwards drop from third to seventh here.
6. Alexander Volkanovski (26-4, featherweight)
After suffering the first defeat of his pro career in 2013, Volkanovski won a stunning 22 fights in a row. In fact, his only pro losses had come against a welterweight champion and a lightweight champion until February, when he finally lost the UFC featherweight title.
Two of those defeats came in 2023, with Volkanovski losing a narrow decision to Islam Makhachev in February while challenging for the 155lb belt, then suffering a shock, early knockout against the Russian in their rematch. Those results, the latter coming after Volk stepped in on short notice, saw the Australian drop from No 1 to No 4 here. The 35-year-old then fell by one more spot after losing his 145lb belt to rising star Ilia Topuria, who knocked out “Alexander The Great” in February.
In any case, Volk remains one of the best to ever do it, his four-year title reign consisting of wins over Max Holloway (thrice), Jose Aldo, Chad Mendes, Brian Ortega, Yair Rodriguez and the Chan Sung Jung.
5. Jon Jones (27-1, 1 NC; heavyweight champion)
When Jones returned to the UFC in 2023 after a three-year absence, winning the heavyweight title by submitting Ciryl Gane in the first round, many believed that the American confirmed himself as the greatest of all time. A lot of fans also felt he should go straight to the top of any pound-for-pound list. And Jones’s victory certainly was impressive, particularly due to its manner and the factors around the 37-year-old’s heavyweight debut.
It was enough for the former two-time light-heavyweight champion to shoot straight into our rankings at No 2. However, his lack of activity has seen him drop by two spots following his injury in October, which derailed his planned clash with heavyweight ‘GOAT’ Stipe Miocic. That fight might get rebooked later this year, but a unification bout with interim champion Aspinall could also be on the cards...
4. Dricus Du Plessis (22-2, middleweight champion)
It is funny to think the South African is still derided, with many fans saying his bulldozing, ungainly style will eventually be his undoing. Yet that style has led Du Plessis to victories over some of the best middleweights ever, and to the middleweight title. The 30-year-old won a narrow decision in a battle with Sean Strickland in January, making him South Africa’s first UFC champion, and that win was sandwiched between stoppages of former title holders Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker – two of the best fighters the division has ever seen.
“Stillknocks” also holds wins over Darren Till, Derek Brunson and Brad Tavares, is unbeaten in the UFC, and has secured 20 of his 22 wins via stoppage – with a near-even split of KOs and submissions. To that point, he TKOed Whittaker and submitted Adesanya, with the latter result moving him three places up the rankings.
3. Tom Aspinall (15-3, interim heavyweight champion)
Aspinall almost entered our rankings in November, when he demolished Sergei Pavlovich to win the interim heavyweight title, but he finally got the nod this January. Then, in July, he shot from 10th to third.
The Briton, 31, was the future of heavyweight MMA, now he is the present: a remarkable athlete who moves like a lightweight while hitting like his predecessors. He holds the record for the shortest average fight time for an athlete with five or more UFC bouts – and barring his early injury in a fight with Curtis Blaydes in 2022, he has won them all.
In fact, Aspinall avenged that loss with a first-minute KO of Blaydes this July, retaining the interim title – while Jones and Miocic wait to reschedule their delayed clash for the regular belt. Whoever wins that fight, if they do not retire afterwards, should be very afraid of Aspinall.
2. Alex Pereira (11-2, light-heavyweight champion)
The Brazilian kickboxing extraordinaire enjoyed a rapid rise through the middleweight rankings after transitioning to MMA, culminating in a knockout of his old rival Israel Adesanya in 2022 to take the title. Although Pereira was stopped by Adesanya in a rematch last April, he bounced back with a swift move up to light-heavyweight, where he outpointed former champion Jan Blachowicz.
In his next fight, Pereira fought for the vacant 205lb title, beating another ex-champion in Jiri Prochazka to secure two-weight-champion status in record time. Pereira, 36, sealed that feat with a second-round TKO. Next up for Pereira was a title defence against his predecessor atop the 205lb division, Jamahal Hill, in the main event of UFC 300 – a fight that Pereira won early and emphatically.
At UFC 303, Pereira stepped up on two weeks’ notice to defend the title again, knocking out Prochazka in the second round for the second time in seven months. Earlier in his career, by the way, Pereira also recorded a knockout of Sean Strickland, who would go on to become middleweight champion.
As some have said, “Poatan” is speed-running a Hall of Fame career.
1. Islam Makhachev (26-1, lightweight champion)
Some used to question the Russian’s credentials, given a lack of top-tier opponents on his record, though that was arguably due to fighters’ tentativeness to risk their rankings against a dangerous up-and-comer. Others accused Makhachev of benefiting from his connection to Khabib – his childhood friend and now one of Makhachev’s coaches. Regardless, the 32-year-old banished any doubt in 2022 when he submitted Oliveira to win the vacant lightweight title, suggesting that he would have done the same to most contenders at 155lb.
Makhachev then made it 13 wins in a row by beating Volkanovski twice in eight months, retaining his title against the then-featherweight champion on both occasions. In February 2023, Makhachev outpointed the Aussie in Perth, then in October, he knocked him out with a head kick in round one. Volkanovski had stepped in on short notice for the rematch, but Makhachev was also affected by the late replacement, after Oliveira – his original opponent – suffered a cut over his eye.
Those victories saw Makhachev rise to No 1 in our rankings, a position he solidified with his submission of lightweight great Dustin Poirier in June.
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