MMA pound-for-pound rankings: A new UFC champion and an ex-champ enter women’s top 10
Oct 29, 2025, 08:00 AM ETIt seems obvious that Mackenzie Dern, who won the championship over the weekend in one of only three UFC weight classes for women, would break into the ESPN pound-for-pound women’s rankings.But Dern, who defeated Virna Jandiroba on Saturday at UFC 321 to capture the strawweight title recently vacated by Zhang Weili, is not the only woman who has worn UFC gold to be newly ranked. Former bantamweight champion Julianna Peña is back in the top 10, thanks to former PFL featherweight Larissa Pacheco losing her eligibility because she has not fought in over a year.A current PFL fighter also has been dropped from the rankings for the same reason. Heavyweight Francis Ngannou, whose most recent bout was on the same Oct. 19, 2024, fight card as Pacheco, has actually been replaced by two fighters — Ngannou is big, after all. Dricus Du Plessis and Max Holloway received the same amount of votes and share the No. 10 slot.Dern is No. 6 in a women’s ranking still topped by Zhang and Valentina Shevchenko, who meet Nov. 15 for Shevchenko’s flyweight title.For the ESPN divisional MMA rankings, click here.Note: Results are current; rankings are as of Oct. 29. To be eligible for the rankings, a fighter must have competed over the past 12 months or must have an upcoming fight booked. Fighters who have been dropped for inactivity can be reinstated only after they compete.Women’s pound-for-pound rankingsMackenzie Dern won the strawweight championship at UFC 321. Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC1. Zhang Weili UFC strawweight / flyweightRecord: 26-3Last: W (UD) vs. Tatiana Suarez, Feb. 8Next: Nov. 15 vs. Valentina ShevchenkoAmanda Nunes left a big hole in women’s MMA when she announced her retirement in 2023, but Zhang has filled that void in terms of a dominant presence. Now that she’s vacated the strawweight title and is moving up to flyweight, can Zhang become champion in a second division? — Brett Okamoto2. Valentina Shevchenko UFC flyweight championRecord: 25-4-1Last: W (UD) vs. Manon Fiorot, May 10Next: Nov. 15 vs. Zhang WeiliShevchenko put a cap on the Alexa Grasso trilogy in 2024 with a dominant performance that put to bed any remaining questions around that rivalry. She followed that up with a well-rounded performance against Fiorot to improve to 10-1-1 in UFC title fights. Her next challenge will be to fend off the pound-for-pound No. 1. — Okamoto3. Kayla Harrison UFC bantamweight championRecord: 19-1Last: W (TechSub2) vs. Julianna Peña, June 7Next: TBDThe longtime face of the PFL is quickly becoming the face of the UFC’s women’s divisions as well. With a dominant win over Peña at UFC 316, Harrison is 4-0 in the UFC and has the hardware to add to her two Olympic judo gold medals. She won’t have it easy in her first title defense, though, because Nunes is coming back with the belt in her sights. — Okamoto4. Cris Cyborg PFL featherweightRecord: 28-2, 1 NCLast: W (UD) vs. Larissa Pacheco, Oct. 19, 2024Next: Dec. 13 vs. Sara CollinsIt had been a while since Cyborg had fought an elite opponent in MMA until she met Pacheco in 2024. That was a legitimate matchup — and many within the industry were predicting Cyborg’s downfall. Instead, she took out the PFL’s two-weight champion, upending all of Pacheco’s momentum. One of the original pioneers of women’s MMA is somehow still going strong, and she’ll go for the vacant PFL title against Collins, an Australian with a 6-0 record but little top-level experience. — Okamoto5. Manon Fiorot UFC flyweightPrevious ranking: 6Record: 13-2Last: W (TKO1) vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius, Oct. 18Next: TBDFiorot fell short in her challenge of Shevchenko, the champ, at UFC 315. But by knocking off Rose Namajunas and Erin Blanchfield in her previous two fights, Fiorot has shown she has the tools to become champion. — Andreas Hale6. Mackenzie Dern UFC strawweight championPrevious ranking: UnrankedRecord: 16-5Last: W (UD) vs. Virna Jandiroba, Oct. 25Next: TBDDern’s rise to the 115-pound throne was truly a changing of the guard. She is the division’s first first-time champion since 2019, because the previous three champs — Zhang Weili, Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas — all were in their second reigns. Dern, nearly a decade into her MMA career after multiple jiu-jitsu world championships, has won three fights in a row. — Jeff Wagenheim7. Natalia Silva UFC flyweightPrevious ranking: 5Record: 19-5-1Last: W (UD) vs. Alexa Grasso, May 10Next: TBDSilva is looking every bit the part of a future UFC champion following a dominant display against Grasso at UFC 315. Silva’s stick-and-move style has frustrated even the highest level of opponent, and she’s got youth on her side as she won’t turn 30 until 2027. — Okamoto8. Erin Blanchfield UFC flyweightRecord: 13-2Last: W (UD) vs. Rose Namajunas, Nov. 2, 2024Next: Nov. 15 vs. Tracy CortezBlanchfield dug herself out of a hole to beat Namajunas last November, and she was scheduled to have a chance to build more momentum in a meeting with another young prospect — until Maycee Barber pulled out of their May bout on fight night. Next up is the surging Cortez. Blanchfield has immense potential and has shown new wrinkles in her game since dropping a decision to Manon Fiorot last year. — Hale9. Dakota Ditcheva PFL flyweightRecord: 14-0Last: W (UD) vs. Sumiko Inaba, July 19Next: TBDNot only did Ditcheva win the PFL’s flyweight season last year, but she did so in spectacular fashion — a TKO finish over Taila Santos, who once challenged for a UFC title. Ditcheva opened her 2025 campaign by dominating Inaba in the co-main event of the first PFL Champions Series card in Cape Town, South Africa. — Okamoto 10. Julianna Peña UFC bantamweightPrevious ranking: UnrankedRecord: 12-6Last: L (Sub2) vs. Kayla Harrison, June 7Next: TBDPeña is a two-time women’s bantamweight champion, with one of those reigns made possible by one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, her 2021 submission win over Amanda Nunes. Peña’s four most recent appearances have all been in title bouts, so she’s built for big moments. — WagenheimOther fighters receiving votes: Alexa Grasso, Virna Jandiroba, Rose Namajunas and Tatiana Suarez.How our panel votedBrett Okamoto: 1. Zhang Weili; 2. Valentina Shevchenko; 3. Kayla Harrison; 4. Cris Cyborg; 5. Manon Fiorot; 6. Mackenzie Dern; 7. Natalia Silva; 8. Rose Namajunas; 9. Erin Blanchfield; 10. Virna Jandiroba.Andreas Hale: 1. Shevchenko; 2. Zhang; 3. Harrison; 4. Cyborg; 5. Silva; 6. Fiorot; 7. Blanchfield; 8. Dakota Ditcheva; 9. Dern; 10. Namajunas.Ian Parker: 1. Zhang; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Cyborg; 4. Harrison; 5. Dern; 6. Julianna Peña; 7. Fiorot; 8. Jandiroba; 9. Blanchfield; 10. Silva.Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Shevchenko; 2. Harrison; 3. Zhang; 4. Cyborg; 5. Ditcheva; 6. Dern; 7. Alexa Grasso; 8. Peña; 9. Fiorot; 10. Silva.Andrew Davis: 1. Zhang; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Harrison; 4. Cyborg; 5. Dern; 6. Silva; 7. Fiorot; 8. Blanchfield; 9. Ditcheva; 10. Peña.Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Zhang; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Cyborg; 4. Harrison; 5. Fiorot; 6. Silva; 7. Blanchfield; 8. Tatiana Suarez; 9. Ditcheva; 10. Dern.Men’s pound-for-pound rankingsIslam Makhachev does not currently wear UFC gold, after vacating the lightweight title. But he goes for the welterweight belt on Nov. 15. Harry How/Getty Images1. Ilia Topuria UFC lightweight championRecord: 17-0Last: W (KO1) vs. Charles Oliveira, June 28Next: TBDAfter knocking out two of the greatest featherweights in UFC history (Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway) in 2024, it was going to be tough for Topuria to top that in 2025. He moved up to lightweight with the goal of challenging Makhachev, but with Makhachev moving up a division, Topuria instead captured the vacant title by knocking out Oliveira cold at UFC 317. — Hale2. Islam Makhachev UFC welterweightRecord: 27-1Last: W (Sub1) vs. Renato Moicano, Jan. 18Next: Nov. 15 vs. Jack Della MaddalenaMakhachev staked his claim as the greatest lightweight of all time by swiftly dispatching late-replacement Moicano at UFC 311. It was his UFC-record fourth title defense and tied Kamaru Usman for the second-longest winning streak in UFC history at 15. Next up for Makhachev will be a move to welterweight to challenge new champion Della Maddalena, putting a second championship in play. — Hale3. Merab Dvalishvili UFC bantamweight championRecord: 21-4Last: W (UD) vs. Cory Sandhagen, Oct. 4Next: Dec. 6 vs. Petr YanDvalishvili is on one of the most impressive runs through the UFC’s bantamweight division ever. Not only did he defeat Sean O’Malley for the second time in nine months at UFC 316, but he showcased a new part of his game, finishing O’Malley with a third-round guillotine. Since August 2022, Dvalishvili has beaten José Aldo, Yan, Henry Cejudo, O’Malley (twice), Umar Nurmagomedov and Sandhagen. And he will defend his title again, in a rematch with Yan, in December, becoming the only champion in UFC history to defend a title four times in a year. — OkamotoT-4. Tom Aspinall UFC heavyweight championRecord: 15-3, 1 NCLast: NC1 vs. Ciryl Gane, Oct. 25Next: TBDYou can make a case that Aspinall is the most dynamic, skillful, talented heavyweight the sport has seen. He is dominating opponents in a way that is unmatched. No one can last a round with him. He had hoped to prove his supremacy against Jon Jones, but Jones opted to retire, elevating Aspinall from interim champion. His first defense of the undisputed belt ended anticlimactically, as an eye poke ended his UFC 321 fight with Gane as a no contest. — OkamotoT-4. Alex Pereira UFC light heavyweight championPrevious ranking: 5Record: 13-3Last: W (TKO1) vs. Magomed Ankalaev, Oct. 4Next: TBDA stellar 2024 cemented Pereira’s place as a star in the UFC, but he faced arguably his toughest test as light heavyweight champion when he stepped into the Octagon with Ankalaev at UFC 313. Pereira had dealt with strikers, but the question was whether he could get the job done against a talented grappler. Pereira kept the fight standing but fell short by unanimous decision. He changed that outcome violently when he met Ankalaev in a rematch at UFC 320. — Hale6. Khamzat Chimaev UFC middleweight championRecord: 15-0Last: W (UD) vs. Dricus Du Plessis, Aug. 16Next: TBDAfter five years of hype, Chimaev finally fought for a championship at UFC 319 — and the result was one of the most dominant title fight performances in UFC history. Chimaev failed to record a finish but thoroughly demolished Du Plessis in their five-round bout and answered questions about his cardio along the way. If Chimaev can stay healthy and compete frequently, there is still plenty of time for him to rise to the very top of this list. — Okamoto7. Alexandre Pantoja UFC flyweight championRecord: 30-5Last: W (Sub3) vs. Kai Kara-France, June 28Next: Dec. 6 vs. Joshua VanThe UFC’s flyweight king has racked up four title defenses, including two in pay-per-view main events in 2024. He built his winning streak to eight in his UFC 317 win over Kara-France, whom he had already defeated before. He will defend the belt against Yan at UFC 323. Pantoja is quickly taking laps around the 125-pound division. — Okamoto8. Jack Della Maddalena UFC welterweight championRecord: 18-2Last: W (UD) vs. Belal Muhammad, May 10Next: Nov. 15 vs. Islam MakhachevDella Maddalena seemingly came from nowhere to make his debut on the pound-for-pound list, but that’s what happens when you win a UFC championship and snap Muhammad’s 11-fight win streak. Della Maddalena has had some close calls in the UFC, but at the end of the day he’s always found a way to win, going 8-0 inside the Octagon. Can he keep it going against Makhachev? — Okamoto9. Alexander Volkanovski UFC featherweight championRecord: 27-4Last: W (UD) vs. Diego Lopes, April 12Next: TBDIt felt as if the sport had started to write Volkanovski’s eulogy following his knockout loss to Topuria in February 2024. Volkanovski noticed and made a point of proving to everyone he still has plenty left by recapturing the featherweight belt at UFC 314. His age (36) will likely continue to be a prefight topic, which is fine because Volkanovski enjoys proving people wrong. — OkamotoT-10. Dricus Du Plessis UFC middleweightPrevious ranking: UnrankedRecord: 23-3Last: L (UD) vs. Khamzat Chimaev, Aug. 16Next: TBDBefore being smothered by Chimaev and dropping the belt, Du Plessis was running roughshod over the middleweight division with 11 straight victories, including four in a row over champions or ex-champs (Sean Strickland twice, Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker). Can he build back to another shot at Chimaev? — WagenheimT-10. Max Holloway UFC lightweightPrevious ranking: UnrankedRecord: 27-8Last: W (UD) vs. Dustin Poirier, July 19Next: TBDHolloway has won four of his past five fights while bouncing back and forth between lightweight and featherweight. The one loss was against Ilia Topuria, who now reigns in Holloway’s current division, lightweight. — WagenheimOther fighters receiving votes: Magomed Ankalaev and Arman Tsarukyan.How our panel votedBrett Okamoto: 1. Ilia Topuria; 2. Merab Dvalishvili; 3. Islam Makhachev; 4. Tom Aspinall; 5. Alex Pereira; 6. Alexandre Pantoja; 7. Khamzat Chimaev; 8. Alexander Volkanovski 9. Jack Della Maddalena; 10. Max Holloway.Andreas Hale: 1. Topuria; 2. Makhachev; 3. Dvalishvili; 4. Aspinall; 5. Pereira; 6. Chimaev; 7. Pantoja; 8. Della Maddalena; 9. Volkanovski; 10. Dricus Du Plessis.Ian Parker: 1. Topuria; 2. Makhachev; 3. Dvalishvili; 4. Chimaev; 5. Pereira; 6. Pantoja; 7. Della Maddalena; 8. Aspinall; 9. Volkanovski; 10. Holloway.Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Topuria; 2. Makhachev; 3. Dvalishvili; 4. Pereira; 5. Pantoja; 6. Chimaev; 7. Aspinall; 8. Volkanovski; 9. Della Maddalena; 10. Arman Tsarukyan.Andrew Davis: 1. Makhachev; 2. Topuria; 3. Dvalishvili; 4. Chimaev; 5. Aspinall; 6. Pereira; 7. Pantoja; 8. Della Maddalena; 9. Volkanovski; 10. Magomed Ankalaev.Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Topuria; 2. Makhachev; 3. Aspinall; 4. Dvalishvili; 5. Chimaev; 6. Pereira; 7. Pantoja; 8. Della Maddalena; 9. Volkanovski; 10. Du Plessis.
已发布: 2025-10-29 15:13:00
来源: www.espn.com
