UFC rankings: The Independent’s pound-for-pound fighters list

The UFC is home to some of the best mixed martial artists on the planet, so it’s no surprise that fans often debate how the elite fighters compare to one another – would would fare against each other.

Alongside its rankings for each weight class, the UFC has its pound-for-pound list, and below, The Independent has constructed its own pound-for-pound top 10 for men’s UFC fighters.

While there is no exact science to putting together lists like this, numerous factors have been considered, including each fighter’s overall resume, recent record, frequency of activity and calibre of opposition. The list will be updated after each major event, typically monthly.

Without further ado... here are our rankings after UFC 315 in May, with an honourable mention to Charles Oliveira, who narrowly misses out on the list.

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A controversial placement right off the bat, no doubt. In Jones’s favour are his essentially unbeaten record (bar a DQ in 2009), his status as a two-weight champion, and his history of dismantling some of the greatest fighters in the divisions he has graced. Working against the former light-heavyweight king are his numerous failed drug tests, his relative inactivity in recent years, and his ongoing reluctance to defend the heavyweight title against interim champion Tom Aspinall.

Here at Indy Sport, we never accuse fighters of ‘ducking’ others, but the American, 37, clearly doesn’t think the risk of facing the 32-year-old Briton matches the reward. More on Aspinall later, while Jones’s heavyweight run includes impressive stoppages of Ciryl Gane and divisional GOAT Stipe Miocic, but only after a three-year absence and an underwhelming end to his light-heavyweight career. Some argue he is the greatest ever, but is he the greatest right now? Certainly not in our opinion.

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Volkanovski went from underrated to undeniable as featherweight champion. The Australian came out victorious in all three of his bouts with bona fide featherweight icon Max Holloway, as well as racking up wins over Brian Ortega, Yair Rodriguez and “The Korean Zombie” across a legendary first reign at 145lb. He then jumped up a division to give Islam Makhachev – who you’ll find in quite a high position on this list – his toughest test as lightweight kingpin in 2023.

While he was outpointed by the formidable Russian, Volk put in a blinder of a performance and dragged Makhachev into uncharted waters, despite being the smaller fighter. At this time, the pair were jostling for top position in our rankings. But after suffering a first-round knockout in the rematch with Makhachev– a bout he took on just 11 days’ notice – he would see his famed featherweight title run end in brutal fashion as he was slept by Ilia Topuria, ushering in a new era at the top of the division.

Off the back of two KOs, many feared Volk, now 36, was consigned to the scrapheap. However, as Topuria relinquished the belt to chase multi-division glory, the Aussie bounced back with an impressive decision win over rising star Diego Lopes to regain his crown in April – and his place in our P4P rankings.

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Fans began to wonder what Ankalaev could have possibly done to earn his place in the Dana White doghouse as the Russian was overlooked for a title fight time and again, seemingly in a bid to preserve light-heavyweight star Alex Pereira’s title reign. With wins over the likes of Aleksandar Rakic, Johnny Walker and Anthony Smith under his belt, the grappling-heavy fighter was seen as the biggest stylistic problem for the formidable Pereira and finally got his shot at the champion in March.

Ankalaev, 32, made the most of that opportunity with a mature performance, dethroning Pereira on points. Some scored that fight in favour of Pereira, while many had it for Ankalaev by a close margin. Indy Sport saw Ankalaev as a comfortable winner, however; although his wrestling was neutralised with surprising ease, he outstruck the kickboxing icon across five rounds. Ankalaev is yet to defend the gold and if he beats Pereira again in an expected rematch, he will no doubt shoot further up our rankings.

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“Poatan” was chasing top spot on our list not long ago, having enjoyed a mesmeric rise in the UFC. The kickboxing champion shot through the middleweight rankings before sleeping old rival Israel Adesanya to take the belt, just a year after his promotional debut. And while Adesanya would respond by stopping the Brazilian in the rematch, he bounced back with a swift move up to light-heavyweight, where he stamped his mark as one of the most formidable finishers in the sport.

En route to becoming a two-weight champion in record time, he outpointed former title holder Jan Blachowicz, before claiming the gold by knocking out another ex-champ in Jiri Prochazka. He then recorded defences in 2024 with three more KOs, against Jamahal Hill (also a former champion), Prochazka again, and Khalil Rountree. As a ferocious knockout artist with a rigorous fight schedule, Pereira became Dana White’s relied-upon headliner.

He looked all but unbeatable, until he was put against arguably his biggest stylistic mismatch in Ankalaev. And while he came out on the losing side of a dull decision in March, ending what was one of the most entertaining title reigns in recent memory, his place in this list is still undisputed, even without the gold.

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For a long time, the South African was derided, with many fans saying his bulldozing, ungainly style would eventually be his undoing. Yet that style has led Du Plessis to victories over some of the best middleweights ever, and it took him to the middleweight title.

By narrowly winning a battle with Sean Strickland in 2024, the 31-year-old became 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 seen. After submitting Adesanya, Du Plessis further consolidated his reign by outpointing Strickland again, and more clearly this time.

“Stillknocks” also holds wins over Darren Till, Derek Brunson and Brad Tavares, is unbeaten in the UFC, and has secured 20 of his 23 wins via stoppage – with a near-even split of KOs and submissions. His resume is incredible, and would hit another level with a win over Khamzat Chimaev in August.

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Aspinall didn’t plan on rocketing towards gold when he was demolishing fighters in the UFC Apex, early into his stint with the promotion; he seemed happy climbing the ladder steadily. But possessing attributes that make him the archetype of the new era of heavyweight, he quickly emerged as levels above the rest of the pack.

While the UFC pegged knockout artist Sergei Pavlovich as the next big thing, Aspinall derailed his hype train by flattening the Russian on two weeks’ notice to win the interim title. He then retained the gold by stopping Curtis Blaydes with a first-minute KO – avenging the only blotch on his UFC record, where a freak knee injury forced a stoppage loss in 2022. Now, he eyes arguable GOAT Jones, and Indy Sport thinks the Briton has what it takes to win.

Aspinall, 32, 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 after Jones retained his belt against an ageing Stipe Miocic, Aspinall is overdue his shot at the undisputed throne.

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Okay, making up for lost ground here. After submitting Kai Asakura in December, to retain the men’s flyweight title, Pantoja entered our top 10. Not only was he included (in an overdue move), but he came into the top four. The Brazilian, 35, has wiped out the division, with three wins over ex-champ Brandon Moreno and two over No 1-ranked Brandon Royval.

In fact, Pantoja is 9-0 against the top 10, with Amir Albazi the only man on that list whom the champion hasn’t faced (and Albazi recently lost to Moreno, so). With the UFC needing fresh challengers for Pantoja, they signed Asakura, a former two-time Rizin bantamweight champion. But Pantoja saw him off like all the others. Finally, we’ve put the appropriate respect on Pantoja’s name.

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The Georgian entered our rankings after winning the bantamweight strap from Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 in September. That result marked an 11th straight win for Dvalishvili, who cruised to a decision victory over “Sugar Sean” with relentless pressure and superior grappling. Dvalishvili then made it 12 in a row with his first title defence: a five-round thriller in which he outpointed Umar Nurmagomedov, handing Khabib’s cousin his first pro loss.

In that bout, the champion was down on the scorecards against a versatile challenger, yet he employed his famous cardio to score a comeback win. The 34-year-old’s detractors will point to his lack of finishes, and that is a fair point (the “Machine” has just one stoppage in his current win streak), but his accomplishments are more important: like winning four straight fights against former champions: O’Malley, Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan and Jose Aldo – none of whom came close to beating him.

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“El Matador” is threatening to wreck everyone and leave. He spoke ‘arrogantly’ of his chances against featherweight great Volkanovski in February 2024, only for his words to prove prophetic. Topuria, still only 28, 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, and he improved that record with his first title defence: a third-round knockout of icon Max Holloway in October.

That victory showed off Topuria’s unforgiving power, as he became the first man to knock out the former champion, but he is more than just a heavy-handed, tidy boxer. In fact, while six of his wins have come via KO, eight have come via submission, thanks to Topuria’s fine wrestling and underrated jiu-jitsu. Topuria is a great example of the modern mixed martial artist, and he may be carrying the UFC into a new era.

But Topuria was not content with dominating at featherweight, as was projected by many. In February, he vacated his belt in a shock move, intent on chasing multi-division champion status at lightweight. With Islam Makhachev moving up to welterweight and vacating the 155lb belt, Topuria is set for a lightweight title fight against former champ Charles Oliveira.

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The best mixed martial artist in the world right now. There was a time when the ceiling of the Russian’s ability was questioned, and it was suggested he would never be quite as good as Khabib Nurmagomedov. Yet Makhachev not only emulated Khabib in becoming UFC lightweight champion, he broke his childhood-friend-turned-coach’s record for title defences in the division, achieving four after winning the belt in 2022.

Makhachev, 33, claimed the gold by submitting the greatest submission artist in UFC history, Oliveira, before retaining the gold with two wins over Alexander Volkanovski, one over Dustin Poirier and one against Renato Moicano. Volkanovski was at the peak of his first featherweight title reign at the time, but Makhachev outpointed and knocked out the Australian across their two bouts. He also submitted lightweight legend Poirier in their clash, and did the same to Moicano when the latter replaced Arman Tsarukyan (whom Makhachev had already beaten) at the 11th hour.

Makhachev has lost just once in his professional career and has won his last 15 bouts, a stunning run dating back to 2016, and he is now due to challenge for the welterweight title, vacating the lightweight strap to set up that opportunity. Few would bet against him claiming a second belt.