MMA Pound-for-Pound Rankings: Is Dricus du Plessis a top-5 fighter in the world after UFC 305?

Welcome to the latest update to the MMA Fighting pound-for-pound rankings, where every month our esteemed panel sort through the noise to answer one question: Who are the best overall male and female MMA fighters in the world?

Let’s take a look at how things stand following a memorable week in Perth for UFC 305.

Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images

MMA Fighting

It’s rarely pretty, but Dricus du Plessis seemingly cannot be stopped.

The reigning UFC middleweight champion once again showcased his unique brand of otherworldly gameness by dispatching Israel Adesanya with a fourth-round submission to notch the first successful defense of his belt at UFC 305. Du Plessis now sits at 8-0 under the UFC umbrella and owns ferocious stoppage wins over the two most celebrated middleweights of this era, former champs Adesanya and Robert Whittaker. It’s a remarkable run for a fighter who continues to confound at every turn, and Saturday’s latest kicked up a hornets nest of a debate within MMA Fighting’s internal rankings committee.

While five of our seven panelists decided it’s finally time to give the South African his due, slotting him anywhere from No. 3 to No. 7 in the world on their pound-for-pound ballots, two panelists simply doubled down on their beliefs that du Plessis is being overrated by the wider MMA ecosystem, both sitting him down with a No. 14 pound-for-pound ranking. As you can imagine, our internal Slack channels got a little heated over that one.

The sum total of the debate ends up moving du Plessis up to No. 6 in the world, rarefied air no doubt, while Adesanya topples out of MMA Fighting’s pound-for-pound rankings for the first time since their inception in 2021.

Looking ahead, all eyes now turn to Sept. 14, when UFC finally unveils a show Dana White has called “the greatest live sporting event of all-time” with its one-off at the Sphere in Las Vegas for UFC 306. Sean O’Malley defends not only his UFC bantamweight title, but also his No. 12 ranking when he meets No. 20 Merab Dvalishvili atop a card that is being marketed as a “love letter” to Mexican combat sports on Mexican Independence Day.

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 8 Dricus du Plessis def. No. 17 Israel Adesanya

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 12 Sean O’Malley vs. No. 20 Merab Dvalishvili (UFC 306, Sept. 14)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Israel Adesanya (3), Patricio Pitbull (3), Anatoly Malykhin (2), Khamzat Chimaev (1), Kamaru Usman (1), A.J. McKee (1), Johnny Eblen (1), Justin Gaethje (1), Kyoji Horiguchi (1) Usman Nurmagomedov (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): No. 17 Israel Adesanya

PFL

MMA Fighting

Taila Santos is one win away from $1 million.

The one-time UFC title challenger continues to be perfect since departing her former home to instead compete for a seven-figure prize in PFL’s 2024 women’s flyweight season. Earlier this month, Santos advanced to the season finals with a decision win over fellow pound-for-pound resident Liz Carmouche at PFL 7. The Brazilian now faces undefeated homegrown talent Dakota Ditcheva with $1 million on the line at the 2024 finale later this year.

In addition to moving to 3-0 under the PFL banner, Santos also vaulted into a No. 15 ranking following her latest win over Carmouche, sending the Bellator champ down to No. 16.

As for what’s next, similar to the men, the women’s pound-for-pound ranks carry plenty of stakes into Sept. 14 when No. 2 Alexa Grasso and No. 3 Valentina Shevchenko face off in a long-awaited trilogy bout for the UFC flyweight title at UFC 306.

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 17 Taila Santos def. No. 14 Liz Carmouche

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 2 Alexa Grasso vs. No. 3 Valentina Shevchenko (UFC 306, Sept. 14), No. 14 Jessica Andrade vs. Natalia Silva (UFC Vegas 97, Sept. 7)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Maycee Barber (5), Natalia Silva (2), Mayra Bueno Silva (1), Marina Rodriguez (1), Irene Aldana (1), Ketlen Vieira (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): N/A

Lastly, a refresher on some ground rules:

• The seven-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Shaun Al-Shatti, Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, E. Casey Leydon, Damon Martin and Jed Meshew.
• Updates to the rankings will be completed following every UFC pay-per-view. Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout.
• Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice (let’s put it this way: we’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did).

As a reminder, the notion of pound-for-pound supremacy is always going to inherently be subjective. When you’re debating whether someone like Sean Strickland should be ranked above someone like Charles Oliveira, there is no true right answer. In other words: It’s not serious business, folks.

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.