The 15 Best Pound-For-Pound UFC Fighters Today Have Been Named
Highlights
- Despite Islam Makhachev’s continued dominance, UFC boss Dana White argues Jon Jones is the best fighter in the world.
- That’s not what the latest UFC pound-for-pound rankings suggest, as Jones remains No.2.
- We list the UFC’s top-15 fighters regardless of weight class below.
Islam Makhachev tops the updated men’s pound-for-pound rankings Tuesday after his Saturday victory over Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 inside the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The well-rounded Dagestan fighter defeated the American challenger in the fifth round by submission, after a bloody, back-and-forth war.
Poirier, though, performed valiantly against Makhachev, and remains as the fourth-ranked fighter on the lightweight list. Machachev’s skill on the ground grappling is hard to understate, so it is impressive that The Diamond was able to hold him off for the best part of five rounds. Despite taking the Dagestani further than expected, Poirier hinted after the fight that it may be his last foray into the UFC Octagon.
Islam Makhachev Submits Dustin Poirier at UFC 302
Islam Makhachev submits Dustin Poirier in UFC 302 main event.
Dana White Said Jon Jones is No.1 in The World
Islam Makhachev has done far more than Jones, though, in the last four years
Regardless of Makhavchev’s continued dominance, the UFC boss Dana White argued at the post-fight presser that Jon Jones should top people’s pound-for-pound lists. Jones is currently ranked second behind Makhachev, who is on a 14-fight unbeaten streak.
Judging this recent form against Jones’ legendary status in the UFC is certainly tough, but White had some choice words during the post-event press conference:
“[Makhachev’s] one of the greatest of all time [and] I think he is incredible,” White told reporters. “I don’t think he is pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. For anybody to call Islam the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world when Jon Jones is still f***ing fighting, it’s nuts!”
“Jon Jones has never lost a fight, ever. He has fought all the baddest dudes in the world.”
White continued: “Now when you think about what pound-for-pound rankings really mean, he moved up to heavyweight and destroyed the best guy in the world. As long as Jon Jones is still fighting actively and is in the rankings, yeah, nobody is pound-for-pound best fighter in the world.”
The UFC honcho certainly has a point with Jones’ dominance throughout his career, although Makhachev’s form has been second-to-none, and he’s been far more active than the heavyweight — who has fought just once since his win over Dominick Reyes in 2020, and even that once fight since then, a win via guillotine choke over Ciryl Gane, was 458 days ago.
Despite White being the UFC CEO, he actually does not have a say in the rankings, hence his lack of support for the current list. The rankings are determined by a voting panel of media members. In a seemingly subjective process, the UFC state that “media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC.”
The panel includes members from KHON Honolulu, FightNews, and MoxeoMundial, showing that there is a diverse range of media members called upon to create the lists. This subjectivity would explain why Charles Oliveira also leapfrogged Tom Aspinall to gain 12th place in the rankings. Neither fighter has been victorious in 2024, with Oliveira in fact losing his last match against Arman Tsarukyan.
Leon Edwards, Alex Pereira and Ilia Topuria complete the top five on the list.
The Best 15 Fighters in The UFC, Ranked
Here is the list in full, with Makhachev at the top despite White’s support of Jones
Strickland’s recent victory over Paulo Costa at UFC 302 saw him retain his place in the pound-for-pound charts, while the Brazilian slipped to eighth place in the middleweight rankings.
With so many Fight Night events coming up, together with a huge pay-per-view show at the end of the month featuring Conor McGregor’s comeback against Michael Chandler, there is sure to be more movements in the weeks to come.
Here’s the pound-for-pound list in full:
- Islam Makachev — UFC lightweight champion
- Jon Jones — UFC heavyweight champion
- Leon Edwards — UFC welterweight champion
- Alex Pereira — UFC light heavyweight champion
- Ilia Topuria — UFC featherweight champion
- Sean O’Malley — UFC bantamweight champion
- Alexander Volkanovski — featherweight
- Max Holloway — featherweight
- Dricus du Plessis — UFC middleweight
- Alexandre Pantoja — UFC flyweight champion
- Israel Adesanya — middleweight
- Charles Oliveria — lightweight
- Tom Aspinall — UFC interim heavyweight champion
- Sean Strickland — middleweight
- Aljamain Sterling — featherweight
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