Stock Up, Stock Down: Pound-for-Pound Rankings After UFC 267 and 268

The official UFC rankings are a farce. That sounds harsh, but it's the truth.

The entire system seems to be predicated on the whims and fancies of the voting panelists, many of whom don't even appear to closely follow mixed martial arts. There is no consistency in terms of what happens when a ranked fighter changes weight classes or retires. There is legitimate evidence that suggests the UFC nudges its panelists in the directions it deems most suitable, per MyMMANews (h/t Bloody Elbow).

The list of problems goes on and on.

We here at Bleacher Report are tired of it and have decided to take a stand by creating our own UFC pound-for-pound lists: one list for men and another for women.

We will update our pound-for-pound rankings after each UFC pay-per-view and, with a little luck, bring some order to the chaotic world of mixed martial arts.

With UFC 267 and 268 both going down in the last two weeks, that means it's time for an update.

UFC 267 saw Glover Teixeira capture the light heavyweight title with a second-round submission win over Jan Blachowicz, who was previously ranked in our top 10, while Petr Yan became the interim bantamweight champion with a decision win over Cory Sandhagen earlier in the night. 

UFC 268, meanwhile, was topped by a welterweight title fight between pound-for-pound star Kamaru Usman, the division's reigning champion, and his fiercest rival, Colby Covington. Usman won the fight with a hard-fought decision. UFC 268 also saw Rose Namajunas defend the strawweight title with a decision win over Weili Zhang. Both women have had a place on our pound-for-pound list for ages.

After these massive cards, there have been some big changes to our rankings—but the biggest changes are unrelated to either event. 

Keep scrolling to see who is sitting where. 

Men: Nos. 10-6

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10. Petr Yan

9. Charles Oliveira

8. Brandon Moreno

7. Francis Ngannou

6. Max Holloway 

The biggest change to the bottom half of our men's pound-for-pound rankings stems from Teixeira's light heavyweight title-winning defeat of Blachowicz at UFC 267. That win unfortunately wasn't enough to earn Teixeira a spot inside our top 10, but it did push Blachowicz off the list, clearing the way for reigning lightweight champion Charles Oliveira to enter.

A major change to the top half of our list, which we'll unpack imminently, also opened the door for new interim bantamweight champion Yan to enter the top 10. 

Men: Nos. 5-1

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5. Dustin Poirier

4. Stipe Miocic

3. Alexander Volkanovski

2. Israel Adesanya

1. Kamaru Usman

As we suggested on the previous slide, there's been a big change to the top half of our men's pound-for-pound list—and many of you probably guessed it.

At long last, we have booted former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones from the No. 1 spot—and from our pound-for-pound list altogether.

The main reason we've ejected Jones is that he hasn't fought since a February 2020 win over Dominick Reyes—which happened to be a highly controversial split decision. However, his long absence is exacerbated by the fact that there are seemingly no plans for his next fight in the works. We know he's planning on moving up to heavyweight, but he doesn't have a fight booked. And after being barred from his long-time training home of Jackson Wink in Albuquerque, New Mexico, following his September arrest, he doesn't even have a gym to train at.

Make no mistake: Jones is one of the greatest fighters of all time and possibly the best fighter alive today. The problem is that he just hasn't been fighting and doesn't seem to have any plans to. So, for the moment, he's gone.

Jones' exit allowed for Yan's debut in our top 10, and it caused every other fighter on the list to move up a spot—most notably welterweight champion Usman, who can now call himself Bleacher Report's No. 1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter. 

Now, on to the women.

Women: Nos. 10-6

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10. Marina Rodriguez

9. Carla Esparza

8. Katlyn Chookagian

7. Holly Holm

6. Germaine de Randamie 

The only change to the back half of our women's top 10 stems from a major change to the top half of the list. We'll get to that shortly, but first, allow us to introduce the newest additions to our women's pound-for-pound rankings: Marina Rodriguez and Carla Esparza.

Rodriguez, one of the fastest rising contenders at strawweight, is now sitting pretty at No. 10. Esparza, the strawweight division's first-ever champion, is now ranked at No. 9, thanks to a five-fight win streak that includes a victory over Rodriguez. 

Both women have been floating just outside the top-10 for some time, and thanks to the aforementioned change at the top of the list, have finally broken through.  

Women: Nos. 5-1

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5. Jessica Andrade

4. Weili Zhang

3. Rose Namajunas

2. Valentina Shevchenko

1. Amanda Nunes

So, about that big change we've been teasing... 

Just like we finally removed Jones from our men's list, we've finally removed former strawweight queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk from our women's list.

Jedrzejczyk is irrefutably one of the greatest female fighters of all time, and she most likely remains one of the best strawweights in the world, but she hasn't fought since a razor-close loss to Weili Zhang in March of 2020.

She also doesn't seem to have any immediate plans to fight. For that reason, we've been forced to remove her. If she wins again, she'll be right back on this list, but for the moment, she's on the outside looking in.

Jedrzejczyk's exit allows for former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade to crack the top five. Beyond that, nothing has changed. Former strawweight queen Zhang is still ranked at No. 4, her two-time foil Rose Namajunas is still sitting at No. 3, and our No. 2 and No. 1 spots are still dominated by Valentina Shevchenko and Amanda Nunes, respectively. 

Shevchenko, the reigning UFC flyweight champion, is one of the most dominant champions in MMA today, and she would undoubtedly be sitting at No. 1 were it not for the existence of Nunes, who she's lost to twice previously.

Nunes, who holds the bantamweight and featherweight titles, has beaten every other women to hold the belt in either division—Ronda Rousey, Holly Holm, Miesha Tate, Germaine de Randamie and Cris Cyborg—and is frankly unimpeachable atop this list.