Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

It looks like this heavyweight thing might work out for Jon Jones.

The former 205-pound king made an impressive debut in the big man’s division, as he submitted Ciryl Gane to capture heavyweight gold in the UFC 285 headliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night. How much weight (pun intended) does one victory in a new division carry? In Jones’ case, it’s enough to propel him to the No. 2 spot behind Francis Ngannou, the man who was stripped of the belt he now owns. The logic here is that while Jones’ win was impressive, it doesn’t trump Ngannou’s overall resume in the division.

There are no such questions regarding Alexa Grasso, whose shocking submission of Valentina Shevchenko launches her to the top spot in the women’s flyweight division. Grasso has won five straight at 125 pounds, and her sixth might have to come in a rematch with Shevchenko if she wants to have any staying power in the No. 1 position.

While the headliners garnered most of the attention over the weekend, several other fighters made statements at UFC 285. Dricus Du Plessis (middleweight), Shavkat Rakhmonov (welterweight), Mateusz Gamrot (lightweight) and Amanda Ribas (women’s flyweight) all made moves in their respective divisions after impressive victories over ranked opposition.

Note: Previous rankings listed in brackets.

Jump To »
HEAVYWEIGHT
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
MIDDLEWEIGHT
WELTERWEIGHT
LIGHTWEIGHT
FEATHERWEIGHT
BANTAMWEIGHT
FLYWEIGHT
WOMEN'S FEATHERWEIGHT
WOMEN'S BANTAMWEIGHT
WOMEN'S FLYWEIGHT
WOMEN'S STRAWWEIGHT
WOMEN'S ATOMWEIGHT