Jon Jones is back on top of the light heavyweight mountain, thanks to a technical knockout win over Alexander Gustafsson at the UFC 232 pay-per-view (PPV) event last weekend (Sat., Dec. 29, 2018) in Inglewood, Calif. (watch it), reclaiming the 205-pound strap recently vacated by Daniel Cormier.
But even though “DC” is no longer the “champ-champ,” he’s still the greatest pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. Well, that’s according to the latest UFC rankings, which place “Bones” one spot behind the king of the heavyweights, despite two commanding performances over Cormier at UFC 182 and UFC 214, the latter of which was ruled a no contest.
Here’s how the rankings work, courtesy of UFC.com:
Rankings were generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings.
Take a look at what the latest rankings field looks like courtesy of UFC.com. Note: (+/- = movement in rankings, *NR = Not previously ranked).
POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Daniel Cormier
2. Jon Jones +1
3. Khabib Nurmagomedov -1
4. Max Holloway
5. T.J. Dillashaw
6. Tyron Woodley +1
7. Georges St-Pierre -1
8. Amanda Nunes +6
9. Conor McGregor -1
10. Stipe Miocic -1
11. Henry Cejudo -1
12. Robert Whittaker
13. Tony Ferguson
14. Rose Namajunas +1
15. Cris Cyborg -4
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Henry Cejudo
1. Jussier Formiga
2. Joseph Benavidez
3. Ray Borg
4. Deiveson Figueiredo
5. John Moraga
6. Wilson Reis
7. Dustin Ortiz
8. Alexandra Pantoja
9. Alex Perez
10. Tim Elliott
11. Magomed Bibulatov
12. Said Nurmagomedov
13. Ryan Benoit
14. Eric Shelton
15. Matt Schnell
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: T.J. Dillashaw
1. Cody Garbrandt
2. Dominick Cruz
3. Raphael Assuncao
4. Marlon Moraes
5. Jimmie Rivera
6. John Lineker
7. Aljamain Sterling
8. John Dodson
9. Pedro Munhoz
10. Rob Font
11. Cody Stamann
12. Alejandro Perez
13. Thomas Almeida
14. Petr Yan *NR
15. Rani Yahya
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1. Brian Ortega
2. Jose Aldo
3. Frankie Edgar
T4. Alexander Volkanovski +6
T4. Renato Moicano
6. Jeremy Stephens
7. Cub Swanson
T8. Chad Mendes -2
T8. Mirsad Bektic
10. Josh Emmett -1
11. Ricardo Lamas
12. Yair Rodriguez
13. Chan Sung Jung
14. Zabit Magomedsharipov
15. Darren Elkins
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Khabib Numragomedov
1. Tony Ferguson
2. Conor McGregor
3. Dustin Poirier
4. Al Iaquinta
5. Kevin Lee
6. Edson Barboza
7. Justin Gaethje
8. Anthony Pettis
9. James Vick +2
10. Nate Diaz
11. Alexander Hernandez +1
12. Francisco Trinaldo +1
13. Dan Hooker +1
14. Paul Felder +1
15. Gregor Gillespie *NR
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1. Colby Covington
2. Kamaru Usman
3. Darren Till
4. Stephen Thompson
5. Rafael Dos Anjos
6. Robbie Lawler
7. Santiago Ponzinibbio
8. Demian Maia
9. Jorge Masvidal
10. Leon Edwards
11. Neil Magny
12. Gunnar Nelson
13. Donald Cerrone
14. Elizeu Dos Santos
15. Alex Oliveira
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1. Yoel Romero
2. Luke Rockhold
3. Ronaldo Souza
4. Kelvin Gastelum
5. Chris Weidman
6. Israel Adesanya
7. Paulo Costa
8. Derek Brunson
9. Jared Cannonier
10. Brad Tavares
11. David Branch
12. Antonio Carlos Junior
13. Uriah Hall +1
14. Elias Theodorou -1
15. Thiago Santos
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jon Jones
1. Daniel Cormier -1
2. Alexander Gustafsson
3. Anthony Smith
4. Jan Blachowicz
5. Volkan Oezdemir +1
T6. Corey Anderson +4
T6. Thiago Santos +1
8. Dominick Reyes
9. Ilir Latifi -4
10. Jimi Manuwa -1
11. Ovince Sanit Preux
12. Glover Texeira
13. Mauricio Rua
14. Misha Cirkunov
15. Nikita Krylov
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1. Stipe Miocic
2. Derrick Lewis
3. Francis Ngannou
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Alexander Volkov
6. Alistair Overeem
7. Junior Dos Santos
8. Aleksei Oleinik
9. Marcin Tybura +1
10. Justin Willis -1
11. Tai Tuivasa
12. Shamil Abdurakhimov
13. Walt Harris *NR
14. Andrei Arlovski -1
15. Stefan Struve -1
WOMEN'S STRAWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1. Jessica Andrade
2. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
T3. Nina Ansaroff
T3. Tatiana Suarez
5. Claudia Gadelha
6. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
7. Tecia Torres
8. Michelle Waterson
9. Carla Esparza
10. Felice Herrig
11. Cortney Casey
12. Cynthia Calvillo
13. Alexa Grasso
14. Randa Markos
15. Mackenzie Dern
WOMEN'S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Jessica Eye
2. Sijara Eubanks
3. Katlyn Chookagian
4. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
5. Alexis Davis
6. Liz Carmouche
7. Roxanne Modaferri
8. Lauren Murphy
9. Jessica Rose-Clark
10. Joanna Calderwood
11. Jennifer Maia +3
12. Ashlee Evans-Smith -1
13. Mara Romello Borella -1
14. Andrea Lee -1
15. Montana De La Rosa
WOMEN'S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1. Germain de Randamie
2. Holly Holm
3. Ketlen Vieira
4. Raquel Pennington
5. Cat Zingano
6. Marion Reneau
7. Aspen Ladd
8. Sara McMann
9. Yana Kunitskaya
10. Irene Aldana
11. Tonya Evinger
12. Bethe Correia
13. Lina Landsberg
14. Lucie Pudilova
15. Talita Bernardo
There you have it.
You can expect these standings to change -- particularly in the men’s flyweight division -- later this month, as the promotion is set to uncork the UFC on ESPN+: “Cejudo vs. Dillashaw” event on Sat., Jan. 19, 2019 inside Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York (more on that fight card here).
For even more upcoming UFC events click here.
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