Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

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The matchmaking worked itself out in the UFC’s flyweight division on Saturday night.

Alexandre Pantoja handled his business in the UFC 317 co-main event, as he dominated Kai Kara-France en route to a third-round submission victory. That’s the fourth successful flyweight title defense for “Cannibal,” who is the clear-cut No. 1 in the rankings at 125 pounds. However, a new challenger emerged in Las Vegas when 23-year-old Joshua Van upset Brandon Royval in a “Fight of the Year” contender on the UFC 317 main card. Van already had the look of a future contender before accepting the Royval fight on short notice. Now he’s the No. 2-ranked flyweight with a pending date against Pantoja.

While Ilia Topuria may be the newly-crowned UFC lightweight champion following his first-round knockout of Charles Oliveira, he isn’t our top 155-pound talent — at least not yet. That honor still goes to Islam Makhachev, who authored a dominant run atop the division before vacating the belt to pursue two-divisional dreams at 155 pounds. Topuria will debut in the lightweight poll at No. 2, and he’ll have no shortage of willing suitors for his first title defense.

In other action at UFC 317, Beneil Dariush shook off a rough start to gradually take control in a unanimous decision victory over Renato Carneiro in a featured lightweight affair. That allows the Kings MMA veteran to maintain his spot in the Top 10. Meanwhile, Tracy Cortez picked up a significant victory in the women’s flyweight division, as she outdueled Viviane Araujo for 15 minutes to win for the sixth time in seven Octagon appearances. The 31-year-old Arizona resident enters the 125-pound rankings at No. 14.

Elsewhere, Sergio Pettis secured his first victory since June 2023, as he outpointed Raufeon Stots in a bantamweight showcase at PFL World Tournament 7 on Friday night. The former Bellator champion remains No. 12 in the 135-pound rankings, one spot below former foe Patrick Mix.

Finally, despite no significant action over the weekend, the heavyweight division experiences some movement with the exit of Jon Jones, who recently claimed he’s been retired since besting Stipe Miocic at UFC 309 this past November. Whether that is true or not, the combination of Jones’ official retirement announcement and his latest legal troubles makes it an ideal time to pull him from the rankings.

Note: Previous rankings listed in brackets.

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