MMA Pound-for-Pound Rankings: With Jon Jones and Demetrious Johnson out, Merab Dvalishvili ascends

Jon Jones | Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Welcome to the latest update to the MMA Fighting pound-for-pound rankings, where every month our esteemed panel sort through the noise to answer one question: Who are the best overall male and female MMA fighters in the world?

Let’s take a look at how things stand following a memorable UFC 306 at Sphere in Las Vegas, plus two notable exits from the rankings.

MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

ONE Championship
Demetrious Johnson

Jon Jones and Demetrious Johnson not ranked among the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world? Feels wrong.

But that’s the reality we’re living in, at least in the MMA Fighting Pound-for-Pound rankings, as both fighters fighters are ineligible to make the list as of September. Johnson’s exclusion should be no surprise given that the flyweight GOAT just announced his retirement, but Jones being out probably has a few of you scratching your heads, especially with his Stipe Miocic clash finally rescheduled for UFC 309 in November.

Like Michael Chandler—also finally set to return to action at UFC 309—a few months ago, Jones has crossed our 18-month threshold for inactivity and that means he can no longer be ranked. Yes, his next bout is supposedly just two months away, but as was the case with Chandler, until you actually step in the cage again, you’re not an active fighter.

Besides, we’re talking about Jon Jones here. If you think his next fight is guaranteed to happen, I’ll just say, “Hello, welcome to following MMA. Please enjoy learning about this wonderful world of ours.” So until Nov. 16 comes and goes, no Jones.

Jones and Johnson, two of the most decorated champions in UFC history, were No. 8 and No. 13, respectively in our previous Pound-for-Pound Rankings, and both rank even higher if we’re talking about the all-time list. Just don’t tell Dana White about any of this, OK?

In terms of actual movement, our biggest riser is unsurprisingly new bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Merab Dvalishvili

Dvalishvili was dominant on Saturday night, outworking Sean O’Malley for five rounds to capture UFC gold, win his 11th straight fight, and jump from No. 20 all the way to No. 8 on our charts. If he books a fight with the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov next, and passes that test, an even higher spot is waiting for him.

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 20 Merab Dvalishvili def. No. 12 Sean O’Malley

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 2 Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree (UFC 307, Oct. 5), No. 4 Ilia Topuria vs. No. 9 (tied) Max Holloway (UFC 308, Nov. 16), No. 12 Patchy Mix vs. Leandro Higo (Bellator Paris, Nov. 16), No. 16 Charles Oliveira vs. Michael Chandler (UFC, 309, Nov. 16), No. 18 Aljamain Sterling vs. Movsar Evloev (UFC 307, Oct. 5)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Anatoly Malykhin (4), Khamzat Chimaev (1), Johnny Eblen (1), Movsar Evloev (1), Justin Gaethje (1), Kyoji Horiguchi (1), A.J. McKee (1), Usman Nurmagomedov (1), Robert Whittaker (1), Kamaru Usman (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): No. 8 Jon Jones (inactivity), No. 13 Demetrious Johnson (retirement)

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Valentina Shevchenko

You can’t keep a good legend down.

Defying the notion that her championship days are behind her, Valentina Shevchenko reclaimed the flyweight title she held for almost five years with a one-sided wrestling clinic against rival Alexa Grasso. This was the third meeting between the two fighters and the series now stands at 1-1-1, but given that Shevchenko arguably did enough to win their second meeting, the trilogy bout appears to have brought an end to their story for now.

Shevchenko has a lively line of title challengers to go through, with the next expected to be Manon Fiorot (7-0 in the UFC), so there’s plenty of obstacles ahead if Shevchenko plans to close the gap between her and women’s MMA GOAT Amanda Nunes. Keep in mind, Nunes is retired, so unless she comes back, Shevchenko has all the time in the world to catch up.

For now, she’ll have to settle for being No. 1 with a “Bullet” again on our Pound-for-Pound list.

Speaking of potential title challengers, the other big mover this month was flyweight contender Natalia Silva. The 27-year-old won her sixth straight UFC fight by defeating former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade and goes from the “also receiving votes” section into the top 15.

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 3 Valentina Shevchenko def. No. 2 Alexa Grasso, Natalia Silva def. No. 14 Jessica Andrade

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 6 Larissa Pacheco vs. No. 7 Cris Cyborg (PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants, Oct. 19), No. 8 Erin Blanchfield vs. No. 10 Rose Namajunas (UFC Edmonton, Nov. 2), No. 9 Raquel Pennington vs. Julianna Peña (UFC 307, Oct. 5), No. 12 Kayla Harrison vs. Ketlen Vieira (UFC 307, Oct. 5), No. 13 Seika Izawa vs. Kanna Asakura (RIZIN 48, Sept. 29)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Maycee Barber (4), Amanda Lemos (4), Irene Aldana (1), Dakota Ditcheva (1), Norma Dumont (1), Marina Rodriguez (1), Mayra Bueno Silva (1), Ketlen Vieira (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): No. 20 Amanda Lemos

Lastly, a refresher on some ground rules:

• The six-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, E. Casey Leydon, Damon Martin and Jed Meshew.
• Updates to the rankings will be completed following every UFC pay-per-view. Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout.
• Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice (let’s put it this way: we’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did).

As a reminder, the notion of pound-for-pound supremacy is always going to inherently be subjective. When you’re debating whether someone like Sean Strickland should be ranked above someone like Charles Oliveira, there is no true right answer. In other words: It’s not serious business, folks.

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.