Pound-for-pound rankings: Islam Makhachev a unanimous No. 1 ... still

Islam Makhachev made history on Saturday night, winning his 17th fight in a row, breaking a UFC consecutive victory record he had shared with Anderson Silva. The unanimous decision over Ian Machado Garry in the UFC 330 main event in Philadelphia was Makhachev's first defense of the welterweight title, after he had previously reigned at lightweight and defended that belt a record four straight times. The accomplishment did not bump Makhachev up in the ESPN pound-for-pound rankings, however, because there was nowhere for him to go. Makhachev already was a unanimous No. 1 among the voting panel. Similarly, Mackenzie Dern's victory in Saturday's co-main event -- her first defense as strawweight champion -- did not elevate her in the women's top 10. Dern remains at No. 4, situated behind the formidable Valentina Shevchenko, Zhang Weili and Cris Cyborg. The only change is that Dern now owns that fourth spot by herself; previously, she was tied with Natalia Silva. Dern's dominant performance in a unanimous decision win over Gillian Robertson added enough voter support to nudge Dern above Silva, who now is No. 5. For the ESPN divisional MMA rankings, click here. Note: Results are current; rankings are as of Aug. 19. To be eligible for the rankings, a fighter must have competed over the past 12 months or must have an upcoming fight booked. Fighters who have been dropped for inactivity can be reinstated only after they compete. Men's pound-for-pound rankings UFC welterweight champion Record: 29-1 Last: W (UD) vs. Ian Machado Garry, Aug. 15 Next: TBA Makhachev vacated the UFC lightweight championship to go for a second title at welterweight. By winning that belt last November with a thrashing of Jack Della Maddalena, Makhachev staked his place among MMA's greatest -- not just in today's sport but of all time. His win over Machado Garry at UFC 330 was his 17th straight, breaking the UFC record for consecutive wins. Makhachev is piling up unprecedented achievements. 2. Petr Yan UFC bantamweight champion Record: 20-5 Last: W (UD) vs. Merab Dvalishvili, Dec. 6, 2025 Next: Oct. 24 vs. Dvalishvili What a return to the top it's been for Yan. He began his career with 15 consecutive wins before going on a 1-4 run from 2021 to 2023. That almost doesn't feel real now, after watching him reclaim his throne against Dvalishvili, who once handed him the worst loss of his career. Yan took a major detour, but this was the destination we felt he was capable of before the skid. He once again looks like one of the best fighters on the planet. He can prove it by beating Dvalishvili again. UFC bantamweight Record: 21-5 Last: L (UD) vs. Petr Yan, Dec. 6, 2025 Next: Oct. 24 vs. Yan Dvalishvili was on one of the most impressive runs through the UFC's bantamweight division ever. Not only did he defeat Sean O'Malley for the second time in nine months at UFC 316, but he showcased a new part of his game, finishing O'Malley with a guillotine. Starting in August 2022, Dvalishvili beat José Aldo, Yan, Henry Cejudo, O'Malley (twice), Umar Nurmagomedov and Cory Sandhagen. But at UFC 323, in an attempt to become the first champion in UFC history to successfully defend a title four times in a calendar year, Dvalishvili lost a rematch with Yan. They will fight for a third time at UFC 333. 4. Tom Aspinall UFC heavyweight champion Record: 15-3, 1 NC Last: NC1 vs. Ciryl Gane, Oct. 25, 2025 Next: TBA You can make a case that Aspinall is the most dynamic, skillful, talented heavyweight the sport has seen. He is dominating opponents in a way that is unmatched. No one can last a round with him. He had hoped to prove his supremacy against Jon Jones, but Jones opted to retire, elevating Aspinall from interim champion. His first defense of the undisputed belt ended anticlimactically, as an eye poke resulted in his UFC 321 fight with Gane being declared a no-contest. Where does Aspinall go from here? 5. Ilia Topuria UFC lightweight Record: 17-1 Last: L (TKO4) vs. Justin Gaethje, June 14 Next: TBA Topuria was an undefeated two-division champion when he ran into Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 and was brutalized in a stoppage loss. How will that affect the immediate future of Topuria? His knockout wins over two of the greatest featherweights, Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, gave him an intimidating aura. Can the former champion get that back? UFC lightweight champion Record: 28-5 Last: W (TKO4) vs. Ilia Topuria, June 14 Next: TBA Gaethje has spent his 15-year career thrilling MMA fans, but before the title bout on the White House lawn, all he had to show for it -- aside from 15 bonus checks in 15 UFC appearances -- were two missed opportunities to be an undisputed champion. His fourth-round TKO of Topuria got Gaethje over the hump. It was a resilient performance in a back-and-forth battle that is a prime candidate for fight of the year. More important for Gaethje: At age 37, he is finally sitting at the top of the mountain. UFC featherweight champion Record: 28-4 Last: W (UD) vs. Diego Lopes, Jan. 31 Next: Oct. 24 vs. Movsar Evloev It felt as if the sport had started to write Volkanovski's eulogy following his knockout loss to Ilia Topuria in February 2024. Volkanovski noticed and made a point of proving to everyone he still has plenty left by recapturing the featherweight belt at UFC 314, the first of two consecutive wins over Lopes. His age (37) will likely continue to be a prefight topic, which is fine because Volkanovski enjoys proving people wrong. Can he hand Evloev his first loss at UFC 333? UFC flyweight Record: 30-6 Last: L (TKO1) vs. Joshua Van, Dec. 6, 2025 Next: Sept. 19 vs. Joshua Van Pantoja became the UFC's unquestioned flyweight king by racking up four title defenses, including two in pay-per-view main events in 2024. He built his winning streak to eight in his UFC 317 win over Kai Kara-France, whom he had already defeated before, like other challengers. But he lost his belt in a gruesome way, injuring his elbow in the opening seconds of a UFC 323 fight with Van. Pantoja gets his rematch with Van at UFC 331. 9. Ciryl Gane UFC heavyweight interim champion Record: 14-2, 1 NC Last: W (TKO2) vs. Alex Pereira, June 14 Next: TBA Gane is unique in that he is the first -- and could very well go down as the only -- heavyweight to face the division's four biggest names in Francis Ngannou, Jon Jones, Tom Aspinall and Pereira. None of those four have fought each other, yet all four have have fought the Frenchman. Gane was 0-2 with a no-contest against that group before he knocked out Pereira in the second round of their interim title fight. Gane was heralded as the future of the generation when he broke onto the scene, but endured growing pains in losses to Ngannou and Jones. He looks formidable now, and no one will be counting him out if he faces Aspinall in a title unification bout. 10. Alex Pereira UFC heavyweight / light heavyweight Record: 13-4 Last: L (TKO2) vs. Ciryl Gane, June 14 Next: TBA He was on the verge of making history when the opportunity fell apart. Pereira was a UFC champion at middleweight, then light heavyweight, but his unprecedented pursuit of a belt in a third weight class did not go well for the Brazilian, who lost an interim heavyweight title fight to Gane on the White House card. At 39 years old, Pereira does not have much time left to recapture the magic. Other fighters receiving votes: Joshua Van and Arman Tsarukyan. How our panel voted Brett Okamoto: 1. Islam Makhachev; 2. Petr Yan; 3. Merab Dvalishvili; 4. Ilia Topuria; 5. Alexander Volkanovski; 6. Ciryl Gane; 7. Tom Aspinall; 8. Arman Tsarukyan; 9. Alex Pereira; 10. Alexandre Pantoja. Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Makhachev; 2. Volkanovski; 3. Justin Gaethje; 4. Topuria; 5. Pereira; 6. Dvalishvili; 7. Gane; 8. Joshua Van; 9. Yan; 10. Pantoja. Andrew Davis: 1. Makhachev; 2. Aspinall; 3. Yan; 4. Dvalishvili; 5. Pantoja; 6. Gaethje; 7. Topuria; 8. Volkanovski; 9. Gane; 10. Pereira. Dre Waters: 1. Makhachev; 2. Aspinall; 3. Yan; 4. Dvalishvili; 5. Pantoja; 6. Gaethje; 7. Volkanovski; 8. Topuria; 9. Gane; 10. Van. Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Makhachev; 2. Aspinall; 3. Pantoja; 4. Yan; 5. Gaethje; 6. Dvalishvili; 7. Topuria; 8. Gane; 9. Pereira; 10. Volkanovski. Women's pound-for-pound rankings UFC flyweight champion Record: 26-4-1 Last: W (UD) vs. Zhang Weili, Nov. 15, 2025 Next: TBA Shevchenko's dominance came under question in 2022 and 2023, when she went 1-1-1 in a trilogy with Alexa Grasso. Boy, does that feel like a long time ago now. Shevchenko has more than reasserted herself as the best flyweight in the world, and now she's established herself as the No. 1 woman in the world, period. It wasn't surprising that she beat Zhang, but it was surprising how easy she made it look. 2. Zhang Weili UFC flyweight / strawweight Record: 26-4 Last: L (UD) vs. Valentina Shevchenko, Nov. 15, 2025 Next: TBA It's hard to move up in weight, especially at the highest level. That sounds like it should be obvious, but Zhang had been dominant at 115 pounds for so long, some of us might have taken for granted how big of a challenge moving to 125 would be. UFC 322 was a bad night for Zhang, but she doesn't have many. And if she decides to stay at flyweight, it certainly seems reasonable to believe she'll fare better in the future. 3. Cris Cyborg PFL featherweight champion Record: 29-2, 1 NC Last: W (Sub3) vs. Sara Collins, Dec. 13, 2025 Next: Aug. 22 vs. Ketlen Vieira It had been a while since Cyborg had fought an elite opponent in MMA until she met Larissa Pacheco in 2024. That was a legitimate matchup -- and many within the industry were predicting Cyborg's downfall. Instead, she took out the PFL's two-weight champion, upending all of Pacheco's momentum. One of the original pioneers of women's MMA is once again a champion after getting her second career submission at PFL Lyon in December. The PFL is promoting her fight with Vieira on Saturday as a retirement bout, but Cyborg is not committing to this one definitely being her finale. UFC strawweight champion Record: 17-5 Last: W (UD) vs. Gillian Robertson, Aug. 15 Next: TBA Dern's rise to the 115-pound throne was truly a changing of the guard. She is the division's first first-time champion since 2019, because the previous three champs -- Zhang Weili, Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas -- all were in their second reigns. Dern, nearly a decade into her MMA career after multiple jiu-jitsu world championships, has won four fights in a row, including a dominant performance against a fellow grappling-heavy fighter, Robertson, in her first title defense. UFC flyweight Previous ranking: Tied for 4 Record: 20-5-1 Last: W (UD) vs. Rose Namajunas, Jan. 24 Next: TBA Silva is looking every bit the part of a future UFC champion following a dominant display against Alexa Grasso at UFC 315 and a victory over Namajunas at UFC 324. Silva's stick-and-move style has frustrated even the highest level of opponent, and she's got youth on her side as she won't turn 30 until 2027. 6. Manon Fiorot UFC flyweight Record: 13-2 Last: W (TKO1) vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius, Oct. 18, 2025 Next: Sept. 12 vs. Alexa Grasso Fiorot has handled everyone the UFC has put in front of her -- except the champion, Valentina Shevchenko, who defeated the Frenchwoman at UFC 315 in May 2025. But Fiorot could earn another shot at the belt if she can get past Grasso, a former champion, at Noche UFC. PFL flyweight Record: 16-0 Last: W (UD) vs. Denise Kielholtz, July 31 Next: TBA Not only did Ditcheva win the PFL's flyweight season in 2024, but she did so in spectacular fashion -- a TKO finish over Taila Santos, who once challenged for a UFC title. Ditcheva fought only once in 2025, dominating Sumiko Inaba in the co-main event of the first PFL Champions Series card in Cape Town, South Africa. She then spent over a year on the sideline, healing injuries to both hands, before returning at PFL New York with a dominant win over Kielholtz. UFC flyweight Record: 14-2 Last: W (Sub2) vs. Tracy Cortez, Nov. 15, 2025 Next: Oct. 17 vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius Her rise toward the top of the division was derailed by a March 2024 loss to Manon Fiorot, but Blanchfield bounced back with two straight wins, including one over two-time former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas in November 2024. If she wins her October bout with Jasudavicius, a fellow top-10 flyweight contender, Blanchfield would inch ever closer to a title shot. UFC strawweight Record: 12-1 Last: W (Sub2) vs. Loopy Godínez, April 11 Next: TBA If Suarez is still feeling the effects of last year's humbling defeat to Zhang Weili in a title challenge, she certainly didn't show it at UFC 327, overcoming early adversity to thrash Godinez, a fellow top-10 strawweight. Suarez is going to be a tough out for anyone at 115 pounds. 10. Alexa Grasso UFC flyweight Record: 17-5-1 Last: W (KO) vs. Maycee Barber, March 28 Next: Sept. 12 vs. Manon Fiorot Grasso went nearly three years without winning a fight, but her 2023 win right before the skid was a huge one, a submission of Valentina Shevchenko for the UFC title. What followed were two more fights with Shevchenko -- a draw, then a loss -- and then a loss to Natalia Silva. That made the fight with Barber a must-win, and Grasso came through explosively. Next up is Fiorot, a fellow title contender. Other fighter receiving votes: Virna Jandiroba. How our panel voted Brett Okamoto: 1. Valentina Shevchenko; 2. Zhang Weili; 3. Mackenzie Dern; 4. Cris Cyborg; 5. Manon Fiorot; 6. Dakota Ditcheva; 7. Natalia Silva; 8. Erin Blanchfield; 9. Tatiana Suarez; 10. Virna Jandiroba. Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Shevchenko; 2. Cyborg; 3. Zhang; 4. Ditcheva; 5. Dern; 6. Silva; 7. Alexa Grasso; 8. Suarez; 9. Fiorot; 10. Blanchfield. Andrew Davis: 1. Shevchenko; 2. Zhang; 3. Cyborg; 4. Dern; 5. Silva; 6. Fiorot; 7. Blanchfield; 8. Ditcheva; 9. Suarez; 10. Jandiroba. Dre Waters: 1. Shevchenko; 2. Zhang; 3. Cyborg; 4. Silva; 5. Dern; 6. Fiorot; 7. Ditcheva; 8. Blanchfield; 9. Suarez; 10. Grasso. Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Shevchenko; 2. Zhang; 3. Cyborg; 4. Fiorot; 5. Silva; 6. Dern; 7. Blanchfield; 8. Suarez; 9. Ditcheva; 10. Grasso.