When they fought back in February, Alexander Volkanovski and Islam Makhachev were close enough in competitive balance to throw the pound-for-pound discussion for a loop. Ultimately, Makhachev won the first fight by the skin of his teeth to retain his lightweight title, yet Volkanovski—the featherweight king who moved up in weight, took control of the fight late, and outstruck Makhachev by 70 strikes—did enough to stay ahead in our rankings.
If anything, Makhachev’s quick annihilation of Volkanovski in Saturday’s rematch at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi was like a declaration. Not only did he distinguish himself as the better fighter with a first-round knockout of Volk, but he also nudged himself up next to Jon Jones at the top of the P4P food chain. For those counting at home, Makhachev has now won 13 consecutive fights (tying his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov), good for the longest active win streak in the UFC.
Now the question becomes who the next to challenge the UFC’s quietest, most dominant champ will be. Will it be Charles Oliveira, who was supposed to be the one fighting Makhachev this past weekend? Will it be Justin Gaethje, the BMF berserker who was cageside for the fights in the UAE? Or Mateusz Gamrot, who was penciled in as the backup fighter in case anybody missed weight?
Whatever happens, we have a new king in our pound-for-pound rankings this month. The Makhachev era is officially official.
The panel of Chuck Mindenhall, Ariel Helwani, Petesy Carroll, and producer Troy Farkas—known as 3PAC on The Ringer MMA Show—have ranked both the men’s and women’s P4P best, one through 10.
Our only criterion for these monthly rankings is that a fighter has competed within at least a calendar year of the publication date, or has at least had a fight booked within that window. If a fighter hasn’t competed in a year and books a fight after that time, he or she is once again eligible to be voted back in.
Fighters who retire are no longer eligible for the rankings.
Though most of the best fighters are currently in the UFC, these rankings are not UFC exclusive. We take into consideration all the major promotions, from Bellator to ONE Championship to the PFL.
Without further ado, the Ringer MMA P4P rankings for October.
Men’s Pound-for-Pound Rankings
1. Islam Makhachev
UFC Lightweight Champion
Last month: no. 3
There was a noticeable chip on Makhachev’s shoulder heading into his rematch with Volkanovski. It bothered him that so many people thought Volkanovski had won the first fight, or thought that Volk was at least on his way to winning before he ran out of time. Now, people need to put some damn respect on this man’s name. Remember, the circumstances were less than ideal for Makhachev the first time around, as he traveled to Perth and struggled with his weight cut. This time he got Volk in what was a relative home game in which he was the fan favorite, and he made the most of it. The new king is colder than hell and is primed to have a long reign at the top (so long as he doesn’t get any big ideas about moving up to welterweight).
2. Jon Jones
UFC Heavyweight Champion
Last month: no. 1
If there’s a knock on Jones, it’s that he fights infrequently enough for others to dethrone him in hypothetical discussions (like this one) even if he never loses a fight. No sweat, though. Jones will get a chance to snatch the top spot again on November 11, when he fights heavyweight legend Stipe Miocic at Madison Square Garden. You’d think this fight was taking place at a petting zoo, as the UFC is billing it as a GOAT-versus-GOAT matchup. One thing we know for certain: You always forget just how great Jones truly is until he pops back up on the UFC’s never-ceasing calendar.
3. Alexander Volkanovski
UFC Featherweight Champion
Last month: no. 2
Listen, Volk took a fight on 11 days’ notice without hesitation, and he arrived in Abu Dhabi in fine shape. There is a lot to admire about a top P4P guy risking so much to win a historic second title. It didn’t happen for Volkanovski, and now the questions are starting to roll in like dark thunderclouds. Will he really defend his featherweight title against Ilia Topuria in January? Is that even advisable after he was knocked out by Makhachev? Is he fighting too often—which he says is a way of managing his own mental health? Will this side journey end up as the beginning of the downfall of one of the UFC’s great unsung heroes? Stay tuned …
4. Leon Edwards
UFC Welterweight Champion
Last month: no. 4
Well, at least Leon has a fight on the docket. He will take on Colby Covington at UFC 296 in Las Vegas in his second welterweight title defense. A couple of things have happened since we last saw Edwards spank Kamaru Usman back in March. He has kicked up a beef with Makhachev, which is a bold but entirely useful pursuit if the UFC decides a fight between the two champs makes sense. And his series victory over Usman has aged extremely well, mostly because Usman went in there and spooked the bejesus out of UFC matchmakers by nearly toppling the blue-ribbon contender Khamzat Chimaev on short notice at UFC 294. The math goes like this: Usman still has it, which means Edwards didn’t take out a diminished fighter.
5. Sean O’Malley
UFC Bantamweight Champion
Last month: no. 5
O’Malley will be in the discussion for Fighter of the Year, even if his résumé pales in comparison to those of guys like Makhachev and Sean Strickland. Beating Aljamain Sterling as a lanky, snow cone–haired underdog and then taking an exquisite victory lap on social media has only helped his stock grow, and there’s no doubt that O’Malley is a big star. What’s next? Is it the Marlon Chito Vera rematch? A fight with Sterling’s protégé Merab Dvalishvili? A rematch with Sterling? Cory Sandhagen? (If the UFC is smart, it will roll with Vera to get the full bang for its buck, because sticking O’Malley in there against Merab might bring the Suga Sean era to a halt before it really gets started.)
6. Max Holloway
Former UFC Featherweight Champion
Last month: no. 6
Holloway turns 32 in December, which seems impossible when you do the math. Hasn’t he been fighting in the UFC for something like 25 years? No? It certainly feels like it. At this point it’s all gravy for Holloway, a former featherweight champion whom people have come to love over the course of the past decade. He wants to get another title shot before it’s all said and done, but that’s not likely to occur while Volkanovski is still holding the belt. Holloway has lost three fights to Volk already, so the UFC is forced to get creative when booking him. Do you keep letting Holloway kill off contenders, like he did with Arnold Allen? Or do you find him some more Korean Zombie types to keep him fed?
7. Charles Oliveira
Former UFC Lightweight Champion
Last month: no. 7
Tough break for Oliveira. He was slated to get that coveted rematch with Makhachev before he sustained a bad cut above his eyebrow in a sparring session just a couple of weeks out. On the one hand, nothing much has changed as far as Do Bronx is concerned. Makhachev defended the title with ease, which opens up the prospect of just rebooking the fight with Oliveira. Yet, as always, there are variables in play when it comes to UFC matchmaking. For instance, does the UFC see Justin Gaethje as a more marketable fight for Makhachev? Or more directly, would the UFC simply prefer Gaethje, just to avoid another rematch for Makhachev?
8. Demetrious Johnson
ONE Championship Flyweight Champion
Last month: no. 8
DJ is becoming more and more of a personality by the day. Most recently, he was mimicking specific fighter styles on social media, which was hilarious and ended up going viral. As he becomes this beloved figure in MMA circles, you can’t help but wonder: Where was this version of Mighty Mouse back in the day? When he was breaking Anderson Silva’s record for consecutive title defenses? And rewriting the UFC’s record books? Back then, Johnson had this mild tapioca personality that people just couldn’t get behind. Yet if you could match this zero-fucks-to-give version of DJ with his historic run from 2012-18? Well, he’d be a superstar.
9. Sean Strickland
UFC Middleweight Champion
Last month: no. 9
It looks like we know who is next in line to challenge Strickland in his first title defense: Khamzat Chimaev. That is not only a ridiculous fight to ponder, it’s a left-field affair that nobody could have contemplated heading into this year. For starters, Strickland was never supposed to dethrone Israel Adesanya. He was supposed to be what James “Bonecrusher” Smith was to Mike Tyson during Iron Mike’s early title run—nothing more than a speed bump that could be taken at 100 mph! And Chimaev was a welterweight, so there’s that. Guess that’s the UFC for you: unpredictable in the best possible way.
10. Israel Adesanya
Former UFC Middleweight Champion
Last month: no. 10
If there is ever a good time to disappear from the fight game and reset for a bit, this is it for Izzy. Dude had five high-profile title fights in the span of 18 months and suffered every extreme high and low along the way. Losing to Alex Pereira at UFC 281 was a low point, but when he avenged himself at UFC 287, Izzy emerged a bigger star than ever before. It was cool, but it was also short-lived. Losing the middleweight belt to the underdog Strickland in Australia after getting charged for drinking and driving was a tough turn of events for one of the UFC’s biggest draws. Yet if anybody has the mettle to bounce back, it’s the Last Stylebender.
Others receiving votes: Khamzat Chimaev, Aljamain Sterling
Voting Results
Women’s Pound-for-Pound rankings
1. Zhang Weili
UFC Strawweight Champion
Last month: no. 1
By outlanding Amanda Lemos in significant strikes 163-24 and scoring six of seven takedown attempts at UFC 292 in Boston, Zhang Weili served a very public reminder that she is not to be fucked with. Perhaps she learned a few lessons from the first title run, but this version of Weili looks super-dangerous. Nasty. Invincible. Scary. If there is anybody out there who can potentially slow her roll, it’s Tatiana Suarez, the lean, mean wrestling machine who loves to dismantle opponents with existential chilliness. What the hell is taking the UFC so long to book this thing? (Seriously, we’re asking—why isn’t this thing booked?)
2. Valentina Shevchenko
Former UFC Flyweight Champion
Last month: no. 2
Let’s face it: Shevchenko beat Alexa Grasso despite the official split-draw decision. It was nothing more than a goofy scorecard that kept the 125-pound belt from slipping back around Shevchenko’s waist. Scoring snafus aside, Valentina’s dealing with a fracture in her right hand that she suffered in the fight. The trilogy fight is contingent on how rapidly Shevchenko can recover and whether the UFC sees value in blocking off the rest of the division to let a rivalry play out. If you ask Valentina, though, she will say that she’ll be ready to face Grasso again in early 2024.
3. Alexa Grasso
UFC Flyweight Champion
Last month: no. 3
Grasso skated through the Shevchenko fight with a sigh of relief, but her horizon is packed with fist-mashing monsters. She will undoubtedly need to face off with Valentina again at some point, but there are killers like France’s Manon Fiorot and hell’s Erin Blanchfield leering at her from the dark corners of the division. The goal for Grasso should be this: Hang on to the title long enough to compete at the Sphere in Las Vegas next September, as Dana White wants to have a card there for Mexican Independence Day. If she is able to beat any two of the three aforementioned names, she might come out looking like the last survivor of a slasher film.
4. Cris Cyborg
Bellator Featherweight Champion
Last month: no. 4
Cat Zingano had her hopes up. Having already scored a victory over Amanda Nunes back in 2014, Zingano was on pace to become a P4P giant slayer with a victory over Cris Cyborg at Bellator 300 earlier this month. The only caveat? Well, she had to beat Cyborg, which is like asking a pinky mouse to take out the anaconda. Cyborg needed just four minutes to finish Zingano, which would be super impressive if Cyborg didn’t finish just about everybody in the first round. When it’s all said and done, we’ll look back on Cyborg as one of the most dominant, ruthless competitors in MMA history.
5. Tatiana Suarez
UFC Strawweight Contender
Last month: no. 7
The “Female Khabib” has fought just 10 pro MMA bouts going back to 2014, which is barely over one a year. It’s a shame, too, because in those 10 fights we’ve seen unparalleled dominance. Suarez has blasted through just about everyone. They thought Carla Esparza might be able to drag her into a sector of hell with a grind-first mentality? Fat chance. Suarez finished her in the third. They thought the ever-explosive Jéssica Andrade was a step up in competition for a relatively green prospect? LOL. Second-round guillotine victory for Suarez. What will happen if she fights Zhang Weili? That is one hell of a question that needs to be answered. At some point in 2024, so long as she stays healthy, Suarez will be a champion.
6A. Erin Blanchfield
UFC Flyweight Contender
Last month: no. 5
At just 24 years old, Blanchfield is in the catbird’s seat in the women’s flyweight division. Much like Muhammad Mokaev on the men’s side, she’s a fighter that no smart competitor wants to face. Yet she’s also parked in a position where one of the big names at the top—whether it’s Alexa Grasso, Valentina Shevchenko, or Manon Fiorot—is going to have to. It’s nice to be not only dominant, but also super young. Blanchfield is in no hurry to win UFC gold. The truth is, she sees that flyweight belt as an inevitability, and everybody who stands in her path as an obstacle to plow right through.
6B. Manon Fiorot
UFC Flyweight Contender
Last month: no. 6
She hadn’t received a ton of fanfare ahead of her homecoming co-main event at UFC Paris, but coming out of it she was anything but “Manonymous.” Fiorot didn’t just beat Rose Namajunas in a unanimous decision, she ransacked the smaller fighter for 15 grueling minutes. It was the kind of showing that screams title fight, but—as with Blanchfield above—the title picture didn’t clear up enough to make her the obvious next contender. The only problem the UFC would have with matching Fiorot with Blanchfield next is that it would be robbing itself of a viable contender, but … oh baby … what a fight that would be.
8. Julianna Peña
Former UFC Bantamweight Champion
Last month: no. 8
It’s hurry up and wait for Peña, who is expected to fight for the vacant bantamweight title that her rival Amanda Nunes left behind. It’s a little bittersweet for Peña, who wanted to put an exclamation mark on the Nunes rivalry by winning the linear belt in their rubber match. You have to wonder whether Peña can become the face of the division now that Nunes has retired. She has a robust personality, and a willingness to do every kind of media when asked, yet can she dominate the field like Nunes did?
9. Rose Namajunas
Former UFC Strawweight Champion, Current Flyweight Contender
Last month: no. 9A
No matter what happens with Namajunas next, her legacy is strong. She is a two-time strawweight champion who has authored some of the most iconic moments in MMA history. The KO of Joanna Jedrzejczyk was a true shock-the-world moment back at UFC 217, and it was only outdone by her jaw-dropping head-kick KO of Zhang Weili three and a half years later. Her move up to flyweight didn’t go as planned, as she was worked for three rough rounds against Fiorot in France. Does she stay there and see whether she can get some traction in her next fight, or move back down to strawweight, where she already owns two victories over the champ, Weili? As one of MMA’s great enigmatic figures, anything feels possible.
10. Yan Xiaonan
UFC Strawweight Contender
Last month: no. 9B
If the UFC doesn’t book Xiaonan against Zhang Weili in an all-Chinese title fight, that probably means Suarez got it. And if Weili needs time away, a match between Xiaonan and Suarez would give us contender clarity. No matter what, that relish tray of strawweight marauders is strong, and Xiaonan is going to be fighting for a title sooner or later.
Others receiving votes: Larissa Pacheco
