Going into his UFC 268 main event against Colby Covington, welterweight champion Kamaru Usman already was No. 1 in the ESPN men’s pound-for-pound rankings. There was no room for upward movement. However, Usman’s strong performance at Madison Square Garden did earn him the backing of the last holdout on our voting panel. So Usman now is a unanimous No. 1.
Amanda Nunes already was a unanimous No. 1 among women, and she has an opportunity to solidify that standing on Dec. 11 when she defends the UFC bantamweight championship — one of Nunes’ two titles — against Julianna Peña.
Beyond the two fighters at the top of their respective mountains, a few other champions made advances on the strength of recent performances: UFC men’s featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski moved up a spot, PFL women’s lightweight titlist Kayla Harrison jumped two positions and UFC interim men’s bantamweight belt holder Petr Yan entered the rankings.
Glover Teixeira, fresh off winning the UFC light heavyweight belt at age 42, got some support from voters but did not quite make the top 10.
Note: Results are current; rankings as of Nov. 9.
Men’s pound-for-pound rankings
1. Kamaru Usman
UFC welterweight champion
Record: 20-1
Last: W (UD) Colby Covington, Nov. 6, 2021
Next: TBD
UFC middleweight champion
Record: 21-1
Last: W (UD) Marvin Vettori, June 12, 2021
Next: TBD
UFC featherweight champion
Previous ranking: 4
Record: 23-1
Last: W (UD) Brian Ortega, Sept. 25, 2021
Next: TBD
UFC heavyweight champion
Previous ranking: 3
Record: 16-3
Last: W (KO2) Stipe Miocic, March 27, 2021
Next: Jan. 22 vs. Ciryl Gane
UFC lightweight
Previous ranking: 6
Record: 28-6, 1 NC
Last: W (TKO1) Conor McGregor, July 10, 2021
Next: Dec. 11 vs. Charles Oliveira
UFC lightweight champion
Previous ranking: 7
Record: 31-8, 1 NC
Last: W (TKO2) Michael Chandler, May 15, 2021
Next: Dec. 11 vs. Dustin Poirier
7. Petr Yan
UFC bantamweight interim champion
Previous ranking: Unranked
Record: 16-2
Last: W (UD) Cory Sandhagen, Oct. 30, 2021
Next: TBD vs. Aljamain Sterling
8. Stipe Miocic
UFC heavyweight
Record: 20-4
Last: L (KO2) Francis Ngannou, March 27, 2021
Next: TBD
T-9. Brandon Moreno
UFC flyweight champion
Record: 19-5-2
Last: W (Sub3) Deiveson Figueiredo, June 12, 2021
Next: Jan. 22 vs. Deiveson Figueiredo
T-9. Max Holloway
UFC featherweight
Previous ranking: 10
Record: 22-6
Last: W (UD) Calvin Kattar, Jan. 16, 2021
Next: Nov. 13 vs. Yair Rodriguez
Other fighters receiving votes: Glover Teixeira and Robert Whittaker.
How our writers voted
Brett Okamoto: 1. Kamaru Usman; 2. Israel Adesanya; 3. Alexander Volkanovski; 4. Dustin Poirier; 5. Max Holloway; 6. Petr Yan; 7. Francis Ngannou; 8. Charles Oliveira; 9. Robert Whittaker; 10. Brandon Moreno.
Marc Raimondi: 1. Kamaru Usman; 2. Israel Adesanya; 3. Francis Ngannou; 4. Alexander Volkanovski; 5. Stipe Miocic; 6. Dustin Poirier; 7. Charles Oliveira; 8. Glover Teixeira; 9. Robert Whittaker; 10. Brandon Moreno.
Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Kamaru Usman; 2. Israel Adesanya; 3. Alexander Volkanovski; 4. Francis Ngannou; 5. Charles Oliveira; 6. Petr Yan; 7. Brandon Moreno; 8. Dustin Poirier; 9. Max Holloway; 10. Glover Teixeira.
Mike Coppinger: 1. Kamaru Usman; 2. Israel Adesanya; 3. Alexander Volkanovski; 4. Francis Ngannou; 5. Dustin Poirier; 6. Charles Oliveira; 7. Brandon Moreno; 8. Max Holloway; 9. Robert Whittaker; 10. Glover Teixeira.
Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Kamaru Usman; 2. Francis Ngannou; 3. Israel Adesanya; 4. Alexander Volkanovski; 5. Stipe Miocic; 6. Dustin Poirier; 7. Petr Yan; 8. Charles Oliveira; 9. Glover Teixeira; 10. Brandon Moreno.
1. Amanda Nunes
UFC bantamweight/featherweight champion
Record: 21-4
Last: W (Sub1) Megan Anderson, March 6, 2021
Next: Dec. 11 vs. Julianna Peña
UFC flyweight champion
Record: 21-3
Last: W (TKO4) Lauren Murphy, Sept. 25, 2021
Next: TBD
UFC strawweight champion
Record: 11-4
Last: W (SD) Zhang Weili, Nov. 6, 2021
Next: TBD
4. Cris Cyborg
Bellator featherweight champion
Record: 24-2, 1 NC
Last: W (TKO5) Leslie Smith, May 21, 2021
Next: Nov. 12 vs. Sinead Kavanagh
5. Zhang Weili
UFC strawweight
Record: 21-3
Last: L (SD) Rose Namajunas, Nov. 6, 2021
Next: TBD
UFC flyweight
Record: 22-9
Last: W (TKO1) Cynthia Calvillo, Sept. 25, 2021
Next: TBD
PFL lightweight champion
Previous ranking: T-9
Record: 12-0
Last: W (Sub2) Taylor Guardado, Oct. 27, 2021
Next: TBD
UFC bantamweight
Previous ranking: 7
Record: 10-4
Last: W (TechSub3) Julianna Peña, Oct. 3, 2020
Next: TBD
9. Holly Holm
UFC bantamweight
Previous ranking: 8
Record: 14-5
Last: W (UD) Irene Aldana, Oct. 3, 2020
Next: TBD
10. Carla Esparza
UFC strawweight
Previous ranking: T-9
Record: 18-6
Last: W (TKO2) Yan Xiaonan, May 22, 2021
Next: TBD
Other fighter receiving votes: Katlyn Chookagian.
How our writers voted
Brett Okamoto: 1. Amanda Nunes; 2. Valentina Shevchenko; 3. Rose Namajunas; 4. Cris Cyborg; 5. Kayla Harrison; 6. Zhang Weili; 7. Germaine de Randamie; 8. Jessica Andrade; 9. Carla Esparza; 10. Katlyn Chookagian.
Marc Raimondi: 1. Amanda Nunes; 2. Valentina Shevchenko; 3. Cris Cyborg; 4. Rose Namajunas; 5. Kayla Harrison; 6. Zhang Weili; 7. Jessica Andrade; 8. Germaine de Randamie; 9. Holly Holm; 10. Carla Esparza.
Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Amanda Nunes; 2. Valentina Shevchenko; 3. Rose Namajunas; 4. Cris Cyborg; 5. Holly Holm; 6. Kayla Harrison; 7. Jessica Andrade; 8. Zhang Weili; 9. Germaine de Randamie; 10. Carla Esparza.
Mike Coppinger: 1. Amanda Nunes; 2. Valentina Shevchenko; 3. Rose Namajunas; 4. Cris Cyborg; 5. Zhang Weili; 6. Jessica Andrade; 7. Germaine de Randamie; 8. Holly Holm; 9. Kayla Harrison; 10. Carla Esparza.
Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Amanda Nunes; 2. Valentina Shevchenko; 3. Cris Cyborg; 4. Rose Namajunas; 5. Zhang Weili; 6. Jessica Andrade; 7. Germaine de Randamie; 8. Holly Holm; 9. Carla Esparza; 10. Kayla Harrison.