Brian Ortega has dropped two straight and four of his last five.
That includes his unanimous decision loss to Aljamain Sterling in the UFC Shanghai co-main event last weekend in China, a featherweight bout that was changed to a catchweight after “T-City” failed to make weight. As a result, Sterling replaced Ortega at No. 5 in this week’s official UFC rankings update.
That’s not all.
Johnny Walker gained some ground in the light heavyweight rankings, landing at No. 12 after upsetting hometown hero Zhang Mingyang in the UFC Shanghai headliner. “Mountain Tiger” is dangerously close to getting scrubbed from the rankings altogether, barely holding on at No. 15.
Here’s how the rankings are compiled, at least until AI takes over:
Rankings are generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings.
Take a look at what the latest rankings field looks like courtesy of UFC.com. Note: (+/- = movement in rankings, T = tie, *NR = Not previously ranked).
MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Ilia Topuria
2. Islam Makhachev
3. Merab Dvalishvili
4. Khamzat Chimaev
5. Alexandre Pantoja
6. Alexander Volkanovski
7. Magomed Ankalaev
8. Jack Della Maddalena
9. Tom Aspinall
10. Alex Pereira
11. Dricus Du Plessis
12. Max Holloway
13. Belal Muhammad
14. Arman Tsarukyan
15. Shavkat Rakhmonov
Champion: Alexandre Pantoja
1. Joshua Van
2. Brandon Moreno
3. Brandon Royval
4. Amir Albazi
5. Tatsuro Taira
6. Kai Kara France
7. Manel Kape
8. Alex Perez
9. Asu Almabayev
10. Tim Elliott
11. Steve Erceg
12. Tagir Ulanbekov
13. Charles Johnson +2
14. Ramazan Temirov -1
15. Bruno Silva -1
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Merab Dvalishvili
1. Sean O’Malley
2. Umar Nurmagomedov
3. Petr Yan
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Song Yadong
6. Deiveson Figueiredo
7. Marlon Vera
8. Mario Bautista
9. Rob Font
10. Aiemann Zahabi
11. Henry Cejudo
12. Vinicius Oliveira
13. Marcus McGhee
14. Kyler Phillips
15. Montel Jackson
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Movsar Evloev
2. Diego Lopes
3. Yair Rodriguez
4. Lerone Murphy
5. Aljamain Sterling +2
6. Arnold Allen
7. Brian Ortega -2
8. Josh Emmett
9. Youssef Zalal
10. Jean Silva
11. Patricio Pitbull
12. Steve Garcia
13. David Onama
14. Dan Ige
15. Giga Chikadze
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Ilia Topuria
1. Islam Makhachev
2. Arman Tsarukyan
3. Charles Oliveira
4. Max Holloway
5. Justin Gaethje
6. Dan Hooker
7. Paddy Pimblett
8. Mateusz Gamrot
9. Beneil Dariush
10. Rafael Fiziev
11. Renato Moicano
12. Michael Chandler
13. Benoit Saint Denis
14. Grant Dawson
15. Joel Alvarez *NR
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Jack Della Maddalena
1. Belal Muhammed
2. Sean Brady
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov
4. Leon Edwards
5. Kamaru Usman
6. Ian Machado Garry
7. Michael Morales
8. Joaquin Buckley
9. Carlos Prates
10. Colby Covington
11. Gilbert Burns
12. Geoff Neal
13. Gabriel Bonfim
14. Daniel Rodriguez
15. Kevin Holland
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Khamzat Chimaev
1. Dricus Du Plessis
2. Nassourdine Imavov
3. Sean Strickland
4. Reinier De Ridder +1
5. Israel Adesanya -1
6. Anthony Hernandez
7. Caio Borralho
8. Robert Whittaker
9. Brendan Allen
10. Michael Page
11. Jared Cannonier
12. Roman Dolidze
13. Paulo Costa
14. Marvin Vettori
15. Roman Kopylov
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Magomed Ankalaev
1. Alex Pereira
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Carlos Ulberg
4. Khalil Rountree
5. Jan Blachowicz
6. Jamahal Hill
7. Aleksandar Rakic
8. Dominick Reyes
9. Volkan Oezdemir
10. Bogdan Guskov
11. Azamat Murzakanov
12. Johnny Walker +1
13. Nikita Krylov -1
14. Alonzo Menifield +1
15. Zhang Mingyang -1
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Tom Aspinall
1. Ciryl Gane
2. Alexander Volkov
3. Sergei Pavlovich
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Jailton Almeida
6. Marcin Tybura
7. Waldo Cortes Acosta
8. Serghei Spivac
9. Derrick Lewis
10. Tai Tuivasa
11. Shamil Gaziev
12. Mick Parkin
13. Tallison Teixeira
14. Valter Walker
15. Rizvan Kuniev
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Zhang Weili
3. Kayla Harrison
4. Manon Fiorot
5. Julianna Pena
6. Natalia Silva
7. Alexa Grasso
8. Erin Blanchfield
9. Virna Jandiroba
10. Raquel Pennington
11. Tatiana Suarez
12. Rose Namajunas
13. Yan Xiaonan
14. Amanda Lemos
15. Maycee Barber
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Zhang Weili
1. Virna Jandiroba
2. Tatiana Suarez
3. Yan Xiaonan
4. Amanda Lemos
5. Mackenzie Dern
6. Loopy Godinez
7. Iasmin Lucindo
8. Tabatha Ricci
9. Jessica Andrade
10. Gillian Robertson
11. Amanda Ribas
12. Angela Hill
13. Tecia Pennington
14. Loma Lookboonmee
15. Denise Gomes
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. Natalia Silva
2. Manon Fiorot
3. Alexa Grasso
4. Erin Blanchfield
5. Jasmine Jasudavicius
6. Maycee Barber
7. Rose Namajunas
8. Tracy Cortez
9. Jessica Andrade
10. Karine Silva
11. Miranda Maverick
12. Casey O’Neill
13. Wang Cong
14. JJ Aldrich
15. Eduarda Moura
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Kayla Harrison
1. Julianna Pena
2. Raquel Pennington
3. Ketlen Vieira
4. Norma Dumont
5. Macy Chiasson
6. Irene Aldana
7. Ailin Perez
8. Mayra Bueno Silva
9. Karol Rosa
10. Yana Santos
11. Jacqueline Cavalcanti
12. Nora Cornolle
13. Miesha Tate
14. Joselyne Edwards
You can expect these rankings to change in roughly two weeks, particularly in the middleweight division, following the UFC Paris: “Imavov vs. Borralho” MMA event on ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., Sept. 6, 2025 at Accor Arena in Paris, France.
For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.
