UFC releases first official rankings update for Paramount+ era with big moves from Justin Gaethje, Jean Silva

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has released its first official rankings update in more than a month, reflecting changes from the UFC 324 mixed martial arts (MMA) event last weekend in Las Vegas — the first UFC fight card under the ad-happy Paramount+ deal.

As expected, Justin Gaethje and Jean Silva improved their positions with victories in “Sin City.” Gaethje beat the stuffing out of Paddy Pimblett to capture the interim lightweight crown, while Silva legally jumped over Arnold Allen (literally) to rise four places in the featherweight class.

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. Islam Makhachev
2. Ilia Topuria
3. Khamzat Chimaev
4. Alex Pereira
5. Alexander Volkanovski
6. Petr Yan
7. Merab Dvalishvili
8. Tom Aspinall
9. Alexandre Pantoja
10. Max Holloway
11. Joshua Van +1
12. Dricus Du Plessis -1
13. Magomed Ankalaev
14. Jack Della Maddalena
15. Arman Tsarukyan

FLYWEIGHT 

Champion: Joshua Van

1. Alexandre Pantoja
2. Manel Kape
3. Tatsuro Taira
4. Brandon Royval
5. Brandon Moreno
6. Amir Albazi
7. Asu Almabayev
8. Kyoji Horiguchi
9. Tim Elliott
10. Alex Perez +1
11. Steve Erceg -1
12. Tagir Ulanbekov
13. Charles Johnson
14. Bruno Silva
15. Lone’er Kavanagh

BANTAMWEIGHT 

Champion: Petr Yan

1. Merab Dvalishvili
2. Umar Nurmagomedov
3. Sean O’Malley
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Song Yadong
6. Aiemann Zahabi +1
7. Deiveson Figueiredo -1
8. Marlon Vera
9. Mario Bautista
10. David Martinez
11. Vinicius Oliveira +3
12. Payton Talbott -1
13. Rob Font -1
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
6. Jean Silva +4
7. Arnold Allen -1
8. Youssef Zalal -1
9. Steve Garcia -1
10. Brian Ortega -1
11. Josh Emmett
12. Patricio Pitbull
13. Kevin Vallejos
14. Dan Ige
15. David Onama -1

LIGHTWEIGHT 

Champion: Ilia Topuria

1. Justin Gaethje (interim champion) +3
2. Arman Tsarukyan -1
3. Charles Oliveira -1
4. Max Holloway -1
5. Paddy Pimblett
6. Dan Hooker
7. Mateusz Gamrot
8. Benoit Saint Denis
9. Rafael Fiziev
10. Renato Moicano
11. Beneil Dariush
12. Michael Chandler
13. Manuel Torres
14. Mauricio Ruffy
15. Fares Ziam

WELTERWEIGHT 

Champion: Islam Makhachev

1. Jack Della Maddalena
2. Shavkat Rakhmonov
3. Ian Machado Garry
4. Michael Morales
5. Belal Muhammed
6. Carlos Prates
7. Sean Brady
8. Kamaru Usman
9. Leon Edwards
10. Joaquin Buckley
11. Gabriel Bonfim
12. Gilbert Burns
13. Geoff Neal
14. Colby Covington
15. Daniel Rodriguez

MIDDLEWEIGHT 

Champion: Khamzat Chimaev

1. Dricus Du Plessis
2. Nassourdine Imavov
3. Sean Strickland
4. Anthony Hernandez
5. Brendan Allen
6. Israel Adesanya
7. Caio Borralho
8. Reinier De Ridder
9. Robert Whittaker
10. Jared Cannonier
11. Roman Dolidze +1
12. Paulo Costa +1
13. Gregory Rodrigues +1
14. Joe Pyfer +1
15. Brunno Ferreira *NR

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT 

Champion: Alex Pereira

1. (T) Magomed Ankalaev
1. (T) Jiri Prochazka
3. Carlos Ulberg
4. Khalil Rountree
5. Jan Blachowicz
6. Azamat Murzakanov
7. Jamahal Hill
8. Volkan Oezdemir
9. Bogdan Guskov +1
10. Dominick Reyes -1
11. Aleksandar Rakic
12. Johnny Walker
13. Nikita Krylov
14. Zhang Mingyang
15. Alonzo Menifield

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Tom Aspinall

1. Ciryl Gane
2. Alexander Volkov
3. Sergei Pavlovich
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Waldo Cortes Acosta
6. Jailton Almeida
7. Serghei Spivac
8. Marcin Tybura +2
9. Ante Delija
10. Derrick Lewis -2
11. Shamil Gaziev
12. Tai Tuivasa
13. Mick Parkin
14. Valter Walker
15. Tallison Teixeira

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Kayla Harrison
3. Zhang Weili
4. Natalia Silva
5. Mackenzie Dern
6. Manon Fiorot
7. Erin Blanchfield
8. Julianna Pena
9. Alexa Grasso
10. Virna Jandiroba
11. Raquel Pennington
12. Tatiana Suarez
13. Rose Namajunas
14. Yan Xiaonan
15. Maycee Barber

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT 

Champion: Mackenzie Dern

1. Zhang Weili
2. Tatiana Suarez
3. Virna Jandiroba
4. Yan Xiaonan
5. Amanda Lemos
6. Loopy Godinez
7. Iasmin Lucindo
8. Tabatha Ricci
9. Jessica Andrade
10. Gillian Robertson
11. Amanda Ribas
12. Fatima Klein
13. Denise Gomes
14. Angela Hill
15. Alexia Thainara

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT 

Champion: Valentina Shevchenko

1. (T) Manon Fiorot
1. (T) Natalia Silva +1
3. Erin Blanchfield
4. Alexa Grasso -1
5. Maycee Barber
6. Jasmine Jasudavicius +1
7. Rose Namajunas -1
8. Tracy Cortez
9. Karine Silva
10. Miranda Maverick -1
11. Casey O’Neill
12. Wang Cong
13. Eduarda Moura
14. JJ Aldrich
15. Gabriella Fernandes

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Kayla Harrison

1. Julianna Pena
2. Raquel Pennington
3. Norma Dumont
4. Ketlen Vieira
5. Yana Santos
6. Irene Aldana
7. Macy Chiasson
8. Ailin Perez
9. Karol Rosa
10. Jacqueline Cavalcanti
11. Mayra Bueno Silva
12. Nora Cornolle
13. Miesha Tate
14. Joselyne Edwards
15. Luana Santos

You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the featherweight division, following the UFC 325: “Volkanovski vs. Lopes 2” event on Paramount+, scheduled for Sat., Jan. 31, 2026 at Qudos Bank Arena, New South Wales, Australia.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.