Following a dominant showing at UFC 322, Islam Makhachev once again sits atop the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings.
The world’s leading MMA promotion returned to New York City last weekend for its annual show at Madison Square Garden, where Makhachev and Weili Zhang both stepped into the cage to try and claim their second UFC titles in the night’s main and co-main events.
Zhang came up short in her women’s flyweight title bid against Valentina Shevchenko, but Makhachev largely dominated UFC Welterweight Champion Jack Della Maddalena to win a lopsided unanimous decision and achieve his dream of winning UFC belts in two different weight classes.
Islam Makhachev Retakes Top P4P Spot From UFC Rival Ilia Topuria
Now on an incredible 16-fight winning streak dating back to 2016, Makhachev moved back up to the #1 spot in the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings after defeating Della Maddalena at UFC 322.
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The 34-year-old previously sat at the top of the P4P rankings before being dethrone by Ilia Topuria, who vacated his featherweight belt to move up in weight and win Makhachev’s vacated lightweight title with a first-round knockout of Charles Oliveira at UFC 317.
Ilia Topuria (red gloves) reacts after the fight against Charles Oliveira (blue gloves) during UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Another rankings swap between Makhachev and Topuria will undoubtedly generate calls for the two men to finally meet in a long-rumored superfight, but for the moment it seems more likely that both champions will have to defend their newly-acquired belts first.
Other Major Rankings Changes After UFC 322
UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall moved up one spot to #8 in the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings after UFC 322, swapping places with now-former welterweight king Della Maddalena.
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The UFC 322 main card also featured two other massive welterweight bouts that saw Michael Morales and Carlos Prates score knockout-wins over Sean Brady and Leon Edwards. The undefeated Morales has now moved up five spots and sits at #3 in the welterweight rankings, while Prates also moved up four places to #5 and is now one place ahead of his former opponent Ian Machado Garry.
Michael Morales (blue gloves) reacts after defeating Sean Brady (red gloves) in the welterweight bout during UFC 322 at Madison Square Garden. | Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images
Benoit Saint-Denis also vaulted up five places and is now the UFC’s #8-ranked lightweight after a 16-second knockout of Beneil Dariush, who dropped down three places to #12. The women’s flyweight rankings didn’t experience any changes after UFC 322, but UFC Bantamweight Champion Kayla Harrison did move up to the #2 pound-for-pound spot behind Shevchenko and bumped former strawweight queen Zhang down to #3.
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