![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/20260616121633_rankings640061526.JPG\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
John
\nBrannigan\/Sherdog.com illustration<\/p>\n
Justin After coming up short on the biggest stage on two occasions, \u201cThe Another key component of the lightweight picture is the previously In the evening\u2019s co-headliner, Ciryl Gane<\/a> Also at heavyweight, title hopeful Josh Hokit<\/a> Sean Elsewhere, Mauricio To kick off the card, Diego Lopes<\/a> Note: Previous rankings listed in brackets.<\/p>\n Jump To \u00bb
\nGaethje<\/a> is a bridesmaid no more.<\/p>\n
\nHighlight\u201d became an undisputed UFC champion for the first time in
\nhis career by authoring perhaps his best performance to date. By
\nshutting down Ilia
\nTopuria<\/a>\u2019s race to GOAT status in the UFC White House main event
\nwith a fourth-round stoppage victory, Gaethje single-handedly
\naltered the entire course of the UFC\u2019s lightweight division. While
\nthere\u2019s a distinct possibility that Gaethje decides to end his
\ncareer on a high note, his ascent to the No. 1 ranking is well
\ndeserved. Topuria, meanwhile, stays put at No. 2 and seems more
\nlikely to remain at 155 pounds for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n
\ntop-ranked Islam
\nMakhachev<\/a>, who hasn\u2019t competed in the division since January
\n2025 and is awaiting his first 170-pound title defense. With little
\nto no chance of a return to 155 pounds in the near future,
\nMakhachev exits the poll entirely.<\/p>\n
\nextinguished Alex
\nPereira<\/a>\u2019s dreams of becoming the UFC\u2019s first ever
\nthree-division champion, and he did so in emphatic fashion with a
\nsecond-round technical knockout victory. Gane becomes a two-time
\ninterim champion in victory, but he has unfinished business to
\nhandle. The win should set up a rematch with current undisputed
\nheavyweight king Tom
\nAspinall<\/a>, as soon as the Brit fully recovers from the eye
\ninjury he suffered in their first meeting this past October. As for
\nthe big man rankings, a majority of the Sherdog.com staff was
\nimpressed enough with \u201cBon Gamin\u201d to vote him to the No. 1 position
\nahead of Aspinall and former foe Francis
\nNgannou<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nkept his momentum going by wearing down Derrick
\nLewis<\/a> on the mat and on the feet en route to a second-round
\ntechnical knockout victory. \u201cThe Incredible Hok\u201d is now 4-0 in UFC
\ncompetition, and with back-to-back wins over Lewis and Curtis
\nBlaydes<\/a>, looks like an emerging contender at heavyweight. For
\nnow, he stays put at No. 7 in the divisional poll. As for Lewis, a
\npair of lackluster showings jettison the promotion\u2019s all-time KO
\nleader from the heavyweight rankings. Taking his place is
\nAustralian prospect Brando
\nPericic<\/a>, who has finished his first three UFC opponents by KO
\nor TKO.<\/p>\n
\nO’Malley<\/a> made a statement against Aiemann
\nZahabi<\/a>, ending the Tristar Gym product\u2019s seven-bout promotional
\nwinning streak with a walk-off technical knockout victory in a
\nbantamweight pairing. After a pair of discouraging losses in title
\nbouts to Merab
\nDvalishvili<\/a>, \u201cSuga\u201d has rebounded to post back-to-back triumphs
\nover Zahabi and Yadong
\nSong<\/a>. If Petr Yan<\/a> bests
\nMerab
\nDvalishvili<\/a> in their expected trilogy bout, O\u2019Malley could have
\na legitimate claim at another 135-pound title shot.<\/p>\n
\nRuffy<\/a> capitalized on a mismatch, as he overwhelmed a past-his
\nprime Michael
\nChandler<\/a>, putting the ex-Bellator champ away with a spinning
\nwheel kick and follow-up punches in the opening stanza of their
\nlightweight clash. Chandler, who has lost six of his last seven
\nOctagon appearances, isn\u2019t the feather in the cap he once was \u2014 but
\nwith the rest of the movement at 155 pounds, Ruffy climbs to No. 9
\nin the latest update.<\/p>\n
\nweathered a rough start, rallying for a second-round technical
\nknockout victory over Steve
\nGarcia<\/a> in a featherweight tilt. By ending his opponent\u2019s
\nseven-bout promotional winning streak, Lopes is able to maintain
\nhis No. 3 ranking at 145 pounds. However, another title shot might
\nbe difficult to come by as long as Alexander
\nVolkanovski<\/a> reigns atop the division. There is one change on
\nthe featherweight bubble, as 2024 PFL champ Timur
\nKhizriev<\/a> has reached his inactivity threshold. His exit clears
\nthe way for Aaron Pico<\/a>
\nto join the poll at No. 15.<\/p>\n
\nHEAVYWEIGHT<\/a>
\nLIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT<\/a>
\nMIDDLEWEIGHT<\/a>
\nWELTERWEIGHT<\/a>
\nLIGHTWEIGHT<\/a>
\nFEATHERWEIGHT<\/a>
\nBANTAMWEIGHT<\/a>
\nFLYWEIGHT<\/a>
\nWOMEN’S FEATHERWEIGHT<\/a>
\nWOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT<\/a>
\nWOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT<\/a>
\nWOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT<\/a>
\nWOMEN’S ATOMWEIGHT<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Brannigan\/Sherdog.com illustration Justin Gaethje is a bridesmaid no more. After coming up short on the biggest stage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":739921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[1331,49,48,641,261293,638,44,82],"class_list":["post-739920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-article","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fighting","tag-https-www-sherdog-com-news-rankings-1-ufc","tag-mma","tag-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=739920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/739921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=739920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=739920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=739920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}