It wasn’t a seismic happening at UFC 313, but Magomed Ankalaev quietly dethroned a top pound-for-pound staple by beating Alex Pereira in a bullish affair. He shut down Pereira’s offensive arsenal early with constant pressure and takedown attempts, which knocked the champion out of rhythm for large portions of the fight. He even hurt Pereira in the second round, wobbling him in a late exchange that might’ve spelled the end if there were but a little more time left on the clock.
So we enter the Ankalaev Era at light heavyweight, whether we’re ready for it or not. Ankalaev and Pereira are bound to have a rematch later this year, but what that means in the immediate aftermath of UFC 313 is we have some shakeup in the pound-for-pound rankings. Ankalaev makes his debut this month, while the mighty Alex Pereira slips down to No. 9.
The panel of Ben Fowlkes, Chuck Mindenhall, Shaheen Al-Shatti, Petesy Carroll, Drake Riggs, Eric Jackman and Conner Burks have ranked both the men’s and women’s pound-for-pound best, one through 10, using a weighted points system to determine the final rankings (being voted No. 1 equals 10 points, No. 2 equals nine points, down to No. 10 equaling one point).
Our only criterion for these monthly rankings is that a fighter has competed within at least a calendar year of the publication date or has at least had a fight booked within that window. If a fighter hasn’t competed in a year and books a fight after that time, he or she is once again eligible to be voted back in. Fighters who retire are no longer eligible for the rankings.
Though most of the best fighters are currently in the UFC, these rankings are not UFC exclusive. We take into consideration all the major promotions, from Bellator/PFL conglomerate to ONE Championship.
Without further ado, the MMA pound-for-pound rankings for March!
MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Islam Makhachev — UFC lightweight champion (Prev: 1)
Right now, Islam is a kind of sweepstakes in the ever-changing lightweight picture. With Ilia Topuria vacating his featherweight belt and making the leap up, he would seem like the natural next choice. Then again, Justin Gaethje keeps kicking the hell out of Old Man Time too, and would make for a fine challenge. But is Islam eyeing his own move to welterweight?
2. Ilia Topuria — UFC featherweight champion (Prev: 2)
Goethe said, “Be bold and mighty forces will come to your aid,” and that is exactly what Spain’s greatest is doing. He’s going up to challenge for a title in a second weight class, right at a time when his popularity is soaring. As Uncrowned’s EIC Al-Shatti said, if Topuria were to beat Makhachev to win the 155-pound title, it would be the greatest consecutive three-fight run ever (Volkanovski, Holloway, Makhachev).
3. Merab Dvalishvili — UFC bantamweight champion (Prev: 4)
You never know what Merab is up to, but seeing him sitting in a jacuzzi with his arch nemesis Sean O’Malley this past week wasn’t on many bingo cards. We’ll look at it as the calm before the storm. That rematch should happen later this year when O’Malley is cleared after surgery to repair his labrum.
4. Alexandre Pantoja — UFC flyweight champion (Prev: 5)
The speed in which Pantoja has made the flyweight division all his own is the quiet story of the pound-for-pound rankings. It wasn’t that long ago that Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo were volleying back and forth with the title, but Pantoja has become the gold standard — three title defenses already and a date with Kai Kara-France next.
5. Dricus du Plessis — UFC middleweight champion (Prev: 7)
The idea of challenging Alex Pereira for the light heavyweight belt is now by the wayside, but that’s OK — there are still big-time challenges ahead for “DDP.” The one he covets is a showdown with Khamzat Chimaev, which is a “be careful what you wish for” proposition. There’s also Nassourdine Imavov hanging around.
6. Tom Aspinall — UFC interim heavyweight champion (Prev: 8)
The biggest threat to Aspinall’s lone goal of fighting Jon Jones to unify the heavyweight title was Pereira, who might’ve slipped into the catbird’s seat had he beat Ankalaev. Since he didn’t, there’s only one fight to make, and that’s his clash with Jones. Go big or go home, Dana!
7. Magomed Ankalaev – UFC light heavyweight champion (Prev: NR)
Give credit to the big Dagestani. He had to put together a 13-fight unbeaten streak just to get back to a title shot, and he was treated like chopped liver in the lead-up by media and fans alike come fight night in Vegas. It wasn’t pretty, but defanging Pereira over the course of 25 minutes is no small feat, and all he had come Monday morning was a sore calf.
8. Jon Jones — UFC heavyweight champion (Prev: 6)
The natives are getting restless, as the old sports cliché goes. Dana White says that Jones will be standing opposite Aspinall sometime in the summer, and that is good news for fans and fighters alike. That heavyweight division is being hijacked for too long, and what’s holding it up? Putting pen to paper? How hard can that be?
9. Alex Pereira — former UFC light heavyweight champion (Prev: 3)
His run as the light heavyweight champion is over, at least temporarily, but the UFC isn’t stupid. Even though Dana White says they don’t matchmake right after a fight, the UFC brass was already contemplating how soon they can run back the “Poatan” vs. Ankalaev rematch. Business picks up when Pereira is the center of the title picture.
10. Francis Ngannou — PFL super fights heavyweight champion (Prev: 9)
What’s next for Ngannou, one of the greatest heavyweights going? Boxing? MMA? Acting? Your guess is as good as ours, but he’ll turn 39 years old in exactly six months. The clock is ticking louder and louder every day.
(Others receiving votes: Belal Muhammad, Khamzat Chimaev.)
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Zhang Weili — UFC strawweight champion (Prev: 1)
Shutting down Tatiana Suarez was a very loud statement for China’s lone champion. Now the question on the women’s side of the pound-for-pound ledger mirrors that of the men’s side: do we book the No. 1 pound-for-pound best against the No. 2 pound-for-pound best? Zhang would love a crack at Valentina Shevchenko, to see about becoming a two-division champ.
2. Valentina Shevchenko — UFC flyweight champion (Prev: 2)
Likewise, Shevchenko would love to welcome Zhang to her world. What a fight that would be, yet right now the focus is on Manon Fiorot in May. If anything, the series with Alexa Grasso (and especially the initial loss) looks more and more for Shevchenko like a distraction to an otherwise brilliant career. As much as we love “Bullet,” she seems unsung for just how great she’s been.
3. Cris Cyborg — PFL super fights women’s featherweight champion (Prev: 3)
We’re four months out from Cyborg’s 40th birthday. She has said she’ll retire at 40. Does she? She’s already won titles in something like 472 different promotions (actual number is five, including the PFL), so Cyborg’s legacy is set. A rematch with Larissa Pacheco would be fun, but you wonder if she’s more interested in less dangerous swan songs.
4. Kayla Harrison — UFC bantamweight contender (Prev: 4)
At long last, Harrison’s finally on the books for a title shot in the UFC: June 7 is the date. One of the marvels of the past year is that Harrison, who thrived as a lightweight in the PFL, can make the 135-pound barrier as a bantamweight. To say she is a hungry contender is a massive understatement.
5. Julianna Peña — UFC bantamweight champion (Prev: 5)
You know what? The inclination is to say to enjoy that title while you have it, but that might be a tad unfair to Peña. After all, it was the “Venezuelan Vixen” who thumped Amanda Nunes to win the title the first time, a feat that historians will never fully be able to understand. Imagine if she shuts down Harrison, too … suddenly we’d have a totally different outlook of Peña’s career.
6. Manon Fiorot — UFC flyweight contender (Prev: 6)
Not that she’s the Magomed Ankalaev of the women’s flyweight division, but she can certainly relate to the ol’ lug. Should Fiorot overthrow Shevchenko at UFC 315 in May, the possibility of a Zhang vs. Shevchenko superfight goes out the window. Then again, you know what? That’s not her problem. Fiorot’s job is to swing the narrative over to herself and bring the title back to France.
7. Alexa Grasso — UFC flyweight contender (Prev: 7)
At just 31 years old, Grasso is still set up to get back into the title picture and at some point recapture the belt she lost to Shevchenko at UFC 306. The first step back is a dangerous one, though — a meeting with Natalia Silva at UFC 315 in Montreal.
8. Larissa Pacheco — PFL featherweight contender (Prev: 8)
Pacheco has to be chomping at the bit to compete again, as it’s tough to live with a loss like she suffered against Cyborg with no way to vent. Another go at the legend might be in the cards at some point, but right now there is much murkiness in the PFL’s crystal ball.
9. Dakota Ditcheva — PFL women’s 2024 flyweight tournament champion (Prev: 9)
Breakout star of 2024? For sure. After winning the 125-pound tourney and becoming the first to ever finish Taila Santos, we don’t have to wonder how good England’s Ditcheva is anymore. She’s on a different level. Those body shots were naaaasty, and the fact that she’s making each fight look so easy? Big things on the horizon.
10. Seika Izawa — Jewels strawweight and atomweight champion, RIZIN super atomweight champion (Prev: 10)
The last we saw her, Izawa was closing out 2024 with a first-round submission of Lucia Apdelgarim at RIZIN’s big end-of-the-year shindig in Japan. You know what’s fun to think about? The 27-year-old “Supernova” fighting in the UFC. White’s been flirting with the idea of introducing an atomweight division, and that would look like a red carpet to the best atom in the world.
(Others receiving votes: Tatiana Suarez, Raquel Pennington, Si Woo Park, Virna Jandiroba, Erin Blanchfield, Yan Xiaonan.)
Here’s how we voted:
SHAHEEN AL-SHATTI
MEN
1. Islam Makhachev
2. Ilia Topuria
3. Merab Dvalishvili
4. Alexandre Pantoja
5. Dricus du Plessis
6. Magomed Ankalaev
7. Alex Pereira
8. Francis Ngannou
9. Tom Aspinall
10. Belal Muhammad
WOMEN
1. Zhang Weili
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. Alexa Grasso
4. Kayla Harrison
5. Cris Cyborg
6. Manon Fiorot
7. Larissa Pacheco
8. Seika Izawa
9. Dakota Ditcheva
10. Julianna Peña
CONNER BURKS
MEN
1. Islam Makhachev
2. Ilia Topuria
3.Merab Dvalishvili
4. Jon Jones
5. Alexandre Pantoja
6. Dricus Du Plessis
7. Tom Aspinall
8. Magomed Ankalaev
9. Khamzat Chimaev
10. Alex Pereira
WOMEN
1. Zhang Weili
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. Cris Cyborg
4. Julianna Peña
5. Kayla Harrison
6. Manon Fiorot
7. Dakota Ditcheva
8. Alexa Grasso
9. Larissa Pacheco
10. Yan Xiaonan
PETESY CARROLL
MEN
1. Islam Makhachev
2. Ilia Topuria
3. Merab Dvalishvili
4. Tom Aspinall
5. Alexandre Pantoja
6. Alex Pereira
7. Magomed Ankalaev
8. Jon Jones
9. Francis Ngannou
10. Dricus Du Plessis
WOMEN
1. Zhang Weili
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. Cris Cyborg
4. Kayla Harrison
5. Alexa Grasso
6. Julianna Peña
7. Manon Fiorot
8. Dakota Ditcheva
9. Larissa Pacheco
10. Seika Izawa
BEN FOWLKES
MEN
1. Islam Makhachev
2. Ilia Topuria
3. Merab Dvalishvili
4. Alexandre Pantoja
5. Dricus Du Plessis
6. Magomed Ankalaev
7. Alex Pereira
8. Francis Ngannou
9. Tom Aspinall
10. Belal Muhammad
WOMEN
1. Zhang Weili
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. Cris Cyborg
4. Kayla Harrison
5. Alexa Grasso
6. Raquel Pennington
7. Julianna Peña
8. Manon Fiorot
9. Larissa Pacheco
10. Dakota Ditcheva
ERIC JACKMAN
MEN
1. Islam Makhachev
2. Ilia Topuria
3. Khamzat Chimaev
4. Merab Dvalishvili
5. Dricus du Plessis
6. Alexandre Pantoja
7. Jon Jones
8. Belal Muhammad
9. Tom Aspinall
10. Magomed Ankalaev
WOMEN
1. Zhang Weili
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. Cris Cyborg
4. Kayla Harrison
5. Larissa Pacheco
6. Julianna Peña
7. Manon Fiorot
8. Dakota Ditcheva
9. Virna Jandiroba
10. Tatiana Suarez
CHUCK MINDENHALL
MEN
1. Islam Makhachev
2. Merab Dvalishvili
3. Ilia Topuria
4. Tom Aspinall
5. Jon Jones
6. Magomed Ankalaev
7. Dricus du Plessis
8. Francis Ngannou
9. Alexandre Pantoja
10. Alex Pereira
WOMEN
1. Zhang Weili
2. Valentina Shevchenko
3. Cris Cyborg
4. Kayla Harrison
5. Manon Fiorot
6. Dakota Ditcheva
7. Tatiana Suarez
8. Julianna Peña
9. Erin Blanchfield
10. Larissa Pacheco
DRAKE RIGGS
MEN
1. Islam Makhachev
2. Merab Dvalishvili
3. Ilia Topuria
4. Belal Muhammad
5. Alexandre Pantoja
6. Dricus du Plessis
7. Tom Aspinall
8. Francis Ngannou
9. Jon Jones
10. Magomed Ankalaev
WOMEN
1. Zhang Weili
2. Seika Izawa
3. Valentina Shevchenko
4. Cris Cyborg
5. Alexa Grasso
6. Si Woo Park
7. Larissa Pacheco
8. Kayla Harrison
9. Virna Jandiroba
10. Dakota Ditcheva
