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Rankings

Pound For Pound Rankings

# 1

Daniel Cormier

Win 22 Loss 3 Draw 0

After defeating Derrick Lewis, "DC" has now defended both his UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight titles, becoming the first man to do so. Cormier is waiting to clear some injuries before booking his next fight.

# 2

Demetrious Johnson

Win 25 Loss 4 Draw 1

Johnson bolted the UFC in a surprising decision, taking his talents to Asia's ONE Championship, where "Mighty Mouse" says he'll finish his career.

# 3

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Win 29 Loss 0 Draw 0

After downing Conor McGregor, no one can doubt Nurmagomedov's legitimacy as champion. A rematch would bring big dollars, but "The Eagle" doesn't seem thrilled at the idea.

# 4

Jon Jones

Win 27 Loss 1 Draw 0

With controversy seemingly behind him, Jones is looking to stay busy and again establish himself as the top fighter on the planet through consistent domination.

# 5

Max Holloway

Win 26 Loss 4 Draw 0

Upcoming Fight: vs Justin "The Highlight" Gaethje | Apr 13, 2024 - UFC 300: Pereira vs. Hill

Holloway's expected move to lightweight will see him compete for an interim UFC title against Dustin Poirier at UFC 236.

# 6

Henry Cejudo

Win 16 Loss 4 Draw 0

Put an asterisk to them if you must, but Cejudo now owns victories over pound-for-pound greats T.J. Dillashaw and Demetrious Johnson.

# 7

Ryan Bader

Win 31 Loss 8 Draw 0

With a stellar run through Bellator's heavyweight grand prix, Bellator is now a two-division champion and may look to defend both titles for the time being.

# 8

Robert Whittaker

Win 25 Loss 7 Draw 0

Whittaker was forced out of his latest title defense with emergency surgery, and his return date is currently unclear.

# 9

Kamaru Usman

Win 20 Loss 4 Draw 0

Usman was absolutely flawless against Tyron Woodley, dominating the now-former champ en route to claiming the UFC title.

# 10

T.J. Dillashaw

Win 17 Loss 5 Draw 0

Dillashaw sacrificed to get down to 125 pounds, and looked good doing it, but he suffered a 32-second TKO loss to Henry Cejudo and is now calling for a rematch.

# 11

Tony Ferguson

Win 25 Loss 10 Draw 0

"El Cucuy" had his interim UFC title stripped after suffering a knee injury, but he rebounded with an impressive win over Anthony Pettis and is on a mission to taste gold once again.

# 12

Stipe Miocic

Win 20 Loss 4 Draw 0

Miocic's run as the UFC's longest defending heavyweight champion came to an end at the hands of Daniel Cormier. The hard-hitting firefighter hopes he can earn a rematch.

# 13

Tyron Woodley

Win 19 Loss 7 Draw 1

Woodley saw his title taken from Kamaru Usman in what was an admittedly a bad performance but hopes to work his way back to another shot at the belt.

# 14

Brian Ortega

Win 16 Loss 3 Draw 0

Ortega ran into a buzzsaw in Max Holloway but proved his durability in a 20-minute battle. "T-City" didn't slide back much in the process.

# 15

Conor McGregor

Win 22 Loss 6 Draw 0

Bold as ever, McGregor rolled the dice in his comeback fight, taking on the toughest challenge available in Khabib Nurmagomedov, though the risk didn't provide the reward he had hoped.

Honorable Mentions

# 16

Jose Aldo

bantam
Win 31 Loss 8 Draw 0

# 17

Marlon Moraes

bantam
Win 23 Loss 12 Draw 1

# 18

Yoel Romero

middle
Win 16 Loss 7 Draw 0

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie MMA rankings, March 12: Junior Dos Santos a top-three heavyweight once more

Junior Dos Santos is one step closer to reclaiming his past position as the world’s top-ranked heavyweight after another big win at UFC on ESPN+ 4.

This past Saturday, former UFC champ Dos Santos (21-5 MMA, 15-4 UFC) strung together his third consecutive win since a 14-month layoff due to a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) case that he was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing from. He managed to out-slug Derrick Lewis to a second-round TKO in their headlining bout, which took place at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan.

“Cigano’s” time off paired with some key losses had him sitting in the bottom half of the top-15 prior to UFC on ESPN+ 4. However, the finish of Lewis and his winning streak have put the Brazilian back in a top-three spot and in the discussion for another title shot in the future.

Who are the two fighters above Dos Santos in the heavyweight rankings? Find out that, along with much more, in our weekly rankings.

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

Ranking Criteria

The rankings take into account a fighter's wins/losses, quality of competition, finishing rate/dominance and frequency of fights.

Fighters are no longer eligible to be ranked after they've been inactive for 24 months, either due to injuries, drug/conduct suspensions, contract disputes or self-imposed hiatuses.

Fighters serving drug/conduct suspensions are eligible to be ranked, so long as they're not inactive for more than 24 months.

To the best of our ability, fighters will be ranked in their primary weight class. Catchweight fights and bouts outside the fighter's primary weight class can have a positive or negative impact on the ranking. However, non-titleholders can be ranked in only one weight class at a given time, and in most cases, they won't be ranked in a new weight class until they've had their first fight at that weight.

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