Following his second round TKO stoppage of Chad Mendes in the UFC 189 headliner last weekend, newly crowned interim featherweight champion Conor McGregor has made his debut in the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings.
‘The Notorious’ enters the pound-for-pound list at No. 14, just behind former lightweight champion Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis, who has dropped several positions since his March loss to Rafael dos Anjos. Frankie Edgar has been relegated one spot to No. 15 to make way for the Irishman. McGregor also moved up two positions on the featherweight rankings to claim to the No. 1 spot as interim champion, while Edgar and Mendes slip to No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
The news is bound to be the subject of much debate among McGregor fans and detractors alike. McGregor is currently on a six-fight win-streak with five knockouts and is undefeated in the UFC. Fighters with recent losses that currently rank ahead of McGregor on the highly subjective pound-for-pound list include Anthony Pettis (No. 13), Renan Barao (No. 12), Anderson Silva (No. 11), Daniel Cormier (No. 10), and Cain Velasquez (No. 9).
Elsewhere in the rankings, MMA veteran and former Strikeforce champion Gilbert Melendez was removed from the lightweight list due to his one-year suspension following a failed post-fight drug test at UFC 188. His removal allowed several 155-pound fighters to move up in the rankings, and previously unranked fighters Nate Diaz and Dustin Poirier have entered the list at No. 14 and No. 15, respectively.
Welterweight Jake Ellenberger was demoted following his knockout loss to Stephen Thompson in The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 21 Finale main event. ‘The Juggernaut’, who has gone 1-4 in his last five fights, fell three spots to No. 12. Thompson, meanwhile, jumped to No. 9 from a previously unranked position with the emphatic win.
Icelandic welterweight, Irish adoptee, and Straight Blast Gym representative Gunnar Nelson moved up four positions in the 170-pound rankings to claim No. 11 following his slick rear-naked choke finish of Brandon Thatch.
Featherweight Jeremy Stephens also jumped three spots to No. 8 after his spectacular flying knee knockout of Dennis Bermudez, who dropped one postion to No. 9.
Michelle Waterson blazed in at No. 12 on the women’s strawweight rankings following her impressive submission victory over Angela Magana in her UFC debut at the TUF 21 Finale.
Check out the full list of updated UFC rankings below:
POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Jose Aldo
2 Chris Weidman
3 Demetrious Johnson
4 Ronda Rousey
5 Fabricio Werdum +1
5 TJ Dillashaw
7 Rafael dos Anjos
8 Robbie Lawler
9 Cain Velasquez
10 Daniel Cormier
11 Anderson Silva
12 Renan Barao
13 Anthony Pettis
14 Conor McGregor *NR
15 Frankie Edgar -1
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 John Dodson
2 Joseph Benavidez
3 Jussier Formiga
4 Ian McCall
5 Henry Cejudo
6 John Moraga
7 John Lineker
8 Kyoji Horiguchi
9 Zach Makovsky
10 Chris Cariaso
11 Dustin Ortiz
12 Wilson Reis
13 Chico Camus
14 Ray Borg
15 Justin Scoggins *NR
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Renan Barao
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Urijah Faber
5 Michael McDonald
6 Eddie Wineland
7 Aljamain Sterling
8 Takeya Mizugaki
9 Johnny Eduardo
10 Thomas Almeida +4
11 Francisco Rivera -1
12 Bryan Caraway -1
13 Iuri Alcantara -1
14 Frankie Saenz -1
15 Erik Perez
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Jose Aldo
1 Conor McGregor (Interim Champion) +2
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Chad Mendes -2
4 Ricardo Lamas
5 Max Holloway
6 Cub Swanson
7 Charles Oliveira
8 Jeremy Stephens +3
9 Dennis Bermudez -1
10 Nik Lentz -1
11 Clay Guida -1
12 Hacran Dias
13 Tatsuya Kawajiri
14 Darren Elkins +1
15 Dennis Siver -1
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Rafael dos Anjos
1 Anthony Pettis
2 Donald Cerrone
3 Khabib Nurmagomedov
4 Eddie Alvarez
5 Michael Johnson +1
6 Benson Henderson +1
7 Edson Barboza +1
8 Myles Jury +1
9 Josh Thomson +1
10 Bobby Green +1
11 Tony Ferguson +1
12 Al Iaquinta +1
13 Beneil Dariush +1
14 Nate Diaz *NR
15 Dustin Poirier *NR
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Robbie Lawler
1 Johny Hendricks
2 Rory MacDonald
3 Tyron Woodley
4 Carlos Condit
5 Matt Brown
6 Demian Maia
7 Dong Hyun Kim
8 Tarec Saffiedine
9 Stephen Thompson *NR
10 Rick Story
11 Gunnar Nelson +4
12 Jake Ellenberger -3
13 Thiago Alves -2
14 Neil Magny -2
15 Kelvin Gastelum -1
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Chris Weidman
1 Luke Rockhold
2 Jacare Souza
3 Yoel Romero
4 Vitor Belfort
5 Lyoto Machida
6 Anderson Silva
7 Gegard Mousasi
8 Tim Kennedy
9 Michael Bisping
10 Thales Leites
11 CB Dollaway
12 Dan Henderson +1
13 Robert Whittaker +1
14 Roan Carneiro +1
15 Derek Brunson *NR
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Anthony Johnson
2 Alexander Gustafsson
3 Ryan Bader
4 Glover Teixeira
5 Rashad Evans
6 Ovince Saint Preux
7 Jimi Manuwa
8 Mauricio Rua
9 Rampage Jackson
10 Rafael Cavalcante
11 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
12 Jan Blachowicz
13 Fabio Maldonado
14 Patrick Cummins
15 Gian Villante
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Fabricio Werdum
1 Cain Velasquez
2 Junior Dos Santos
3 Stipe Miocic
4 Andrei Arlovski
5 Travis Browne
6 Josh Barnett
7 Ben Rothwell +1
8 Mark Hunt -1
9 Alistair Overeem
10 Frank Mir
11 Roy Nelson
12 Antonio Silva
13 Matt Mitrione
14 Alexey Oliynyk +1
15 Stefan Struve -1
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Joanna Jedrzejczyk
1 Carla Esparza
2 Claudia Gadelha
3 Rose Namajunas +1
3 Jessica Penne
5 Tecia Torres
6 Randa Markos
7 Maryna Moroz
8 Paige VanZant
9 Joanne Calderwood
10 Felice Herrig
11 Juliana Lima
12 Michelle Waterson *NR
13 Aisling Daly -1
14 Heather Clark -1
15 Valerie Letourneau -1
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Ronda Rousey
1 Cat Zingano
2 Miesha Tate
3 Alexis Davis
4 Sara McMann
5 Jessica Eye
6 Sarah Kaufman
7 Bethe Correia
8 Amanda Nunes
9 Liz Carmouche
10 Holly Holm
11 Marion Reneau
12 Julianna Pena
13 Jessica Andrade
14 Germaine de Randamie
15 Lauren Murphy
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