It wasn’t that long ago when Brandon Moreno was flyweight champion of the world. Similarly, Marlon Vera is just two years removed from his pay-per-view (PPV) headliner — and 135-pound title fight — opposite Sean O’Malley.
Sadly, it’s all been downhill from there.
Moreno (23-10-2) has lost four of his last six and Vera (23-12-1) has dropped five straight, which includes their respective losses at UFC Mexico last weekend in Mexico City. “The Assassin Baby” was defeated by Lone’er Kavanagh while “Chito” came up short against David Martinez.
As expected, those performances cost both combatants valuable real estate in the latest UFC rankings update.
Rankings are generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings.
Take a look at what the latest rankings field looks like courtesy of UFC.com. Note: (+/- = movement in rankings, T = tie, *NR = Not previously ranked).
MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Islam Makhachev
2. Ilia Topuria
3. Khamzat Chimaev
4. Alexander Volkanovski
5. Alex Pereira
6. Petr Yan
7. Merab Dvalishvili
8. Tom Aspinall
9. Alexandre Pantoja
10. Max Holloway
11. Joshua Van
12. Dricus Du Plessis
13. Magomed Ankalaev
14. Jack Della Maddalena
15. Arman Tsarukyan
FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Joshua Van
1. Alexandre Pantoja
2. Manel Kape
3. Tatsuro Taira
4. Brandon Royval
5. Kyoji Horiguchi
6. Lone’er Kavanagh *NR
7. (T) Brandon Moreno -1
7. (T) Amir Albazi
9. Asu Almabayev -1
10. Alex Perez
11. Tim Elliott -2
12. Steve Erceg -1
13. Tagir Ulanbekov -1
14. Charles Johnson -1
15. Bruno Silva -1
BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Petr Yan
1. Merab Dvalishvili
2. Umar Nurmagomedov
3. Sean O’Malley
4. Cory Sandhagen
5. Song Yadong
6. Aiemann Zahabi
7. Deiveson Figueiredo
8. Mario Bautista
9. David Martinez +1
10. Marlon Vera -1
11. Payton Talbott
12. Vinicius Oliveira
13. Rob Font
14. Kyler Phillips
15. Montel Jackson
FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Alexander Volkanovski
1. Movsar Evloev
2. Diego Lopes
3. Lerone Murphy
4. Yair Rodriguez
5. Aljamain Sterling
6. Jean Silva
7. Arnold Allen
8. Youssef Zalal
9. Steve Garcia
10. Brian Ortega
11. Josh Emmett
12. Melquizael Costa +1
13. Patricio Pitbull -1
14. Kevin Vallejos
15. David Onama
LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Ilia Topuria
1. Justin Gaethje (interim champion)
2. Arman Tsarukyan
3. Charles Oliveira
4. Max Holloway
5. Benoit Saint Denis
6. Paddy Pimblett
7. Mateusz Gamrot
8. Dan Hooker
9. Mauricio Ruffy
10. Renato Moicano
11. Rafael Fiziev
12. Beneil Dariush
13. Michael Chandler
14. Manuel Torres
15. Fares Ziam
WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Islam Makhachev
1. Jack Della Maddalena
2. Ian Machado Garry
3. Michael Morales
4. Belal Muhammed
5. Carlos Prates
6. Sean Brady
7. Kamaru Usman
8. Leon Edwards
9. Joaquin Buckley
10. Gabriel Bonfim
11. Gilbert Burns
12. Uros Medic
13. Colby Covington
14. Michael Page
15. Daniel Rodriguez
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Khamzat Chimaev
1. Dricus Du Plessis
2. Nassourdine Imavov
3. Sean Strickland
4. Brendan Allen
5. Israel Adesanya
6. Anthony Hernandez
7. Caio Borralho
8. Reinier De Ridder
9. Robert Whittaker
10. Jared Cannonier
11. Roman Dolidze
12. Paulo Costa
13. Gregory Rodrigues
14. Joe Pyfer
15. Brunno Ferreira
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Alex Pereira
1. Magomed Ankalaev
2. Jiri Prochazka
3. Carlos Ulberg
4. Khalil Rountree
5. Jan Blachowicz
6. Azamat Murzakanov
7. Jamahal Hill
8. Volkan Oezdemir
9. Bogdan Guskov
10. Dominick Reyes
11. Aleksandar Rakic
12. Johnny Walker
13. Nikita Krylov
14. Dustin Jacoby
15. Zhang Mingyang
HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Tom Aspinall
1. Ciryl Gane
2. Alexander Volkov
3. Sergei Pavlovich
4. Curtis Blaydes
5. Waldo Cortes Acosta
6. Serghei Spivac
7. Rizvan Kuniev
8. Marcin Tybura
9. Derrick Lewis -1
10. Ante Delija
11. Tallison Teixeira
12. Shamil Gaziev
13. Mick Parkin
14. Valter Walker
15. Vitor Petrino
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko
2. Kayla Harrison
3. Zhang Weili
4. Natalia Silva
5. Mackenzie Dern
6. Manon Fiorot
7. Erin Blanchfield
8. Julianna Pena
9. Alexa Grasso
10. Virna Jandiroba
11. Raquel Pennington
12. Tatiana Suarez
13. Rose Namajunas
14. Yan Xiaonan
15. Maycee Barber
WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Mackenzie Dern
1. Zhang Weili
2. Tatiana Suarez
3. Virna Jandiroba
4. Yan Xiaonan
5. Amanda Lemos
6. Loopy Godinez
7. Tabatha Ricci
8. Gillian Robertson
9. Jessica Andrade
10. Amanda Ribas
11. Fatima Klein
12. Denise Gomes
13. Alexia Thainara
14. Angela Hill
15. Mizuki Inoue
WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1. (T) Manon Fiorot
1. (T) Natalia Silva
3. Alexa Grasso
4. Erin Blanchfield
5. Maycee Barber
6. Jasmine Jasudavicius
7. Rose Namajunas
8. Tracy Cortez
9. Karine Silva
10. Miranda Maverick
11. Wang Cong
12. Casey O’Neill
13. Eduarda Moura
14. Gabriella Fernandes
15. JJ Aldrich
WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Kayla Harrison
1. Julianna Pena
2. Raquel Pennington
3. Norma Dumont
4. Ketlen Vieira
5. Yana Santos
6. Irene Aldana
7. Ailin Perez
8. Macy Chiasson
9. Karol Rosa
10. Jacqueline Cavalcanti
11. Joselyne Edwards
12. Mayra Bueno Silva
13. Nora Cornolle
14. Miesha Tate
15. Luana Santos
You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the lightweight division, following the UFC 327: “Holloway vs. Oliveira 2” event on Paramount+, scheduled for Sat., March 7, 2026 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
