MMA Pound-for-Pound Rankings: Alexander Volkanovski takes big tumble after UFC 298 loss

Welcome to the latest update to the MMA Fighting pound-for-pound rankings, where every month our esteemed panel sort through the noise to answer one question: Who are the best overall male and female MMA fighters in the world?

With the dramatic conclusion of UFC 298, how was the top of the men’s rankings shaken up? Let’s take a look.

Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Alexander Volkanovski is the latest Pound-for-Pound great to fall.

Along with Kamaru Usman, Israel Adesanya, and Aljamain Sterling, “The Great” had been a mainstay atop MMA Fighting’s Pound-for-Pound list. After suffering a crushing second-round knockout loss to Ilia Topuria at UFC 298 this past Saturday, he now joins his fellow former champions who have fallen outside of the top five — and are at risk of losing their ranking completely.

It may seem like a harsh reversal of fortunes to have Topuria rise so high and Volkanovski drop so low so quickly, but what else can be done when the seizing of the crown is done with such authority? Like Sean O’Malley and Alex Pereira before him, Topuria has earned a lofty spot in the rankings, even if his résumé doesn’t stack up to that of the champion he defeated. Yet.

As it stands, our top five is mixture of old and new faces, with Topuria and Pereira claiming spots alongside veterans Makhachev, Edwards, and Jones. As dominant as the latter three names have been, it’s not inconceivable that they concede their spots to a white hot challenger in the near future (Arman Tsarukyan, Shavkat Rakhmonov, and Tom Aspinall, anyone?), so no one should be surprised if 2024 proves to once again be a year of mass upheaval in the pound-for-pound ranks.

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): Ilia Topuria def. No. 2 Alexander Volkanovski

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 11 Sean O’Malley vs. Marlon “Chito” Vera (UFC 299, March 9)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Merab Dvalishvili (6), Johnny Eblen (3), Jiri Prochazka (3), Patricio Pitbull (2), Shavkat Rakhmonov (2), Brandon Moreno (2), Jan Blachowicz (1), Jamahal Hill (1), A.J. McKee (1), Belal Muhammad (1), Usman Nurmagomedov (1), Dustin Poirier (1), Robert Whittaker (1), Vadim Nemkov (1)

Lastly, a refresher on some ground rules:

• The eight-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Shaun Al-Shatti, Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, E. Casey Leydon, Steven Marrocco, Damon Martin and Jed Meshew.
• Updates to the rankings will be completed following every UFC pay-per-view. Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout.
• Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice (let’s put it this way: we’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did).

As a reminder, the notion of pound-for-pound supremacy is always going to inherently be subjective. When you’re debating whether someone like Justin Gaethje should be ranked above someone like Max Holloway, there is no true right answer. In other words: It’s not serious business, folks.

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.