UFC rankings: The Independent’s pound-for-pound fighters list

Here are our top 10 men’s fighters in the UFC, in a list updated after every major event

The UFC is home to some of the best mixed martial artists on the planet, so it’s no surprise that fans often debate how the elite fighters compare to one another – would fare against each other.

Alongside its rankings for each weight class, the UFC has its pound-for-pound list, and below, The Independent has constructed its own pound-for-pound top 10 for men’s UFC fighters.

While there is no exact science to putting together lists like this, numerous factors have been considered, including each fighter’s overall resume, recent record, frequency of activity and calibre of opposition. The list will be updated after each major event, typically monthly.

Without further ado... here are our rankings after UFC 325 in January:

10. Max Holloway (27-8, lightweight)

Max Holloway after his all-time great KO of Justin Gaethje (USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con)

Holloway re-entered our list as Jack Della Maddalena dropped out, following the latter’s welterweight title loss in November. Holloway is a former featherweight champion now campaigning at lightweight, where he is 2-0 courtesy of wins over previous interim champions Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier. Holloway, 34, dominated then stopped Gaethje in the final second in 2024 (with arguably the greatest knockout in UFC history) and easily outpointed Poirier last July to avenge two prior defeats by the “Diamond”. The Hawaiian did suffer a KO loss to then-featherweight king Ilia Topuria between those bouts, and he came up short in a trio of clashes with this list’s No 6 earlier in his career, but Holloway’s legacy is secure and still growing. He is the current “Baddest Motherf*****” champion and will defend the strap against Charles Oliveira in March.

9. Dricus Du Plessis (23-3, middleweight)

Dricus Du Plessis (right) holds two wins over ex-champion Sean Strickland (AFP/Getty)

For a long time, the South African was derided, with many fans saying his bulldozing, ungainly style would eventually be his undoing. Yet that style took Du Plessis to the middleweight title in 2024. By narrowly winning a battle with Sean Strickland, the 32-year-old became South Africa’s first UFC champion, and that victory was sandwiched between stoppages of former title holders Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker – two of the best fighters in the division’s history. After submitting Adesanya, Du Plessis further consolidated his reign by outpointing Strickland again – and more clearly. “Stillknocks” has secured 20 of his 23 wins via stoppage, with a near-even split of KOs and submissions. His resume is fantastic, and although it failed to hit another level when he took on Khamzat Chimaev in August – the night he lost the belt convincingly and dropped down this list – he remains one of the standout 185lbers of this generation.

8. Khamzat Chimaev (15-0, middleweight champion)

Khamzat Chimaev dominated Dricus Du Plessis to win the middleweight title in August (Getty)

When Chimaev debuted emphatically in the UFC in 2020, scoring two stoppages in 10 days, he was already touted as a future champ. When he KOed veteran Gerald Meerschaert in 17 seconds, two months later, that feeling only intensified. But illness, travel issues and division jumping slowed the Russian’s momentum, limiting him to one fight in 2021, two in 2022, one in 2023, and one in 2024. Still, when the 31-year-old did enter the cage, he was frightening. Look no further than his rapid submission of former 185lb champion Robert Whittaker, whose jaw Chimaev crushed. While there were vague flashes of vulnerability against ex-welterweight king and former 170lbs title challenger Gilbert Burns, Chimaev erased any slight doubts in his ability when he finally challenged for middleweight gold. Chimaev was unstoppable, taking down Du Plessis almost at will and trapping him against the canvas for the vast majority of their bout. With that, the Chimaev era began in earnest.

7. Tom Aspinall (15-3, 1 no-contest; heavyweight champion)

An emotional Tom Aspinall reacts to his interim-title win (Getty)

Aspinall didn’t plan on rocketing towards gold when he was demolishing fighters in the UFC Apex, early into his stint with the promotion; he seemed happy climbing the ladder steadily. But with attributes that make him the archetype of a ‘new breed’ of heavyweight, he quickly showed he’s levels above the rest of the pack. Aspinall derailed the hype around Sergei Pavlovich in late 2023, flattening the KO artist on two weeks’ notice to win the interim title. He then retained the gold by stopping Curtis Blaydes with a first-minute KO – avenging the only blotch on his UFC record, where a freak knee injury forced a loss in 2022. He then eyed arguable GOAT Jon Jones, but Jones retired and vacated the regular heavyweight title in the process. With that, Aspinall was crowned undisputed champion. Perhaps his greatest threat is bad luck; first there was that injury in 2022, which kept him out for a year, then Jones’s behaviour, and most recently a double eye poke by Ciryl Gane in October – which led Aspinall’s first undisputed-title defence to be labelled a no-contest.

6. Alexander Volkanovski (28-4, featherweight champion)

Alexander Volkanovski regained the featherweight title in April (Getty)

Volkanovski went from underrated to undeniable as featherweight champion. The Australian came out victorious in all three of his bouts with bona fide icon Holloway, as well as racking up wins over Brian Ortega, Yair Rodriguez and “The Korean Zombie” across a legendary first reign at 145lb. He then jumped up a division to give Islam Makhachev – who you’ll find elsewhere on this list – his toughest test as lightweight kingpin in 2023. But after suffering a first-round KO in their rematch (a bout Volk took on just 11 days’ notice) his famed featherweight title run ended in brutal fashion as he was slept by Ilia Topuria. Off the back of two KOs, many feared “Alexander The Great”, now 37, had been consigned to the scrapheap. However, as Topuria relinquished the belt to chase lightweight glory, Volk bounced back with a title win over Diego Lopes, whom the Aussie outpointed again this January to extend his second reign.

5. Alex Pereira (13-3, light-heavyweight champion)

Alex Pereira celebrates his quickfire stoppage of Magomed Ankalaev (Getty Images)

“Poatan” was chasing the top spot on our list not long ago, following his mesmeric rise in the UFC. The kickboxing champ shot through the middleweight ranks before sleeping old foe Adesanya to take the belt, just a year after his promotional debut. And while Adesanya stopped the Brazilian in their rematch, Pereira bounced back emphatically, moving up to light-heavyweight and cementing his status as one of MMA’s most formidable finishers. To become a two-weight champion in record time, the 38-year-old knocked out former title holder Jiri Prochazka, whom he stopped again in 2024 – a year in which Pereira retained the belt three times with three KOs. Pereira became the UFC’s most-reliable headliner and looked all but unbeatable, until he faced arguably his biggest stylistic test in Ankalaev. And while he came out on the losing side of a dull decision last March, he avenged that defeat in shockingly impressive fashion, knocking out Ankalaev in 80 seconds in October.

4. Alexandre Pantoja (30-6, flyweight)

Alexandre Pantoja was underrated for too long, including by us (Getty)

After submitting Kai Asakura in December 2024, to retain the men’s flyweight title, Pantoja entered our top 10. Not only was he included (in a long overdue move), but he came into the top four. The Brazilian, 35, has wiped out the division, with three wins over ex-champ Brandon Moreno, two against firm contender Brandon Royval, and two against Kai Kara-France. In fact, Pantoja was 10-0 against fighters in the top 10 at one point, before he shockingly lost his title just 26 seconds into a defence against young upstart Joshua Van, due to an arm injury. But we can’t hold the nature of that December defeat against Pantoja, whose place in the rankings is protected for the time being.

3. Merab Dvalishvili (21-5, bantamweight)

Merab Dvalishvili’s greatest assets are consummate wrestling and unerring pressure (Getty)

The Georgian entered our rankings in September 2024, thanks to a key moment on his journey to become arguably the greatest 135lber ever. Dvalishvili’s title win over Sean O’Malley was just one episode in a long season: a 14-fight win streak that involved three successful title defences in 2025, including a second victory against O’Malley and dismissals of Umar Nurmagomedov and Cory Sandhagen. Add these results to Dvalishvili’s past wins over former champs Jose Aldo, Henry Cejudo and Petr Yan, and you’ve got a scarcely-believable resume. Well, you haven’t; Dvalishvili has. While the 35-year-old’s winning run came to an end in December, it took a near-perfect performance from Yan to regain the belt and hand Merab his first loss since 2018. Like Pantoja, who lost his belt under strange circumstances on the same night that Dvalishvili dropped his, the Georgian won’t be penalised in our rankings (yet). After all, Dvalishvili already made history by just stepping in the ring with Yan, as the first fighter in UFC history to attempt four title defences in one calendar year.

2. Ilia Topuria (17-0, lightweight champion)

Ilia Topuria put Charles Oliveira out cold to become a two-weight UFC champion (Getty)

“El Matador” is threatening to wreck everyone and leave. He spoke ‘arrogantly’ of his chances against Volkanovski in 2024, only for his words to prove prophetic. Topuria, still only 29, brutally knocked out the Aussie, taking the 145lb title and moving to 15-0, and he improved that record with his first title defence: a KO of the great Max Holloway. While these specific wins showed off Topuria’s unforgiving punching power, eight of his wins have come via submission, thanks to his fine wrestling and underrated jiu-jitsu. Topuria is a great example of the modern mixed martial artist, carrying the UFC into a new era – and not just at featherweight. In early 2025, he vacated his belt in a shock move to chase the title at lightweight. With Makhachev moving up to welterweight and vacating the 155lb belt, Topuria faced Oliveira for the title in June, and – just as he predicted – El Matador knocked the former champ out cold in the first three minutes. If Topuria sustains this form, he genuinely could become the greatest ever – he could definitely become pound-for-pound No 1, if he isn’t already in your eyes.

1. Islam Makhachev (28-1, welterweight champion)

Islam Makhachev (right) celebrates after submitting Dustin Poirier to retain the lightweight belt (Getty)

The best mixed martial artist in the world right now, if it is not the man we just discussed. There was a time when it was suggested that the Russian would never be quite as good as childhood friend Khabib Nurmagomedov, yet Makhachev not only emulated his coach in becoming UFC lightweight champion in 2022, he broke Khabib’s record for title defences in the division (achieving four). Makhachev, 34, claimed the gold by submitting the greatest submission artist in UFC history, Oliveira, before retaining the gold with two wins over Volkanovski, a submission of Poirier, and a submission of Renato Moicano. Volkanovski was at the peak of his first featherweight title reign at the time, but Makhachev outpointed and knocked out the Australian across their two bouts. Makhachev ultimately gave up the lightweight belt to eye a second title, which he achieved by dominating Jack Della Maddalena at welterweight in November. In doing so, he again went beyond Khabib, while tying the all-time record for most UFC wins in a row (16). Treasure Makhachev while he’s here, for he really is the best in the world.