UFC power rankings following Fight Night 293 in Las Vegas, NV

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another week of UFC rankings. With UFC Vegas 124 behind us, we now look ahead to UFC 334 in New York City, NY.

UFC 334 not only has a stacked card, but it also features two title defenses. Ciryl Gane versus Josh Hokit is the main event, with Kayla Harrison taking on the legendary Amanda Nunes in the co-main event. This card is going to be amazing, and the fact that it’s being held in the historic Madison Square Garden says we should all get ready to rumble.

That being said, let’s get to this week’s rankings and see who made it. Have a great day, everyone, and may the fights be with you.

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Top 10

10. Justin Gaethje:

Justin Gaethje defeated Ilia Topuria at UFC Freedom 250 to become the sole Lightweight Champion in the world. Gaethje is still ranked ninth, following this huge upset of the god-like Topuria. There’s a lot of talk that Gaethje could step down and retire as champion, but there are rumblings that Arman Tsarukyan could be his opponent before that happens. 

9. Joshua Van:

Joshua Van moved up to the ninth spot after he defended his title against Alexandre Pantoja, who also recorded five takedowns in the process. A lot of people felt that this was Pantoja’s pathway to success, which ended up coming up short for him. However, later in the fight, Van started to dominate the striking exchanges, which led to the judges studying with the champ.

8. Max Holloway:

Max Holloway defeated Conor McGregor in under two minutes at UFC 329 after McGregor tried a spinning kick that tore up his knee. Now that Holloway officially won, he should be looking for either a title shot or another big-name fighter to put to sleep. For now, Holloway can take any match that comes his way since he didn’t even break a sweat against McGregor.

7. Charles Oliveira:

Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira finally has a fight to talk about: against Diego Lopes at UFC 335 on December 12th. This will be the main event of the card, and it will also be for the BMF Championship. With Lopes’s recent success leading him to this match, you can expect a war, but if this fight hits the ground, Lopes could find himself locked up by one of the greatest finishers in MMA history. 

6. Alex Pereira:

Alex Pereira will be taking on Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main event at UFC 335 in Las Vegas. As the last card of the year, this fight will have major implications for the heavyweight division heading into 2027. With how great Pavlovich has looked recently, Poatan should be worried, especially after being knocked out by Ciryl Gane. CHAMA!

Top 5

5. Petr Yan:

Anyone who takes a beating like Petr Yan did in the first two rounds on Saturday not only deserves to make this list, but to move up it pretty far. So Yan is replacing Merab Dvalishvili, after showing that if you can weather his storm, you have a chance to box Dvalishvili. He did that for the final three rounds at UFC 333, in which he defended his title perfectly. Now that Dvalishvili is in his rearview mirror, Yan can take some time off before his next title defense. For that, he moves up to fifth on this list. Way to go, champ! 

4. Ilia Topuria:

Ilia Topuria has slipped to fifth on this list after losing badly to Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250. It wasn’t just how he lost, but how his god-like complex got in the way of his goals. Since then, he’s back to ranting on X, making himself look more lost than we already thought he was. Topuria has also been recently pushing for a rematch with Gaethje, who isn’t interested at all. However, Topuria still moves up to fourth after Dvalishvili lost to Yan. 

3. Sean Strickland:

Sean Strickland remains at the third spot as he continues to enjoy his time as champion. However, after Dricus Du Plessis defeated Kamaru Usman, DDP feels that a third match with Strickland is in order, since he’s already beaten him twice. However, Strickland recently took to social media to talk about his pay and wants more money for his next title defense. This could get hairy, but in the end, I see Strickland eventually defending his title early next year. 

2. Islam Makhachev:

Islam Makhachev moves down to second on this list after Volkanovski’s dominant performance at UFC 333. Even though Makhachev has beaten Volk twice, I felt that Dana White’s comments about Carlos Prates and Michael Morales were spot on. I also feel that Makhachev needs to be more active as a champion. Taking time off to prepare and celebrate Ramadan isn’t good for the business or this division, even though it’s for religious reasons. Regardless, once he’s back, you’ll see him fighting the winner of that fight, since they’ll be fighting for the Interim Championship. SMESH!

1. Alexander Volkanovski:

After Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski destroyed Movsar Evloev in the main event at UFC 333, he now moves up to being the number one, pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Volkanovski not only told everyone what he was going to do to Evloev, but he also made it look way too easy by knocking him out seconds before the end of the second round. After the fight, Volk was asked about fighting Justin Gaethje, to which he replied, I’m down for whatever. Regardless, whatever Volk does, you can bet he’s earned this spot 10 times over. Congratulations champ! 

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