Stock Up, Stock Down: Pound-for-Pound Rankings After UFC 284

UFC 284 went down over the weekend in Perth, Australia, with two of the sport's top pound-for-pound fighters colliding in the main event.

In one corner, we had Russian lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who was firmly inside the top five on most pound-for-pound lists. In the other, we had featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski—the sport's consensus pound-for-pound king—who was looking for a second belt at Makhachev's expense.

Makhachev ultimately won the champion versus champion clash with a hard fought unanimous decision, instantly stirring up debate about the sport's pound-for-pound pecking order.

While the two headliners were the only fighters on the card who were anywhere near the pound-for-pound top 10, there is still plenty to unpack following the event.

Scroll on for our pound-for-pound rankings after the UFC's latest stop in Australia

10. Jiří Procházka

9. Brandon Moreno

8. Aljamain Sterling

7. Alex Pereira

6. Charles Oliveira

We've made some changes to the back half of our men's pound-for-pound rankings, but they have nothing to do with UFC 284.

Instead, they stem from Francis Ngannou's exit from UFC last month. While the Cameroonian-Frenchman is clearly still the sport's best heavyweight, these rankings are limited to the UFC, which means that he—just like Demetrious Johnson in ONE Championship and Patricio Freire in Bellator—is no longer in consideration.

Ngannou departs our list from the No. 5 spot, clearing a path for several fighters to move up one place, and for former light heavyweight champion Jiří Procházka—who relinquished the title because of an injury last year—to climb into the No. 10 spot.

That brings us to our top five, where we will undoubtedly make a lot of people very angry. Please refrain from showing up outside my house with torches and pitchforks.

5. Leon Edwards

4. Israel Adesanya

3. Kamaru Usman

2. Islam Makhachev

1. Alexander Volkanovski

The whole premise of pound-for-pound is, by nature, subjective. However, most people seem to have forgotten what it is actually supposed to mean. I, for one, had my eyes opened to the real meaning of pound-for-pound by my former colleague, esteemed combat sports analyst Jack Slack.

As Mr. Slack explained in many articles over the years we worked together at Vice Media's defunct Fightland project, pound-for-pound is not about who has the longest win streak. It's about who has the best skillset when things like size and weight are removed from the equation.

That is why Israel Adesanya is still ranked ahead of Alex Pereira on our list, despite suffering a knockout loss to the Brazilian late last year. That's why Kamaru Usman is still ranked ahead of Leon Edwards, despite losing to the Brit earlier in 2022. It's also why we're keeping Alexander Volkanovski in the No. 1 spot despite his decision loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 284.

The fact is that, despite their recent losses, Adesanya, Usman and Volkanovski would beat just about everybody in a world where every UFC fighter was the same size. In fact, Volkanovski only reaffirmed that in his losing effort to Makhachev. While the judges didn't see it his way, he clearly won at least two rounds and was competitive for the duration against a much larger opponent. If pound-for-pound is about who has the best skills when size and weight are removed from the equation, there is no better indicator of where a fighter stands on the list than seeing how they perform against a bigger fighter. Volkanovski performed well against Makhachev—well enough to win the fight in the eyes of some fans—so he's staying put at No. 1.

Of course, we've got to give Makhachev his props as well. We had the Russian at No. 5 before UFC 284—a sizzling hot take given that the UFC had him at No. 2. However, he has never looked better than he did against Volkanovski. He reaffirmed that he's one of the best grapplers in the sport, he showed massively improved stand-up by hurting the featherweight champ on the feet, and he also showed that he has the cardio to fight for five rounds.

In other words, it's now clear that, in a world where every fighter is the same size, he would beat almost everybody—but probably not Volkanovski.

10. Taila Santos

9. Manon Fiorot

8. Amanda Lemos

7. Julianna Peña

6. Carla Esparza

None of the women in the back half of our women's rankings were in action at UFC 284, but we have removed Ketlen Vieira from the Top 10 after her split-decision loss to Raquel Pennington last month. One might assume that Pennington should take her place, but the American has been anything but consistent over the years, and many of her wins have been controversial—including her triumph over Vieira. So, instead, we've slid Brazil's Taila Santos into the No. 10 spot.

Santos has not fought since a split-decision loss to the champ Valentina Shevchenko last year. However, the loss was extremely competitive, which is impressive considering Shevchenko is currently our No. 1 ranked female fighter.

Santos was slated to fight Erin Blanchfield later in February. That fight would have been a great opportunity for the Brazilian to cement herself as a pound-for-pound talent, but unfortunately, she was ruled out of the contest because of visa issues and has since been replaced by her countrywoman Jessica Andrade—which brings us to the top five.

5. Jessica Andrade

4. Zhang Weili

3. Rose Namajunas

2. Amanda Nunes

1. Valentina Shevchenko

There are no moves to report in the front half of our women's rankings, but that could definitely change soon.

The biggest chance for a shakeup will occur at UFC 285 on March 5, when flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko—our pound-for-pound queen—attempts to defend her title against Alexa Grasso. The Kyrgyzstani star is a big favourite to retain her belt, but Mexico's Grasso is tough, and if the challenger pulls off the win, it will send a shockwave through these rankings.

Former strawweight champ Jessica Andrade will also be in action soon, as she's stepped up on short notice to fight Erin Blanchfield in the main event of next weekend's Fight Night card.

A win over Blanchfield isn't going to improve Andrade's standing, but if Blanchfield pulls off the win—a definite possibility—she will rocket on to this list.