Combat Sports Power Rankings for March

It's a good time to be a combat sports fan.

The UFC is days away from a highly anticipated grudge match atop a pay-per-view card in Las Vegas, and in boxing, the Mexican straw who stirs that sport's drink recently announced plans for his next pair of appearances.

Alongside all that, plenty of other men and women are worthy of notice, too.

Put them all together and you have fighters most worthy of water-cooler discussion as we begin another month and take another few steps closer to spring.

With them in mind, the B/R combat sports team got together to assemble another definitive top-10 list, power rankings-style, to kick March off in the right way.

Read through to see what we came up with, and feel free to drop a viewpoint or two in the comments.

Last Ranking: None

Next Fight: April 30

Why They're Here: It's been years in the making.

And, many would suggest, years too long.

At any rate, lightweights Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano will get together as the headlining pair at Madison Square Garden this spring, marking the first time women have had top billing at the "World's Most Famous Arena."

Taylor, an unbeaten 35-year-old from Ireland, will put her four shares of the lightweight title on the line against Serrano, a 33-year-old Puerto Rican now based in Brooklyn who's won 42 of 44 fights (one loss, one draw) in a pro career that stretches back 13 years.

Taylor won gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and was instantly placed on the fast track for stardom, competing for a title in her fifth pro bout and appearing on high-profile cards throughout both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Serrano, meanwhile, came up with far lesser hoopla, though she's captured titles in seven weight classes and saw her popularity spike when she became promotionally aligned with crossover moneymaker Jake Paul.

"We need to do more big fights like this for women," Paul told ESPN. "What I'm excited about is using my creative ability to tell a story about why people should care about Amanda Serrano, specifically, but also women's boxing and also this fight against Katie Taylor. Because people should care, and people do care. A lot of people care, but I think a lot more women should care and a lot more people in general should care."

Last Ranking: None

Next Fight: TBA

Why He's Here: If you listen to UFC broadcasts, it's a familiar phrase.

"This guy is a problem at [insert weight class]."

It's usually said about a fighter when he has recorded either one particularly impressive victory or perhaps a string of wins that have raised him to champion-worthy status.

Islam Makhachev is most certainly in the latter category.

The 30-year-old Russian-born lightweight trains with former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and has recently resembled the second coming of the since-retired superstar, finishing Bobby Green in one round atop a Fight Night card over the weekend to run his win streak to 10—including four straight finishes.

He's ranked fourth at 155 pounds and has essentially done everything necessary to secure a shot against the winner of the title bout between Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje that's set for UFC 274 in May.

"I just want a title fight," he said after Saturday's win. "I'm tired of all these other things."

"I'm ready. I am here. Tell me when and where and that’s it."

Last Ranking: 8th

Next Fight: May 7, vs. Justin Gaethje

Why He's Here: Charles Oliveira isn't your typical UFC superstar.

He's been with the promotion for better than 10 years and had a particularly prolonged ladder climb before finally achieving a level of consensus respect after his 30th birthday.

Now 32, he became a champion for the first time last May with a second-round TKO of Michael Chandler for the vacant title, then he defended seven months later with a third-round choke-out of Dustin Poirier.

Not many expected him to win either of those bouts, let alone both.

And the scenario isn't much different for the next go-round at UFC 274, where he'll meet Justin Gaethje in the American's second title try after a second-round submission against Nurmagomedov in 2020.

Gaethje beat Chandler to move himself to the front of the challenger line, and, even if the champion gets by the power puncher from Arizona, he'll likely need to deal with another Octagonal phenom in the form of Makhachev.

But if his team is worried about the impending tests, no one's showing it.

"Charles is getting more complete each time in all areas, and people were able to feel that in his last 10 fights,” coach Diego Lima said told Sherdog. “Today, he is not a jiu-jitsu fighter in MMA. He is an MMA fighter and a world MMA champion."

Last Ranking: 6th

Next Fight: TBA

Why He's Here: Oleksandr Usyk was already the world's best active cruiserweight and arguably one of the best in the division's short history alongside the likes of Evander Holyfield.

And when he followed Holyfield's lead and climbed to heavyweight to win multiple shares of the championship with an upset of Anthony Joshua last September, his profile was raised significantly.

The Ring had him second on both its heavyweight and pound-for-pound lists as of mid-February, and it's expected he'll have a chance to better those standings with a rematch against Joshua later this year.

But in the meantime, he's been impacted by war.

A native of Ukraine, Usyk joined a territorial defense battalion as the nation defends itself against an invasion from Russia that began February 24. Ex-heavyweight champions Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko joined Ukraine's reserve army in anticipation of the invasion early last month, and former lightweight champ Vasily Lomachenko joined the same battalion as Usyk.

Needless to say, scheduling mandatory title bouts or negotiating purse bids are not a priority just now.

"Please just sit down and negotiate it with us without claims," Usyk posted in an Instagram message directed to Russian president Vladimir Putin. "Our kids, wives, grannies are hiding in the basements... We are here in our own country, we cannot do it any other way - we are defending. Stop it! Stop this war. No war !!!"

Last Ranking: 5th

Next Fight: TBA

Why He's Here: Terence Crawford is unbeaten in 38 fights and has won titles in three weight classes.

So anyone who suggests he's not a legit pound-for-pound star isn't thinking clearly.

He's third on The Ring's most recent pound-for-pound list and would be a prohibitive favorite against nearly every prospective 147-pound foe not named Errol Spence Jr.

But that's where "Bud's" problem seems to lie.

He's an elite fighter in search of elite company, having beaten Shawn Porter in his most recent fight in November. But because Porter had already lost to Spence, Keith Thurman and Kell Brook, it wasn't a truly transcendent type of victory.

Spence will meet Manny Pacquiao's final conqueror, Yordenis Ugas, next month to unify their shares of the welterweight kingdom, and Crawford's recent declaration of promotional free agency may make a fight with the winner a little easier to negotiate.

Thurman recently came back victorious after a long layoff and is a worthwhile name, too, though Crawford's chance at a UK showdown with 140-pound champ Josh Taylor was likely sidetracked when the Scotsman barely got past Jack Catterall over the weekend and will likely seek a rematch.

Last Ranking: 7th

Next Fight: TBA

Why He's Here: Israel Adesanya's doubters are quickly running out of material.

The UFC's middleweight kingpin recently began a second lap of success through the promotion's 185-pound ranks with a unanimous decision last month over No. 1 contender Robert Whittaker, the man from whom he'd taken the belt in 2019. That win came eight months after he'd scored a one-sided decision over third-ranked Marvin Vettori after initially beating the Italian across three rounds in 2018.

Adesanya also has a win over sixth-ranked Paolo Costa, too, so it's no surprise that he's seeking out the sorts of challenges that are worthy of a fighter with his accomplishments.

He walked out with cruiserweight boxing champion Lawrence Okolie in the latter's fight on Sunday in England, and he said recently another former British-based boxer would have been his dream opponent.

"I would've liked to have fought Prince Naseem Hamed," Adesanya told The Sun.

"Just because I liked the style. His cadence, his rhythm, his showmanship. Everything. So I would've liked to have tested myself against that guy."

Last Ranking: 3rd

Next Fight: April 23, vs. Dillian Whyte

Why He's Here: Tyson Fury is the best heavyweight in the world.

He beat Wladimir Klitschko in 2015 and returned from a self-induced hiatus to battle Deontay Wilder to a draw before stopping him in two subsequent fights to claim their trilogy.

He'd been tweaking UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou into a potential crossover fight between the two biggest mainstream belt-holders, but it appears he'll have some actual in-ring work to do first.

Fury, still unbeaten at 31-0-1, will meet fellow Brit big man Dillian Whyte in defense of his WBC title strap at a sure-to-be electric Wembley Stadium on April 23. Whyte has been stopped twice in his career—by Anthony Joshua and Alexander Povetkin—but he KO'd Povetkin in a rematch seven months later and had Joshua wobbled badly early on before the then-unbeaten prospect rallied.

So it's a dangerous proposition for Fury, who was dropped twice by Wilder in their first fight, twice more in their third and has also been decked by Steve Cunningham and Neven Pajkic.

Still, he remains as brash as ever.

"Who else can't wait for the fight?" Fury said. "The best of Britain. I can't wait to punch Whyte's face in."

Last Ranking: 4th

Next Fight: TBA

Why He's Here: Just when it looked like Francis Ngannou was on the brink, he wasn't.

The Cameroonian was facing a live challenger in interim champ Ciryl Gane in January, but he transformed from one-dimensional power hitter to punishing grappler and rallied to overcome his then-unbeaten challenger on the way to a unanimous decision in their UFC 270 main event in California.

But the question now is, what's next?

The champ had gone public with issues about his contract with the promotion even before the fight, and the optics of UFC czar Dana White not putting the belt on him after the victory were combative to say the least.

White doesn't want Ngannou mixing with the likes of Tyson Fury.

Ngannou wants freedom to cross over. And he's recently echoed the sentiments of White's loudest nemesis, Jake Paul, on the issue of fighter pay.

"I'm 100 percent with him for what he says," Ngannou said. “Like when he claims [he's] for fighter health care, I'm 100 percent down with that. When he [claims he's] for fighter pay increase, I'm 1,000 percent down for that. Fighters are not protected. Fighters are all out there on their own, and nobody looks out for them."

Last Ranking: 2nd

Next Fight: TBA

Why He's Here: And now, Kamaru Usman waits.

The Nigerian export is the best mixed martial artist on the planet, according to the UFC's pound-for-pound rankings, where he's listed atop a high-profile crowd that includes the aforementioned likes of Adesanya, Ngannou and Oliveira behind him.

And he's equally pre-eminent in his own weight class, where he won the 170-pound belt in 2019 and has since defended with two defeats apiece of UFC 272 headliners Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal in addition to a third-round finish of Gilbert Burns.

He's been so dominant, in fact, that it's difficult to see where the next threat will come from.

Last Ranking: 1st

Next Fight: May 7, vs. Dmitry Bivol

Why He's Here: It's good to be the king.

Though he started his high-profile career as an unsuccessful foil to Floyd Mayweather Jr. atop a pay-per-view extravaganza in 2013, it's safe to say things have turned out good for Canelo Alvarez.

The cinnamon-haired Mexican hasn't lost in 16 subsequent fights (15-0-1) and has added titles in three more weight classes to the 154-pound bauble he carried to the ring against Mayweather.

And now, the boxing world hangs on his every fight announcement.

Alvarez made his imminent plans public in late February, setting a May 7 date for a challenge of WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol that will presumably be followed by a trilogy bout in September with two-time middleweight opponent Gennady Golovkin. Golovkin has a fight scheduled in April, so the late-summer bout won't go on unless he and Alvarez both win in the interim.

"I am very happy with this fight against Dmitry Bivol," Alvarez said in a statement.

"It is another great challenge for me and my career—especially as I go up in weight and face an exceptional light heavyweight champion like Bivol. ... We will be ready, like we always are."