UFC rankings go back to the ‘Future’ as Ian Machado Garry soars past Shavkat Rakhmonov to land at No. 2

Ian Machado Garry beat former 170-pound champion Belal Muhammad in the UFC Qatar co-main event last weekend in Doha. The victory marked his second straight, having previously defeated Top 10 welterweight Carlos Prates, and sent the 28 year-old “Future” all the way up to No. 2 in this week’s rankings update.

Garry (17-1) replaced Shavkat Rakhmonov, despite losing to “Nomad” at UFC 310 last December.

Arman Tsarukyan was also victorious at UFC Qatar but already held the No. 1 ranking at 155 pounds, so defeating No. 6-ranked Dan Hooker didn’t have an effect on the lightweight lineup. As for the flyweight class, the much-ballyhooed return of Kyoji Horiguchi shook up the Top 10 rankings at 125 pounds.

Here’s how the rankings are compiled, at least until AI takes over:

Rankings are generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings.

Take a look at what the latest rankings field looks like courtesy of UFC.com. Note: (+/- = movement in rankings, T = tie, *NR = Not previously ranked).

MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Islam Makhachev2. Ilia Topuria3. Merab Dvalishvili4. Khamzat Chimaev5. Alexandre Pantoja6. Alex Pereira7. Alexander Volkanovski8. Tom Aspinall9. Dricus Du Plessis +110. Max Holloway +111. Jack Della Maddalena -212. Magomed Ankalaev13. Arman Tsarukyan +114. Charles Oliveira +115. Belal Muhammad -2

FLYWEIGHT 

Champion: Alexandre Pantoja

1. Joshua Van2. Brandon Moreno3. Brandon Royval4. Amir Albazi5. Tatsuro Taira6. Manel Kape7. Asu Almabayev +18. Kyoji Horiguchi *NR9. Tim Elliott10. Steve Erceg11. Alex Perez -412. Tagir Ulanbekov -113. Charles Johnson -114. Bruno Silva -115. Lone’er Kavanagh *NR

BANTAMWEIGHT 

Champion: Merab Dvalishvili

1. Umar Nurmagomedov2. Sean O’Malley3. Petr Yan4. Cory Sandhagen5. Song Yadong6. Deiveson Figueiredo7. Aiemann Zahabi8. Marlon Vera9. Mario Bautista10. Henry Cejudo11. David Martinez12. Rob Font13. Vinicius Oliveira14. Kyler Phillips15. Marcus McGhee

FEATHERWEIGHT 

Champion: Alexander Volkanovski

1. Movsar Evloev2. Diego Lopes3. Yair Rodriguez4. Lerone Murphy5. Aljamain Sterling6. Arnold Allen7. Youssef Zalal8. Steve Garcia9. Brian Ortega10. Josh Emmett11. Jean Silva12. Patricio Pitbull13. Dan Ige14. David Onama15. Giga Chikadze

LIGHTWEIGHT 

Champion: Ilia Topuria

1. Arman Tsarukyan2. Charles Oliveira3. Max Holloway4. Justin Gaethje5. Paddy Pimblett6. Dan Hooker7. Mateusz Gamrot8. Benoit Saint Denis9. Rafael Fiziev10. Renato Moicano11. Michael Chandler12. Beneil Dariush13. Grant Dawson14. Mauricio Ruffy15. Ignacio Bahamondes

WELTERWEIGHT 

Champion: Islam Makhachev

1. Jack Della Maddalena2. Ian Machado Garry +43. Shavkat Rakhmonov +14. Michael Morales -15. Belal Muhammed -36. Carlos Prates -17. Sean Brady8. Kamaru Usman9. Leon Edwards10. Joaquin Buckley11. Gabriel Bonfim12. Gilbert Burns13. Colby Covington14. Geoff Neal15. Daniel Rodriguez

MIDDLEWEIGHT 

Champion: Khamzat Chimaev

1. Dricus Du Plessis2. Nassourdine Imavov3. Sean Strickland4. Anthony Hernandez5. Brendan Allen6. Israel Adesanya7. Caio Borralho8. Reinier De Ridder9. Robert Whittaker10. (T) Michael Page10. (T) Jared Cannonier12. Roman Dolidze13. Paulo Costa14. Marvin Vettori15. Gregory Rodrigues

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT 

Champion: Alex Pereira

1. (T) Magomed Ankalaev1. (T) Jiri Prochazka3. Carlos Ulberg4. Khalil Rountree5. Jan Blachowicz6. Jamahal Hill7. Azamat Murzakanov8. Dominick Reyes9. Volkan Oezdemir10. Aleksandar Rakic11. Bogdan Guskov12. Johnny Walker13. Nikita Krylov14. Zhang Mingyang +115. Alonzo Menifield -1

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Tom Aspinall

1. Ciryl Gane2. Alexander Volkov3. Sergei Pavlovich4. Curtis Blaydes5. Waldo Cortes Acosta +16. Jailton Almeida -17. Serghei Spivac8. Derrick Lewis9. Marcin Tybura10. Ante Delija11. Shamil Gaziev12. Tai Tuivasa13. Mick Parkin14. Valter Walker15. Tallison Teixeira

WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Valentina Shevchenko2. Kayla Harrison3. Zhang Weili4. Natalia Silva5. Mackenzie Dern6. Manon Fiorot7. Erin Blanchfield8. Julianna Pena +19. Alexa Grasso -110. Virna Jandiroba11. Raquel Pennington12. Tatiana Suarez13. Rose Namajunas14. Yan Xiaonan15. Norma Dumont

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT 

Champion: Mackenzie Dern

1. Zhang Weili +12. Tatiana Suarez -13. Virna Jandiroba4. Yan Xiaonan5. Amanda Lemos6. Loopy Godinez7. Iasmin Lucindo8. Tabatha Ricci9. Jessica Andrade10. Gillian Robertson11. Amanda Ribas12. Fatima Klein13. Denise Gomes14. Angela Hill15. Alexia Thainara

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT 

Champion: Valentina Shevchenko

1. Manon Fiorot2. Natalia Silva3. Alexa Grasso4. Erin Blanchfield5. Maycee Barber6. Rose Namajunas7. Jasmine Jasudavicius8. Tracy Cortez9. Karine Silva10. Miranda Maverick11. Casey O’Neill12. Wang Cong13. Eduarda Moura14. JJ Aldrich15. Gabriella Fernandes

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Kayla Harrison

1. Julianna Pena2. Raquel Pennington3. Norma Dumont4. Ketlen Vieira5. Yana Santos6. Irene Aldana7. Macy Chiasson8. Ailin Perez9. Karol Rosa10. Jacqueline Cavalcanti11. Mayra Bueno Silva12. Nora Cornolle13. Miesha Tate14. Joselyne Edwards15. Luana Santos

You can expect these rankings to change in roughly two weeks, particularly in the bantamweight division, following the UFC 323: “Merab vs. Yan 2” pay-per-view (PPV) mixed martial arts (MMA) event on ESPN+, scheduled for Sat., Dec. 6, 2025 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.