UFC Rankings Report | Week Of January 22, 2024

Check Out Which Fighters Moved Up And Down In The Latest Edition Of The UFC Rankings

By Gavin Porter • Jan. 23, 2024

The latest updates to the UFC rankings across all division are here after the worldwide leader in mixed martial arts went to Toronto, Ontario, Canada for UFC 297: Strickland vs Du Plessis.

Six divisions – featherweight, welterweight, middleweight, strawweight, women’s flyweight, and women’s bantamweight – saw movement, along with both the men’s and women’s pound-for-pound lists.

Men’s Pound-For-Pound

Dricus Du Plessis of South Africa reacts after his victory against Sean Strickland in a UFC middleweight championship bout during the UFC 297 event at Scotiabank Arena on January 20, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

Newly crowned UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis has made his debut in the men’s pound-for-pound rankings after defeating Sean Strickland by split decision. The South African champion comes into the rankings at No. 8, just ahead of flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja.

All non-champions moved down a ranking, with Strickland falling to No. 11.

Women’s Pound-For-Pound

Raquel Pennington reacts after her victory against Mayra Bueno Silva of Brazil in a UFC bantamweight championship bout during the UFC 297 event at Scotiabank Arena on January 20, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

New women’s bantamweight champion Raquel Pennington was already in the pound-for-pound rankings, but her dominant win over Mayra Bueno Silva helped her jump five rungs to No. 7, while Bueno Silva landed at No. 15.

Flyweight contender Erin Blanchfield swapped spots with former bantamweight champion Julianna Peña, putting each contender at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. The same thing happened to round out the top 10, as Tatiana Suarez moved ahead of Yan Xiaonan.

Amanda Lemos, Ketlen Vieira, Irene Aldana all moved up one position to fill out spots 12 to 14.

Featherweight

Movsar Evloev of Russia reacts after his victory against Arnold Allen of England in a featherweight bout during the UFC 297 event at Scotiabank Arena on January 20, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

At UFC 297, Movsar Evloev defeated Arnold Allen by unanimous decision. The victory moved the undefeated 145-pound contender up to No. 5 and pushed Arnold Allen to No. 6.

UFC 298 title challenger Ilia Topuria climbed two places to No. 3, moving him ahead of Brian Ortega. With Evloev moving up, Josh Emmett, Calvin Kattar, and Giga Chikadze all dropped a spot.

Welterweight

The leader for all-time welterweight victories added another one at UFC 297. Neil Magny’s final round push to defeat Mike Malott was impressive and earned him the nod to move to No. 12 in the rankings ahead of Kevin Holland.

Middleweight

Dricus du Plessis ergue o cinturão peso-médio do UFC após a vitória sobre Sean Strickland no UFC 297. (Foto por Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)

For the fourth straight time, the challenger has defeated the champion at middleweight. Dricus Du Plessis is the new UFC middleweight champion, and he moves into the champ slot. Former champions Sean Strickland and Israel Adesanya come in at No. 1 and No. 2.

Chris Curtis put a wicked rough 2023 behind him and started 2024 off with a victory and moved up to No. 13 ahead of No. 14 Anthony Hernandez.

Strawweight

The departure from the rankings of two-time champion Carla Esparza allowed each fighter other than current champ Zhang Weili to move up a position in the rankings, with UFC 297 winner Gillian Robertson filling out the rankings at No. 15.

Women’s Flyweight

After a record-setting performance at UFC 297, Jasmine Jasudavicius was rewarded with a spot in the rankings. Jasudavicius now sits at No 15 in the 125-pound pecking order.

Women’s Bantamweight

The title is vacant no more. The 135-pound division now runs through Raquel Pennington. With Pennington moving into the champion’s spot in the rankings, nearly every fighter moved up – aside from No. 1 contender Julianna Peña, No. 9 ranked Karol Rosa, and No. 10 ranked Macy Chiasson. Newly ranked Melissa Dixon filled into the No. 15 position.