Pound for pound: Sterling takes another step up in the men's top 10
Aljamain Sterling keeps proving his doubters wrong.
Entering last Saturday’s UFC 288 main event, the men’s bantamweight champion was a slight underdog to Henry Cejudo, who had not fought in the Octagon in nearly three years. In a back-and-forth fight, Sterling managed to get a split decision win over Cejudo in his UFC return.
Since winning the title via disqualification against Petr Yan in 2021, Sterling has successfully defended the title against three fighters who have held the same belt at some point: Yan at UFC 273, TJ Dillashaw at UFC 280 and now Cejudo. But where does the win put him in the pound-for-pound rankings?
“Sterling cannot be overlooked any longer. He’s a top-five pound-for-pound fighter in the world,” ESPN MMA writer Marc Raimondi said. “He has the most wins in UFC bantamweight history (14), the longest winning streak in bantamweight history (9) and the most consecutive title defenses ever in the division (3). Given that 135 might be the toughest weight class in the sport, Sterling has to be given credit for what he has done, even if he has had some funky circumstances. Pun intended.”
With the win, Sterling jumps up two spots in the rankings.
There was also some movement in the women’s rankings following another tough loss for Jessica Andrade. Andrade, who was coming off a submission loss to Erin Blanchfield in February, lost via first-round knockout to rising contender Yan Xiaonan on Saturday night. And Cris Cyborg has been removed from the rankings due to inactivity.
For the ESPN divisional MMA rankings, click here.
Note: Results are current; rankings as of May 9. In order to be eligible for the rankings, a fighter must have competed over the past 12 months or must have an upcoming fight booked. Fighters who have been dropped for inactivity can be reinstated only after they compete.
Men’s pound-for-pound rankings
T-1. Islam Makhachev 
UFC lightweight champion
Record: 24-1
Last: W (UD) Alexander Volkanovski, Feb. 11, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC featherweight champion
Record: 25-2
Last: L (UD) Islam Makhachev, Feb. 11, 2023
Next: July 8 vs. Yair Rodriguez
3. Jon Jones
UFC heavyweight champion
Record: 27-1, 1 NC
Last: W (Sub1) Ciryl Gane, March 4, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC middleweight champion
Previous ranking: 5
Record: 24-2
Last: W (TKO2) Alex Pereira, April 8, 2023
Next: TBD
5. Leon Edwards
UFC welterweight champion
Previous ranking: 4
Record: 21-3, 1 NC
Last: W (MD) Kamaru Usman, March 18, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC lightweight
Record: 33-9, 1 NC
Last: L (Sub2) Islam Makhachev, Oct. 22, 2022
Next: June 10 vs. Beneil Dariush
UFC bantamweight champion
Previous ranking: Tied for 8
Record: 22-3
Last: W (SD) Henry Cejudo, May 6, 2022
Next: TBD
8. Kamaru Usman 
UFC welterweight
Record: 20-3
Last: L (MD) Leon Edwards, March 18, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC flyweight champion
Record: 21-6-2
Last: W (TKO3) Deiveson Figueiredo, Jan. 21, 2023
Next: July 8 vs. Alexandre Pantoja
10. Robert Whittaker
UFC middleweight
Record: 24-6
Last: W (UD) Marvin Vettori, Sept. 3, 2022
Next: July 8 vs. Dricus Du Plessis
Other fighters receiving votes: Dustin Poirier, Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka.
How our panel voted
Brett Okamoto: 1. Islam Makhachev; 2. Alexander Volkanovski; 3. Jon Jones; 4. Israel Adesanya; 5. Leon Edwards; 6. Aljamain Sterling; 7. Robert Whittaker; 8. Charles Oliveira; 9. Brandon Moreno; 10. Kamaru Usman.
Marc Raimondi: 1. Jones; 2. Makhachev; 3. Volkanovski; 4. Adesanya; 5. Sterling; 6. Edwards; 7. Oliveira; 8. Moreno; 9. Usman; 10. Prochazka.
Megan Anderson: 1. Jones; 2. Volkanovski; 3. Makhachev; 4. Adesanya; 5. Edwards; 6. Oliveira; 7. Usman; 8. Whittaker; 9. Moreno; 10. Sterling.
Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Volkanovski; 2. Makhachev; 3. Jones; 4. Adesanya; 5. Edwards; 6. Oliveira; 7. Usman; 8. Moreno; 9. Sterling; 10. Pereira.
Eddie Maisonet III: 1. Volkanovski; 2. Makhachev; 3. Adesanya; 4. Jones; 5. Sterling; 6. Oliveira; 7. Edwards; 8. Dustin Poirier; 9. Usman; 10. Moreno.
Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Makhachev; 2. Volkanovski; 3. Jones; 4. Adesanya; 5. Edwards; 6. Sterling; 7. Oliveira; 8. Usman; 9. Moreno; 10. Prochazka.
1. Amanda Nunes
UFC bantamweight and featherweight champion
Record: 22-5
Last: W (UD) Julianna Peña, July 30, 2022
Next: June 10 vs. Irene Aldana
2. Zhang Weili
UFC strawweight champion
Record: 23-3
Last: W (Sub2) Carla Esparza, Nov. 12, 2022
Next: TBD
UFC flyweight
Record: 22-4
Last: L (Sub4) Alexa Grasso, March 4, 2023
Next: TBD
4. Alexa Grasso 
UFC flyweight champion
Record: 16-3
Last: W (Sub4) Valentina Shevchenko, March 4, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC bantamweight
Record: 11-5
Last: L (UD) Amanda Nunes, July 30, 2022
Next: TBD
UFC strawweight
Record: 11-5
Last: L (SD) Carla Esparza, May 7, 2022
Next: TBD
UFC flyweight
Record: 11-1
Last: W (Sub2) Jessica Andrade, Feb. 18, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC strawweight
Record: 19-7
Last: L (Sub2) Zhang Weili, Nov. 12, 2022
Next: TBD
PFL lightweight champion
Record: 15-1
Last: L (UD) Larissa Pacheco, Nov. 25, 2022
Next: TBD
10. Yan Xiaonan
UFC strawweight
Record: 17-3
Last: W (KO1) Jessica Andrade, May 6, 2023
Next: TBD
Other fighters receiving votes: Andrade, Irene Aldana, Seika Izawa, Liz Carmouche, Amanda Lemos and Raquel Pennington.
How our panel voted
Brett Okamoto: 1. Amanda Nunes; 2. Valentina Shevchenko; 3. Zhang Weili; 4. Rose Namajunas; 5. Alexa Grasso; 6. Julianna Peña; 7. Kayla Harrison; 8. Erin Blanchfield; 9. Carla Esparza; 10. Jessica Andrade.
Marc Raimondi: 1. Nunes; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Zhang; 4. Grasso; 5. Peña; 6. Namajunas; 7. Blanchfield; 8. Esparza; 9. Yan Xiaonan; 10. Seika Izawa.
Megan Anderson: 1. Nunes; 2. Zhang; 3. Shevchenko; 4. Grasso; 5. Esparza; 6. Namajunas; 7. Blanchfield; 8. Yan; 9. Raquel Pennington; 10. Peña.
Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Nunes; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Zhang; 4. Grasso; 5. Peña; 6. Harrison; 7. Esparza; 8. Blanchfield; 10. Yan.
Eddie Maisonet III: 1. Nunes; 2. Zhang; 3. Grasso; 4. Shevchenko; 5. Peña; 6. Blanchfield; 7. Namajunas; 8. Amanda Lemos; 9. Larissa Pacheco; 10. Harrison.
Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Nunes; 2. Zhang; 3. Shevchenko; 4. Grasso; 5. Peña; 6. Blanchfield; 7. Esparza; 8. Namajunas; 9. Liz Carmouche; 10. Lemos.
