MMA pound-for-pound rankings: Where do Edwards and Pantoja rank after wins?
Leon Edwards and Alexandre Pantoja secured dominant wins in their title defenses on Saturday night, but the wins weren’t enough to cause a major shake-up in ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Edwards and Pantoja controlled their title challengers — Colby Covington and Brandon Royval, respectively — as both champions earned unanimous decision victories. Edwards used his takedown defense to stuff eight of Covington’s 10 takedown attempts and keep the fight where he is most dangerous, on the feet. Meanwhile, Pantoja used his wrestling and grappling to dictate the fight against Royval, continually forcing the challenger to fight off his back.
Despite the one-sided victory, Edwards stood pat at the No. 4 spot. Pantoja’s win bumped him up two spots over Israel Adesanya and Sean O’Malley to No. 7. UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira claimed sole possession of the No. 5 spot; previously he was tied with Charles Oliveira.
There was also some movement at the bottom of the women’s P4P rankings, as PFL featherweight champion Larissa Pacheco claimed sole possession of the No. 8 spot. Pacheco was previously tied with fellow PFL fighter Kayla Harrison. Harrison dropped one spot and is now tied with Manon Fiorot at No. 9.
For the ESPN divisional MMA rankings, click here.
Note: Results are current; rankings as of Dec. 19. 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
UFC lightweight champion
Record: 25-1
Last: W (KO1) vs. Alexander Volkanovski, Oct. 21, 2023
Next: TBD
2. Jon Jones 
UFC heavyweight champion
Record: 27-1, 1 NC
Last: W (Sub1) vs. Ciryl Gane, March 4, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC featherweight champion
Record: 26-3
Last: L (KO1) vs. Islam Makhachev, Oct. 21, 2023
Next: Feb. 17 vs. Ilia Topuria
4. Leon Edwards
UFC welterweight champion
Record: 22-3, 1 NC
Last: W (UD) vs Colby Covington, Dec. 16, 2023
Next: TBD
5. Alex Pereira
UFC light heavyweight champion
Record: 9-2
Last: W (TKO2) vs. Jirí Procházka, Nov. 11, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC lightweight
Previous ranking: Tied for 5
Record: 34-9, 1 NC
Last: W (TKO1) vs. Beneil Dariush, June 10, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC flyweight champion
Previous ranking: 9
Record: 27-5
Last: W (UD) vs. Brandon Royval, Dec. 16, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC middleweight
Previous ranking: 7
Record: 24-3
Last: L (UD) vs. Sean Strickland, Sept. 9, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC bantamweight champion
Previous ranking: 8
Record: 17-1, 1 NC
Last: W (TKO2) vs. Aljamain Sterling, Aug. 19, 2023
Next: March 9 vs. Marlon Vera
UFC bantamweight
Previous ranking: Unranked
Record: 23-4
Last: L (TKO2) vs. Sean O’Malley, Aug. 19, 2023
Next: TBD
Other fighters receiving votes: Sean Strickland, Kamaru Usman, Aljamain Sterling, Khamzat Chimaev, Max Holloway, Demetrious Johnson, Justin Gaethje and Brandon Moreno.
How our panel voted
Brett Okamoto: 1. Islam Makhachev; 2. Alexander Volkanovski; 3. Leon Edwards; 4. Jon Jones; 5. Israel Adesanya; 6. Alex Pereira; 7. Alexandre Pantoja; 8. Charles Oliveira; 9. Max Holloway; 10. Brandon Moreno.
Marc Raimondi: 1. Makhachev; 2. Jones; 3. Edwards; 4. Volkanovski; 5. Oliveira; 6. Pereira; 7. Pantoja; 8. Sean O’Malley; 9. Sean Strickland; 10. Adesanya.
Megan Anderson: 1. Makhachev; 2. Jones; 3. Volkanovski; 4. Edwards; 5. Pereira; 6. Oliveira; 7. Adesanya; 8. Kamaru Usman; 9. Aljamain Sterling; 10. O’Malley.
Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Makhachev; 2. Jones; 3. Volkanovski; 4. Edwards; 5. Pereira; 6. Adesanya; 7. O’Malley; 8. Strickland; 9. Pantoja; 10. Oliveira.
Ian Parker: 1. Jones; 2. Makhachev; 3. Volkanovski; 4. Pereira; 5. Edwards; 6. O’Malley; 7. Pantoja; 8. Strickland; 9. Demetrious Johnson; 10. Khamzat Chimaev.
Eddie Maisonet III: 1. Makhachev; 2. Volkanovski; 3. Jones; 4. Edwards; 5. Pantoja; 6. Oliveira; 7. Adesanya; 8. Chimaev; 9. Pereira; 10. Usman.
Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Makhachev; 2. Jones; 3. Volkanovski; 4. Edwards; 5. Oliveira; 6. O’Malley; 7. Pantoja; 8. Pereira; 9. Sterling; 10. Justin Gaethje.
1. Zhang Weili
UFC strawweight champion
Record: 24-3
Last: W (UD) vs. Amanda Lemos, Aug. 19, 2023
Next: TBD
2. Alexa Grasso
UFC flyweight champion
Record: 16-3-1
Last: Split draw vs. Valentina Shevchenko, Sept. 16, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC flyweight
Record: 22-4-1
Last: Split draw vs. Alexa Grasso, Sept. 16, 2023
Next: TBD
4. Cris Cyborg
Bellator featherweight champion
Record: 27-2, 1 NC
Last: W (TKO1) vs. Cat Zingano, Oct. 7, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC flyweight
Record: 12-1
Last: W (UD) vs. Taila Santos, Aug. 26, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC strawweight
Record: 10-0
Last: W (Sub2) vs. Jessica Andrade, Aug. 5, 2023
Next: TBD
7. Yan Xiaonan
UFC strawweight
Record: 17-3
Last: W (KO1) vs. Jessica Andrade, May 6, 2023
Next: TBD
PFL featherweight champion
Record: 23-4
Last: W (UD) vs. Marina Mokhnatkina, Nov. 24, 2023
Next: TBD
T-9. Kayla Harrison 
PFL featherweight
Previous ranking: Tied for 8
Record: 16-1
Last: L (UD) vs. Aspen Ladd, Nov. 24, 2023
Next: TBD
T-9. Manon Fiorot 
UFC flyweight
Previous ranking: 10
Record: 11-1
Last: W (UD) vs. Rose Namajunas, Sept. 2, 2023
Next: TBD
Other fighters receiving votes: Seika Izawa, Raquel Pennington, Liz Carmouche, Amanda Lemos, Rose Namajunas and Julianna Peña.
How our panel voted
Brett Okamoto: 1. Zhang Weili; 2. Alexa Grasso; 3. Valentina Shevchenko; 4. Cris Cyborg. 5. Erin Blanchfield; 6. Tatiana Suarez; 7. Manon Fiorot; 8. Rose Namajunas; 9. Kayla Harrison; 10. Yan Xiaonan.
Marc Raimondi: 1. Zhang; 2. Cyborg; 3. Shevchenko; 4. Grasso; 5. Blanchfield; 6. Yan; 7. Seika Izawa; 8. Suarez; 9. Fiorot; 10. Raquel Pennington.
Megan Anderson: 1. Zhang; 2. Grasso; 3. Shevchenko; 4. Cyborg; 5. Blanchfield; 6. Yan; 7. Pennington; 8. Fiorot; 9. Suarez; 10. Julianna Peña.
Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Zhang; 2. Grasso; 3. Shevchenko; 4. Cyborg; 5. Kayla Harrison; 6. Blanchfield; 7. Larissa Pacheco; 8. Yan; 9. Suarez; 10. Liz Carmouche.
Ian Parker: 1. Zhang; 2. Grasso; 3. Shevchenko; 4. Cyborg; 5. Blanchfield; 6. Suarez; 7. Pacheco; 8. Fiorot; 9. Harrison; 10. Namajunas.
Eddie Maisonet III: 1. Zhang; 2. Grasso; 3. Shevchenko; 4. Blanchfield; 5. Larissa Pacheco; 6. Cyborg; 7. Amanda Lemos; 8. Harrison; 9. Izawa; 10. Carmouche.
Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Zhang; 2. Grasso; 3. Cyborg; 4. Shevchenko; 5. Blanchfield; 6. Yan; 7. Izawa; 8. Suarez; 9. Pennington; 10. Fiorot.
