Pound for pound: Max Holloway moves in, Kayla Harrison moves up
The stunning results at UFC 300 on Saturday brought out some animated reactions from fans and fighters alike. And some of those fight outcomes also brought about a shakeup in the ESPN pound-for-pound MMA rankings.
Max Holloway moves into the men’s top 10 on the strength of his extraordinary last-second knockout of Justin Gaethje in the BMF title fight. The top five of those rankings remains intact, although light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira inched closer to moving up from No. 3 after a first-round knockout of his challenger, former champ Jamahal Hill. Another former UFC champ who lost Saturday, lightweight Charles Oliveira, dropped out of the rankings.
In the women’s rankings, Kayla Harrison was already in the top 10, but after putting on a dominant performance against former bantamweight champion Holly Holm in her UFC debut — which also was Harrison’s debut as a 135-pounder — she now is ranked in the top five. Manon Fiorot is a new addition to those rankings, based on her March 30 victory over top-10 flyweight Erin Blanchfield.
One other change in these rankings is in the voting panel: Andreas Hale has joined our combat sports team, while Marc Raimondi has moved on to cover the NFL for ESPN.
For the ESPN divisional MMA rankings, click here.
Note: Results are current; rankings as of April 16. 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: June 1 vs. Dustin Poirier
2. Leon Edwards 
UFC welterweight champion
Record: 22-3, 1 NC
Last: W (UD) vs Colby Covington, Dec. 16, 2023
Next: TBD
3. Alex Pereira
UFC light heavyweight champion
Record: 10-2
Last: W (KO1) vs. Jamahal Hill, April 13, 2024
Next: TBD
4. Ilia Topuria
UFC featherweight champion
Record: 15-0
Last: W (KO2) vs. Alexander Volkanovski, Feb. 17, 2024
Next: TBD
UFC bantamweight champion
Record: 18-1, 1 NC
Last: W (UD) vs. Marlon Vera, March 9, 2024
Next: TBD
UFC flyweight champion
Previous ranking: 7
Record: 27-5
Last: W (UD) vs. Brandon Royval, Dec. 16, 2023
Next: May 4 vs. Steve Erceg
UFC featherweight
Previous ranking: 8
Record: 26-4
Last: L (KO2) vs. Ilia Topuria, Feb. 17, 2024
Next: TBD
UFC middleweight
Previous ranking: 9
Record: 24-3
Last: L (UD) vs. Sean Strickland, Sept. 9, 2023
Next: TBD
9. Max Holloway 
UFC featherweight
Previous ranking: Unranked
Record: 26-7
Last: W (KO5) vs. Justin Gaethje, April 13, 2024
Next: TBD
UFC middleweight champion
Record: 21-2
Last: W (SD) vs. Sean Strickland, Jan. 20, 2024
Next: TBD
Other fighters receiving votes: Demetrious Johnson, Merab Dvalishvili and Aljamain Sterling.
How our panel voted
Brett Okamoto: 1. Islam Makhachev; 2. Leon Edwards; 3. Alex Pereira; 4. Israel Adesanya; 5. Ilia Topuria; 6. Alexandre Pantoja; 7. Sean O’Malley; 8. Alexander Volkanovski; 9. Max Holloway; 10. Aljamain Sterling.
Andreas Hale: 1. Makhachev; 2. Pereira; 3. Edwards; 4. Topuria; 5. O’Malley; 6. Pantoja; 7. Volkanovski; 8. Holloway; 9. Adesanya; 10. Dricus Du Plessis.
Megan Anderson: 1. Makhachev; 2. Edwards; 3. Pereira; 4. O’Malley; 5. Volkanovski; 6. Topuria; 7. Holloway; 8. Du Plessis; 9. Adesanya; 10. Pantoja.
Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Makhachev; 2. Edwards; 3. Pereira; 4. Topuria; 5. O’Malley; 6. Adesanya; 7. Volkanovski; 8. Pantoja; 9. Du Plessis; 10. Holloway.
Ian Parker: 1. Makhachev; 2. Pereira; 3. Topuria; 4. Edwards; 5. O’Malley; 6. Holloway; 7. Du Plessis; 8. Demetrious Johnson; 9. Pantoja; 10. Adesanya.
Eddie Maisonet III: 1. Makhachev; 2. Edwards; 3. Pantoja; 4. Adesanya; 5. Pereira; 6. Volkanovski; 7. Topuria; 8. O’Malley; 9. Holloway; 10. Du Plessis.
Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Makhachev; 2. Pereira; 3. Edwards; 4. Topuria; 5. Holloway; 6. O’Malley; 7. Pantoja; 8. Volkanovski; 9. Merab Dvalishvili; 10. Du Plessis.
Women’s pound-for-pound rankings
1. Zhang Weili
UFC strawweight champion
Record: 25-3
Last: W (UD) vs. Yan Xiaonan, April 13, 2024
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 bantamweight
Previous ranking: Tied for 9th
Record: 17-1
Last: W (Sub2) vs. Holly Holm, April 13, 2024
Next: TBD
6. Manon Fiorot
UFC flyweight
Previous ranking: Unranked
Record: 12-1
Last: W (UD) vs. Erin Blanchfield, March 30, 2024
Next: TBD
UFC bantamweight champion
Previous ranking: 8
Record: 16-8
Last: W (UD) vs. Mayra Bueno Silva, Jan. 20, 2024
Next: TBD
T-8. Erin Blanchfield 
UFC flyweight
Previous ranking: 5
Record: 12-2
Last: L (UD) vs. Manon Fiorot, March 30, 2024
Next: TBD
T-8. Larissa Pacheco
PFL featherweight champion
Previous ranking: Tied for 9th
Record: 23-4
Last: W (UD) vs. Marina Mokhnatkina, Nov. 24, 2023
Next: TBD
T-10. Tatiana Suarez
UFC strawweight
Previous ranking: 7
Record: 10-0
Last: W (Sub2) vs. Jessica Andrade, Aug. 5, 2023
Next: TBD
T-10. Yan Xiaonan
UFC strawweight
Previous ranking: 6
Record: 17-4, 1 NC
Last: L (UD) vs. Zhang Weili, April 13, 2024
Next: TBD
Other fighters receiving votes: Rose Namajunas, Seika Izawa, Amanda Lemos and Julianna Peña.
How our panel voted
Brett Okamoto: 1. Zhang Weili; 2. Alexa Grasso; 3. Valentina Shevchenko; 4. Manon Fiorot; 5. Cris Cyborg. 6. Tatiana Suarez; 7. Rose Namajunas; 8. Erin Blanchfield; 9. Kayla Harrison; 10. Larissa Pacheco.
Andreas Hale: 1. Zhang; 2. Grasso; 3. Shevchenko; 4. Cyborg; 5. Fiorot; 6. Harrison; 7. Suarez; 8. Raquel Pennington; 9. Pacheco; 10. Namajunas.
Megan Anderson: 1. Zhang; 2. Grasso; 3. Shevchenko; 4. Cyborg; 5. Fiorot; 6. Pennington; 7. Harrison; 8. Yan Xiaonan; 9. Blanchfield; 10. Julianna Peña.
Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Zhang; 2. Grasso; 3. Harrison; 4. Shevchenko; 5. Cyborg; 6. Pennington; 7. Blanchfield; 8. Pacheco; 9. Yan; 10. Suarez.
Ian Parker: 1. Zhang; 2. Grasso; 3. Shevchenko; 4. Cyborg; 5. Harrison; 6. Yan; 7. Suarez; 8. Pennington; 9. Pacheco; 10. Fiorot.
Eddie Maisonet III: 1. Zhang; 2. Grasso; 3. Shevchenko; 4. Pacheco; 5. Cyborg; 6. Harrison; 7. Fiorot; 8. Blanchfield; 9. Amanda Lemos; 10. Seika Izawa.
Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Zhang; 2. Grasso; 3. Cyborg; 4. Shevchenko; 5. Fiorot; 6. Harrison; 7. Yan; 8. Blanchfield; 9. Izawa; 10. Pennington.
