Are ex-champs Sean O'Malley, Alexa Grasso still top-10 fighters?
When a champion is dethroned, it always shakes up the rankings. When two champs go down on the same night, look out below.
That was the case over the weekend at UFC 306, where both the men’s bantamweight and women’s flyweight divisions saw new champs crowned.
Saturday’s main event at Sphere in Las Vegas provided the most volatile repercussion, as one of the biggest stars in MMA, Sean O’Malley, was dominated on his way to losing the 135-pound title to Merab Dvalishvili. As a result, Dvalishvili makes his debut in the ESPN pound-for-pound men’s rankings at No. 6, and O’Malley, who previously was ranked fourth, drops out of the top 10 altogether.
The women’s rankings produced a smaller shift. Valentina Shevchenko moves up one spot to No. 2 after putting on a commanding performance to take back the flyweight title from Alexa Grasso, who drops to third in the rankings.
Why just a small descent for Grasso but a free fall for O’Malley, after both took a beating? Grasso lost to a fighter who was just one rung lower than her in the top three, while O’Malley fell to an unranked opponent.
For the ESPN divisional MMA rankings, click here.
Note: Results are current; rankings as of Sept. 17. 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: 26-1
Last: W (Sub5) vs. Dustin Poirier, June 1, 2024
Next: TBD
2. Alex Pereira 
UFC light heavyweight champion
Record: 11-2
Last: W (TKO2) vs. Jirí Procházka, June 29, 2024
Next: Oct. 5 vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.
3. Ilia Topuria
UFC featherweight champion
Record: 15-0
Last: W (KO2) vs. Alexander Volkanovski, Feb. 17, 2024
Next: Oct. 26 vs. Max Holloway
UFC flyweight champion
Previous ranking: 6
Record: 28-5
Last: W (UD) vs. Steve Erceg, May 4, 2024
Next: TBD
5. Tom Aspinall
UFC heavyweight interim champion
Record: 15-3
Last: W (TKO1) vs. Curtis Blaydes, July 27, 2024
Next: TBD
UFC bantamweight champion
Previous ranking: Unranked
Record: 18-4
Last: W (UD) vs. Sean O’Malley, Sept.14, 2024
Next: TBD
UFC welterweight champion
Previous ranking: 8
Record: 24-3, 1 NC
Last: W (UD) vs. Leon Edwards, July 27, 2024
Next: TBD
UFC featherweight
Previous ranking: 7
Record: 26-4
Last: L (KO2) vs. Ilia Topuria, Feb. 17, 2024
Next: TBD
UFC middleweight champion
Record: 22-2
Last: W (Sub4) vs. Israel Adesanya, Aug.17, 2024
Next: TBD
10. Max Holloway 
UFC featherweight
Previous ranking: Tied for 9
Record: 26-7
Last: W (KO5) vs. Justin Gaethje, April 13, 2024
Next: Oct. 26 vs. Ilia Topuria
Other fighters receiving votes: Leon Edwards, Sean O’Malley and Sean Strickland.
How our panel voted
Brett Okamoto: 1. Islam Makhachev; 2. Alex Pereira; 3. Ilia Topuria; 4. Tom Aspinall; 5. Alexandre Pantoja; 6. Belal Muhammad; 7. Merab Dvalishvili; 8. Alexander Volkanovski; 9. Max Holloway; 10. Dricus Du Plessis.
Andreas Hale: 1. Makhachev; 2. Pereira; 3. Topuria; 4. Aspinall; 5. Dvalishvili; 6. Muhammad; 7. Pantoja; 8. Volkanovski; 9. Holloway; 10. Du Plessis.
Megan Anderson: 1. Makhachev; 2. Pereira; 3. Aspinall; 4. Topuria; 5. Volkanovski; 6. Du Plessis; 7. Pantoja; 8. Muhammad; 9. Dvalishvili; 10. Sean O’Malley.
Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Makhachev; 2. Pereira; 3. Topuria; 4. Du Plessis; 5. Pantoja; 6. Dvalishvili; 7. Muhammad; 8. Aspinall; 9. O’Malley; 10. Leon Edwards.
Ian Parker: 1. Pereira; 2. Makhachev; 3. Topuria; 4. Dvalishvili; 5. Holloway; 6. Du Plessis; 7. Pantoja; 8. Muhammad; 9. Aspinall; 10. Sean Strickland.
Eddie Maisonet III: 1. Makhachev; 2. Pereira; 3. Pantoja; 4. Volkanovski; 5. Topuria; 6. Muhammad; 7. Edwards; 8. Holloway; 9. Aspinall; 10. O’Malley.
Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Pereira; 2. Makhachev; 3. Topuria; 4. Aspinall; 5. Pantoja; 6. Dvalishvili; 7. Holloway; 8. Volkanovski; 9. Muhammad; 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
UFC flyweight champion
Previous ranking: 3
Record: 23-4-1
Last: W (UD) vs. Alexa Grasso, Sept. 14, 2024
Next: TBD
3. Alexa Grasso
UFC flyweight
Previous ranking: 2
Record: 16-4-1
Last: L (UD) vs. Valentina Shevchenko, Sept. 14, 2024
Next: TBD
4. Cris Cyborg
Bellator featherweight champion
Record: 27-2, 1 NC
Last: W (TKO1) vs. Cat Zingano, Oct. 7, 2023
Next: Oct. 19 vs. Larissa Pacheco
5. Manon Fiorot
UFC flyweight
Record: 12-1
Last: W (UD) vs. Erin Blanchfield, March 30, 2024
Next: TBD
UFC bantamweight
Previous ranking: Tied for 5
Record: 17-1
Last: W (Sub2) vs. Holly Holm, April 13, 2024
Next: Oct. 5 vs. Ketlen Vieira
UFC bantamweight champion
Record: 16-8
Last: W (UD) vs. Mayra Bueno Silva, Jan. 20, 2024
Next: Oct. 5 vs. Julianna Peña
PFL featherweight champion
Record: 23-4
Last: W (UD) vs. Marina Mokhnatkina, Nov. 24, 2023
Next: Oct. 19 vs. Cris Cyborg
UFC flyweight
Record: 12-2
Last: L (UD) vs. Manon Fiorot, March 30, 2024
Next: Nov. 2 vs. Rose Namajunas
10. Yan Xiaonan
UFC strawweight
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. Valentina Shevchenko; 3. Alexa Grasso; 4. Manon Fiorot; 5. Cris Cyborg. 6. Rose Namajunas; 7. Erin Blanchfield; 8. Kayla Harrison; 9. Larissa Pacheco; 10. Yan Xiaonan.
Andreas Hale: 1. Zhang; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Grasso; 4. Cyborg; 5. Fiorot; 6. Harrison; 7. Raquel Pennington; 8. Pacheco; 9. Namajunas; 10. Blanchfield.
Megan Anderson: 1. Zhang; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Cyborg; 4. Grasso; 5. Fiorot; 6. Pennington; 7. Harrison; 8. Yan; 9. Blanchfield; 10. Julianna Peña.
Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Shevchenko; 2. Zhang; 3. Grasso; 4. Harrison; 5. Cyborg; 6. Pennington; 7. Pacheco; 8. Fiorot; 9. Blanchfield; 10. Namajunas.
Ian Parker: 1. Zhang; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Cyborg; 4. Harrison; 5. Grasso; 6. Yan; 7. Pennington; 8. Pacheco; 9. Fiorot; 10. Namajunas.
Eddie Maisonet III: 1. Zhang; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Grasso; 4. Pacheco; 5. Cyborg; 6. Harrison; 7. Fiorot; 8. Blanchfield; 9. Amanda Lemos; 10. Seika Izawa.
Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Zhang; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Cyborg; 4. Fiorot; 5. Grasso; 6. Pennington; 7. Yan; 8. Harrison; 9. Blanchfield; 10. Izawa.
