Have to have fought in last 3 years to be ranked.
-
1
- Alexandre Pantoja
- "The Cannibal"
- 27-5-0
-
1990 - Brazil - UFC Champion
Now firmly established as the man in the UFC, having picked up further wins over Moreno and Royval. Proved he can fight in tough affairs for 5 rounds and maintain the pace and take his opportunites to get an advantage when they arise. One of the best back takers in the sport, a superb finisher from the back, good wrestler and carries power on the feet too.
-
2
- Kyoji Horiguchi
- 32-5-0, 1 NC
-
1990 - Japan - RIZIN Champion
So much better as a flyweight than a bantamweight and he's a pretty good bantamweight. Hadn't made the cut in a while but wasn't a problem against a top up and comer in Shinryu. Still looks fast at the weight and the leg kicks are there for him. Slight concern about losing back to someone like Pantoja if he ever comes back to the UFC but absolutely looks like he could be a potential champion there to me.
-
3
- Brandon Royval
- "Raw Dawg"
- 16-7-0
-
1992 - USA - UFC
Very impressive in upset win in the Battle of the Brandons. Just seemed to want it more and hung much better than I would have expected on the feet. Obviously a really good grappler and the recent proof that he can keep up the insane pace he sets over a full five is a problem for guys booked against him in longer fights.
-
4
- Brandon Moreno
- "The Assassin Baby"
- 21-8-2
-
1993 - Mexico - UFC
Former champ didn't look like he had the same desire as usual in the battle of the Brandons and then said he was taking a bit of time off. Maybe he's sick of constantly rematching the same people and struggled to get motivated, who knows? I think it's a bit soon to write him off as he could quite easily return to the pressuring monster that he was once he mentally resets himself.
-
5
- Askar Askarov
- "Bullet"
- 15-1-1
-
1992 - Russia - ACA
Strange that the UFC let him leave, especially now he's the last guy to have a good win over their champ. Great all round fighter, solid Dagi style stand up with the boxing and the spins and high quality wrestling and positional control. Decent workrate, decent pace. Only knock really is has trouble making 125 sometimes.
-
6
- Demetrious Johnson
- "Mighty Mouse"
- 25-4-1
-
1986 - USA - ONE Champion
Clearly lost a couple of steps since the UFC but remains a formidable opponent. Still fast, still a good technical striker and wrestler. Maintains top control well. Not sure how many more (if any) MMA fights he'll take though.
-
7
- Amir Albazi
- "The Prince"
- 17-1-0
-
1993 - Iraq - UFC
Slightly controversial win in step up against top ten competition against Kai but whoever you think should have won he showed he could hang at that level. Always seems to be hard at work improving in Vegas. Serviceable striking and very good top grappling and pace.
-
8
- Kai Kara-France
- "Don't Blink"
- 24-11-0, 1 NC
-
1993 - New Zealand - UFC
Very questionable loss to Albazi and only lost to top ranked guys like Moreno and Royval in the UFC outside of that. Really good, consistent striker who keeps good pace and good output. TDD and get ups are good enough that it's hard to hold him down too. Probably a bit underrated in general and a tough scrap for anyone.
-
9
- Muhammad Mokaev
- "The Punisher"
- 11-0-0, 1 NC
-
2000 - England - UFC
King of the intangibles and just super committed to the game. Does he win every second of his fights? No, but he's got insane cardio and desire, has shown a complete refusal to quit even in situations where it probably makes sense and is fighting all the way to come back and try and get the guy out of there. Probably even more of a problem in 5 round fights than he is in 3 round ones.
-
10
- Alex Perez
- 25-8-0
-
1992 - USA - UFC
Known as the king of pull outs but looked like he wanted to be there in the Mokaev fight and then turned things up against Nicolau. Nice and fast with high output, gets good pressure on, can mix leg kicks in if he wants and has good body work. Still looks like a contender.
-
11
- Manel Kape
- "Starboy" | 19-6-0
-
1993 - Portugal - UFC
When he actually makes weight/gets to the cage he's a good flyweight, but he doesn't seem to be able to do that consistently. Explosive dude with good power for 125, pretty solid TDD. Sometimes too low output which can cost him but a few fights since that's been a major issue now.
-
12
- Matheus Nicolau
- 19-4-1
-
1993 - Brazil - UFC
Very skilled but kind of low output on the feet a lot of the time. Tends to wait for the perfect opportuntity and although he has good power for the weight if it lands the right punch might not come against everyone. Solid grappler with decent back takes but hasn't really been a sub threat at the highest level. Will pick off a lot of guys on the counter, but has an issue with high level guys who bring the fight to him at pace and are a bit harder to land counters on.
-
13
- Azamat Kerefov
- 17-0-0
-
1991 - Russia - ACA
Seems to need to get hurt to get going sometimes and quite often has a rough first round, but when he comes back he comes back strong and he's never lost doing it yet. Very good at controlling rounds, good back taker, good at front chokes when people shoot on him.
-
14
- Tatsuro Taira
- 15-0-0
-
2000 - Japan - UFC
Uber prospect who's starting to approach the rankings in the UFC. Was known coming up as a fantastic grappler, particularly in terms of his brilliant scrambling, transitions and especially back takes. Not just an Aoki style grappler though as he's also shown to be a well balanced fighter with some power in his shots. Looks every inch a future contender.
-
15
- Tagir Ulanbekov
- 15-2-0
-
1991 - Russia - UFC
Took a little while to get going in the UFC, but is now starting to rip through people with good wrestling and is looking like a sub threat, particularly in terms of wrapping up chokes. I have to think that when he's given his next step up in competition he'll handle it better than he did with Tim.
-
16
- Steve Erceg
- "AstroBoy" | 12-1-0
-
1995 - Australia - UFC
Adapting to life in the UFC brilliantly. Really good BJJ, with good back takes and does go for finishes from there. Also solid on the feet with good crisp boxing and some power if he lands right too.
-
17
- Allan Nascimento
- "Puro Osso" | 20-6-0
-
1991 - Brazil - UFC
We tend to see this guy more often in Chute Boxe corners than we do in the cage but he's good. Very good grappler, good takedowns and very good on top. Good on the bottom too and gave Tagir a run for his money from there. Feel like he could be ranked if he could fight more than once a year.
-
18
- Azamat Pshukov
- 13-3-0
-
1991 - Russia - ACA
Very technically proficient fighter. Not the most athletic but striking and grappling both at an extremely high level skillwise and mixes things up really well. Can fight a bit close sometimes because he doesn't really hurt people.
-
19
- Asu Almabaev
- "Zulfikar" | 19-2-0
-
1994 - Kazakhstan - UFC
Continuing his quality run into his UFC run. Really fast double leg, with good trips, back takes and top control, very good at racking up top control minutes. Also a good proponent of the spinning style of offence that a lot of Kazakh lighter weight fighters have.
-
20
- Joshua Van
- "The Fearless" | 10-1-0
-
2001 - Myanmar - UFC
Fast improving kid who's come on leaps and bounds every time I've seen him since his early days in Fury. Sometimes a bit of a slow starter and can take a round to get going, once he gets the range on his strikes he's very good with the pressure, mixing things up and landing great body shots. Very good back taker too.
-
21
- Imran Bukuev
- 16-3-0
-
1996 - Russia - ACA
Former ACA champ, solid wrestler, really excels when it comes to taking the back and holding minutes there, good backpacker when he takes it on the feet too.
-
22
- Matt Schnell
- "Danger" | 16-8-0, 1 NC
-
1990 - USA - UFC
Pretty amazing that he's managed to survive as long as he has in the UFC rankings with basically no chin. He's tough as **** if you don't put him out though and even though he gets wobbled easily he's going to fight back unless he's unconscious. Offensive boxing is good and he does crack himself which leads to most of his fights being quite exciting affairs where anyone can get knocked out at anytime.
-
23
- Cody Durden
- 16-5-1
-
1991 - USA - UFC
Tough guy to fight, pushes a pace and always coming forward, decent volume and shoots a lot too. Skill level not quite there to hang with the elite of the division I don't think but he's a very good litmus test for people as he makes you put in a shift if you want to beat him and if you wilt he's probably going to beat you.
-
24
- David Dvořák
- "Undertaker" | 20-6-0
-
1992 - Czechia - UFC
Good start to UFC life but found the step up to consistently facing ranked competition too much. Does have decent volume but seems to struggle with guys who are sharper strikers than he is.
-
25
- Hiromasa Ougikubo
- 26-8-2
-
1987 - Japan - RIZIN
Has spent far too much time at bantamweight in recent years when he should have been a flyweight all along. Hopefully he sticks to this class now as it allows him to use his biggest strength which is dragging guys down and dominating from top division more. Yeah he's tough and willing to go to war, but it's probably not his best path to victory.
-
26
- Bruno Silva
- "Bulldog" | 13-5-2, 1 NC
-
1990 - Brazil - UFC
Henry Cejudo's long term mate who seems to struggle to stay active but is decent when he actually fights. Decent power for the weight, pretty decent grappling and is tough to finish.
-
27
- Alessandro Costa
- "Nono" | 13-4-0
-
1996 - Brazil - UFC
Adapting pretty well to life in the UFC and seems very willing to take hard matchups at short notice. Didn't work out against Albazi or Erceg but should gain a lot of experience from fighting guys like that. Breezed through Flick, good grappler with one shot power at least against lower level guys.
-
28
- Jafel Filho
- "Pastor" | 16-3-0
-
1993 - Brazil - UFC
Very good BJJ guy who came very close to beating Mokaev and probably would have if he was slightly less strong willed. Going to be a massive problem for anyone he can get on top of. Jury's out there against guys that he can't.
-
29
- Luis Gurule
- "Grim" | 8-0-0
-
1993 - USA - Fury FC
Good prospect
Just about came through toughest regional test against Trujillo. Big and strong for the weight, cracks with power, decent speed good takedown defence. Kept pace pretty well with a guy with a lot of output in the Trujillo fight.
-
30
- Alberto Trujillo
- 9-4-0
-
1992 - USA - Fury FC
Underrated regional guy. Very good level of volume and pace, really wears guys down well. Short but comes forward constantly, shoots well and is a hard night for anyone. Tends to outwork guys late in fights.
-
31
- Damir Tolenov
- "Voitel" | 12-1-0
-
1995 - Kazakhstan - Octagon
Good prospect
Really nice movement, hops in and out and creates angles well, tough to pin down and can generally find space to get own stuff off. Level changes and top control also fine. Looking like quick sub loss to journeyman Brazilian was an anomaly.
-
32
- Denys Bondar
- "Psycho" | 17-5-0
-
1992 - Ukraine - Free Agent
Looked a little out of his depth in the UFC, started some fights strong but faded pretty quickly against guys with decent cardio. Probably needs to go back to low level regionals to build up some confidence.
-
33
- Jhonata Silva
- 8-2-0
-
1997 - Brazil - Shooto Brasil
Returned from his DWCS defeat by making slightly hard work of a can at 135 in Shooto. Pretty fast when he comes in and throws tight flurries with his hands when he can get his opponent going backwards. Does get tagged up a bit coming in and doesn't seem to bother recognising leg kicks.
-
34
- Denis Araujo
- "3D" | 22-6-0
-
1994 - Brazil - Jungle Fight
Solid Brazilian regional dude. Not the strongest but fights at a good pace, decent grappling and volume and usually gives people a good test although might lack the athleticism to make it at the top level.
-
35
- Roque Junior
- 8-2-0
-
1999 - Brazil - Demo Fight
Scrappy dude who hits hard, scrambles up well when taken down and has pretty decent offensive wrestling. Pretty quick and athletic. Timed a bomb in fun fight against Natan.
-
36
- Nate Smith
- "The Savage" | 8-4-0
-
1995 - USA - LFA
Former contender series alumni went on a bit of a skid after losing on the show and then losing LFA title fight. Starting to build himself back up and returned to the LFA with a big knockout.
-
37
- Shannon Ross
- "The Turkish Delight" | 13-9-0
-
1989 - Australia - Free Agent
Really shouldn't have found his way into the UFC as he was woefully underskilled for that level and fighters with that kind of skillset dispatched him appropriately. Will probably either retire or go back to being a sort of okay guy on the Aussie regionals.
-
38
- Christian Ynastrilla
- 10-5-0
-
1996 - USA - LFA
Does fine against very low level guys on the small regional shows, but whenever he ends up on a fight pass promotion the dude seems to get spectacularly finished.
-
39
- Lukas Natan
- "Babidi" | 7-1-0
-
Brazil - Demo Fight
Looked fine in fight against Roque, good back and forth fight before he got caught. Decent offensive wrestling, top game and striking both looked fine and seems pretty athletic. Did look a little suspect defensively and then got bombed.
-
40
- Brandon Amaro
- "Adesanya" | 6-1-0
-
2006 - Uruguay - Samurai Fight House
Very aggressive and fun offensively, fights with a complete disdain for opponents offence and paid for it getting KO'd by a 1-4 can. Very talented and super young but needs to go back and seriously tighten things up defensively.
My Summary