MMA Pound-for-Pound Rankings: Islam Makhachev or Ilia Topuria, who tops the charts?

Islam Makhachev has been the pound-for-pound king for over 600 days.

After UFC 317, that reign is in critical jeopardy.

Ilia Topuria wished Makhachev to be his legacy-making assertion, however he’ll need to accept claiming a vacant light-weight title by scoring a Knockout of the Yr contender in opposition to future Corridor of Famer Charles Oliveira and changing into one in every of simply 10 fighters to carry UFC championships in two divisions. Robust break, Ilia.

Clearly, beating Makhachev would have left no query who deserves the No. 1 spot. However the undefeated Topuria has made a compelling case all on his personal (he additionally knocked out Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, undecided you heard about that), and with Makhachev nonetheless ready for his date with Jack Della Maddalena, that offers us loads of time to debate simply how sturdy that case is.

Two of our panelists are already satisfied. Makhachev entered June with a clear sweep of No. 1 votes, however now three fighters have a share of the highest spot with Makhachev garnering three votes, Topuria two, and, sure, flyweight beast Alexandre Pantoja snagging one. And Merab Dvalishvili, Dricus du Plessis, Tom Aspinall, and Magomed Ankalaev are scorching on their heels. Ought to Makhachev fail in his bid to dethrone Della Maddalena, it’s totally doable he falls multiple spot, which sounds ridiculous given every little thing he’s achieved up to now.

Lengthy story brief, the pound-for-pound argument is enjoyable once more!

That’s in no small half to a sure part-time fighter lastly deciding to step away from competitors. Jon Jones stays on the brief record of any dialogue relating to the best fighters of all time, however he’s not a part of our present rankings anymore after asserting his retirement.

The fugazi heavyweight champion had been steadily falling down our charts for months because it grew to become more and more clear he was not going to battle Aspinall (or anybody else, for that matter). Now, he’s gone for good, and we will all breathe a little bit simpler realizing we not need to shoehorn in a person who appeared to have misplaced his love for competitors some time in the past.

MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

Latest outcomes for ranked fighters (earlier rating proven): No. 2 Ilia Topuria def. No. 17 Charles Oliveira, No. 3 (tied) Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Kara-France

Upcoming bouts that includes ranked fighters: No. 5 Dricus du Plessis vs. No. 14 Khamzat Chimaev (UFC 319, Aug. 16), No. 11 Max Holloway vs. Dustin Poirier (UFC 318, July 19), No. 17 Movsar Evloev vs. Aaron Pico (UFC Abu Dhabi, July 26)

Fighters additionally receiving votes (variety of poll appearances proven): Francis Ngannou (2), Aljamain Sterling (2), Joshua Van (1), Mario Bautista (1), Brandon Moreno (1), Cory Sandhagen (1)

Falling out of the rankings (earlier rating proven): No. 15 Jon Jones (retirement)