UFC Rankings Update: Francis Ngannou Storms Back At Heavyweight

The UFC rankings have received an update after last weekend’s (Sun., February 17, 2019) UFC on ESPN 1 from the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. Francis Ngannou finds himself back in the heavyweight elite as a result.

Ngannou knocked out former champ Cain Velasquez in a shocking 26-second demolition. The debate rages on whether or not it was Velasquez’ knee buckling that caused the stoppage. Regardless, Ngannou has his biggest win and a significant rise on the rankings because of it. ‘The Predator’ rose one spot to No. 2 in the update, knocking Derrick Lewis down to No. 3.

Lewis beat Ngannou in one of the worst fights of 2018 at last July’s UFC 226.

In other movement, lightweight veteran Paul Felder finally cracked the Top 10 following his decision win over James Vick in the co-main event. News arrived ‘The Irish Dragon’ had fought the third round with a collapsed lung, making his win all the more impressive. Vick fell four spots to No. 14 due to the loss.

Top-ranked bantamweight Aljamain Sterling made a move up the ranks as well, rising two spots to No. 5 after a decision win over Jimmie Rivera. ‘El Terror’ fell one spot to No. 6 in the loss.

Here are the fully updated rankings via UFC.com.

Fully Updated Official UFC Rankings:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Daniel Cormier 
2 Jon Jones 
3 Khabib Nurmagomedov 
4 Max Holloway 
5 Henry Cejudo 
6 Tyron Woodley 
7 Amanda Nunes 
8 Georges St-Pierre 
9 TJ Dillashaw 
10 Conor McGregor 
11 Stipe Miocic 
12 Robert Whittaker 
13 Tony Ferguson 
14 Rose Namajunas 
15 Cris Cyborg

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Henry Cejudo
1 Jussier Formiga 
2 Joseph Benavidez 
3 Ray Borg 
4 Deiveson Figueiredo 
5 Wilson Reis 
6 Alexandre Pantoja 
7 Alex Perez 
8 Tim Elliott 
9 Rogerio Bontorin 
10 Magomed Bibulatov 
11 Eric Shelton 
12 Ryan Benoit 
13 TJ Dillashaw 
14 Kai Kara-France 
15 Matt Schnell

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Marlon Moraes 
2 Cody Garbrandt 
3 Raphael Assuncao +1
4 Dominick Cruz -1
5 Aljamain Sterling +2
6 Jimmie Rivera -1
7 John Lineker -1
8 Pedro Munhoz 
9 John Dodson 
10 Rob Font 
11 Cody Stamann 
12 Alejandro Perez 
13 Thomas Almeida 
14 Petr Yan +1
15 Ricky Simon -1

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Jose Aldo 
2 Brian Ortega 
3 Frankie Edgar 
4 Alexander Volkanovski 
5 Renato Moicano 
6 Jeremy Stephens 
7 Cub Swanson 
8 Mirsad Bektic 
9 Josh Emmett 
10 Ricardo Lamas 
11 Yair Rodriguez 
12 Chan Sung Jung 
13 Zabit Magomedsharipov 
14 Darren Elkins 
15 Calvin Kattar

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov
1 Tony Ferguson 
2 Conor McGregor 
3 Dustin Poirier 
4 Al Iaquinta 
5 Kevin Lee 
6 Edson Barboza 
7 Justin Gaethje 
8 Anthony Pettis 
9 Donald Cerrone 
10 Paul Felder *NR
11 Gregor Gillespie 
12 Alexander Hernandez +1
13 Nate Diaz -1
14 James Vick -4
15 Charles Oliveira -1

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Colby Covington 
2 Kamaru Usman 
3 Darren Till 
4 Stephen Thompson 
5 Rafael Dos Anjos 
6 Robbie Lawler 
7 Santiago Ponzinibbio 
8 Demian Maia 
9 Leon Edwards 
10 Jorge Masvidal 
11 Neil Magny 
12 Gunnar Nelson 
13 Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos 
14 Vicente Luque *NR
15 Geoff Neal -1

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero 
2 Luke Rockhold 
3 Jacare Souza 
4 Kelvin Gastelum 
5 Israel Adesanya 
6 Chris Weidman 
7 Paulo Costa 
8 Derek Brunson 
9 Jared Cannonier 
10 Brad Tavares 
11 David Branch 
12 Antonio Carlos Junior 
13 Uriah Hall 
14 Elias Theodorou 
15 Anderson Silva

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Jon Jones
1 Daniel Cormier 
2 Alexander Gustafsson 
3 Anthony Smith 
4 Jan Blachowicz 
5 Volkan Oezdemir 
6 Corey Anderson 
6 Thiago Santos 
8 Dominick Reyes 
9 Ilir Latifi 
10 Jimi Manuwa 
11 Glover Teixeira 
12 Ovince Saint Preux 
13 Mauricio Rua 
14 Misha Cirkunov 
15 Johnny Walker

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Stipe Miocic 
2 Francis Ngannou +1
3 Derrick Lewis -1
4 Curtis Blaydes 
5 Alexander Volkov 
6 Alistair Overeem 
7 Cain Velasquez *NR
8 Junior Dos Santos -1
9 Aleksei Oleinik -1
10 Marcin Tybura -1
11 Justin Willis -1
12 Tai Tuivasa -1
13 Shamil Abdurakhimov -1
14 Walt Harris -1
15 Andrei Arlovski -1

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Jessica Andrade 
2 Joanna Jedrzejczyk 
3 Tatiana Suarez 
3 Nina Ansaroff 
5 Claudia Gadelha 
6 Karolina Kowalkiewicz 
7 Tecia Torres 
8 Michelle Waterson 
9 Carla Esparza 
10 Cynthia Calvillo +2
11 Felice Herrig -1
12 Alexa Grasso +1
13 Cortney Casey -2
14 Randa Markos 
15 Mackenzie Dern

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1 Jessica Eye 
2 Sijara Eubanks 
3 Katlyn Chookagian 
4 Joanna Jedrzejczyk 
5 Alexis Davis 
6 Liz Carmouche 
7 Joanne Calderwood 
8 Roxanne Modafferi 
9 Lauren Murphy 
10 Andrea Lee +4
10 Jessica-Rose Clark 
12 Montana De La Rosa -1
13 Mara Romero Borella 
14 Paige VanZant +1
15 Antonina Shevchenko *NR

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Germaine de Randamie 
2 Holly Holm 
3 Ketlen Vieira 
4 Raquel Pennington 
5 Cat Zingano 
6 Marion Reneau 
7 Aspen Ladd 
8 Sara McMann 
9 Yana Kunitskaya 
10 Irene Aldana 
11 Tonya Evinger 
12 Bethe Correia 
13 Lina Lansberg 
14 Lucie Pudilova 
15 Talita Bernardo