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 serious jeopardy.

Ilia Topuria wanted Makhachev to be his legacy-making statement, but he’ll have to settle for claiming a vacant lightweight title by scoring a Knockout of the Year contender against future Hall of Famer Charles Oliveira and becoming one of just 10 fighters to hold UFC championships in two divisions. Tough break, Ilia.

Obviously, beating Makhachev would have left no question who deserves the No. 1 spot. But the undefeated Topuria has made a compelling case all on his own (he also knocked out Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, not sure you heard about that), and with Makhachev still waiting for his date with Jack Della Maddalena, that gives us plenty of time to debate just how strong that case is.

Two of our panelists are already convinced. Makhachev entered June with a clean sweep of No. 1 votes, but now three fighters have a share of the top spot with Makhachev garnering three votes, Topuria two, and, yes, flyweight beast Alexandre Pantoja snagging one. And Merab Dvalishvili, Dricus du Plessis, Tom Aspinall, and Magomed Ankalaev are hot on their heels. Should Makhachev fail in his bid to dethrone Della Maddalena, it’s entirely possible he falls more than one spot, which sounds ridiculous given everything he’s accomplished so far.

Long story short, the pound-for-pound argument is fun again!

That’s in no small part to a certain part-time fighter finally deciding to step away from competition. Jon Jones remains on the short list of any discussion regarding the greatest fighters of all time, but he’s not part of our current rankings anymore after announcing his retirement.

The fugazi heavyweight champion had been steadily falling down our charts for months as it became increasingly clear he was not going to fight Aspinall (or anyone else, for that matter). Now, he’s gone for good, and we can all breathe a little easier knowing we no longer have to shoehorn in a man who appeared to have lost his love for competition a while ago.

MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 2 Ilia Topuria def. No. 17 Charles Oliveira, No. 3 (tied) Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Kara-France

Upcoming bouts featuring 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 also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Francis Ngannou (2), Aljamain Sterling (2), Joshua Van (1), Mario Bautista (1), Brandon Moreno (1), Cory Sandhagen (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): No. 15 Jon Jones (retirement)