Fightful MMA Weekly Rankings (12/22/21): Belal Muhammad Climbs Welterweight Ranks Following UFC Vegas 45
Welcome to Fightful MMA’s weekly rankings for 12/22/21.
Belal Muhammad thoroughly dominated former two-time UFC title challenger Stephen Thompson in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 45 this past weekend, which will see the Chicago-native climb the ladder in our welterweight rankings.
With the holidays on the horizon, that means no UFC event for the next three weekends, which will see our next set of rankings following UFC Vegas 46: Kattar vs. Chikadze which is set for Jan. 15 and our next set of rankings will be released on Jan. 19.
Happy holidays from everyone here at Fightful MMA!
Men’s Pound-For-Pound
- Kamaru Usman (20-1) — UFC Welterweight Champion
- Jon Jones (26-1) — UFC
- Francis Ngannou (16-3) — UFC Heavyweight Champion
- Alex Volkanovski (22-1) — UFC Featherweight Champion
- Israel Adesanya (21-1) — UFC Middleweight Champion
- Charles Oliveira (32-8) — UFC Lightweight Champion
- Ciryl Gane (10-0) — UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion
- Max Holloway (23-6) — UFC
- Dustin Poirier (28-7) — UFC
- Jan Blachowicz (28-9)
- Stipe Miocic (20-4) — UFC
- Robert Whittaker (23-5) — UFC
- Brandon Moreno (19-5) — UFC Flyweight Champion
- Peter Yan (16-2) — UFC Interim Bantamweight Champion
- Colby Covington (16-3) — UFC
Women’s Pound-For-Pound
- Valentina Shevchenko (22-3) — UFC Flyweight Champion
- Julianna Peña (11-4) — UFC Bantamweight Champion
- Amanda Nunes (21-5) — UFC Featherweight Champion
- Cris Cyborg (24-2) — Bellator Featherweight Champion
- Rose Namajunas (10-4) — UFC Strawweight Champion
- Kayla Harrison (12-0) — PFL Lightweight Champion
- Germaine De Randamie (10-4) — UFC
- Weili Zhang (21-2) — UFC
- Holly Holm (14-5) — UFC
- Joanna Jedrzejczyk (16-4) — UFC
- Juliana Velasquez (12-0) — Bellator Bantamweight Champion
- Jessica Andrade (22-9) — UFC
- Julia Budd (16-3) — PFL
- Carla Esparza (18-6) — UFC
- Marina Rodriguez (15-1) — UFC
Heavyweight
- Francis Ngannou (16-3) — UFC Champion
- Ciryl Gane (10-0) — UFC Interim Champion
- Stipe Miocic (20-4) — UFC
- Derrick Lewis (26-8) — UFC
- Curtis Blaydes (15-3) — UFC
- Alexander Volkov (33-9) — UFC
- Valentin Moldavsky (11-1) — Bellator Champion
- Tom Aspinall (11-2) – UFC
- Jairzinho Rozenstruik (12-3) — UFC
- Marcin Tybura (22-6) — UFC
- Cheick Kongo (31-11) — Bellator — (+1)
- Chris Daukaus (12-4) — UFC — (-1)
- Augusto Sakai (15-3-1) — UFC
- Fedor Emelianenko (40-6-1) — Bellator
- Fabricio Werdum (24-9) — PFL
Light Heavyweight
- Glover Teixeira (33-7) — UFC Champion
- Jan Blachowicz (28-9)
- Vadim Nemkov (13-2) — Bellator Champion
- Jiri Prochazka (28-3-1) — UFC
- Corey Anderson (16-5) — Bellator
- Ryan Bader (28-7) — Bellator
- Phil Davis (22-6) — Bellator
- Aleksandar Rakic (14-2) — UFC
- Thiago Santos (22-9) — UFC
- Dominick Reyes (12-3) — UFC
- Anthony Smith (35-16) — UFC
- Anthony Johnson (23-6) — Bellator
- Magomed Ankalaev (15-1) — UFC
- Paul Craig (15-4-1) — UFC
- Jamahal Hill (9-1) — UFC
Middleweight
- Israel Adesanya (21-1) — UFC Champion
- Robert Whittaker (23-5) — UFC
- Gegard Mousasi (48-7) — Bellator Champion
- Jared Cannonier (14-5) — UFC
- Derek Brunson (23-7) — UFC
- Marvin Vettori (18-5-1) — UFC
- Paulo Costa (13-2) — UFC
- Sean Strickland (24-3) — UFC
- Jack Hermansson (22-6) — UFC
- Darren Till (18-4-1) — UFC
- Kelvin Gastelum (16-8) — UFC
- Uriah Hall (17-10) — UFC
- Chris Curtis (28-8) — UFC
- Brendan Allen (17-4) — UFC
- Kevin Holland (21-7) — UFC
Welterweight
- Kamaru Usman (20-1) — UFC Champion
- Colby Covington (16-3) — UFC
- Gilbert Burns (20-4) — UFC
- Leon Edwards (19-3) – UFC
- Vicente Luque (21-7-1) — UFC
- Belal Muhammad (20-3) — UFC — (+6)
- Stephen Thompson (16-6-1) — UFC — (-1)
- Yaroslav Amosov (26-0) — Bellator Champion — (-1)
- Jorge Masvidal (35-15) — UFC — (-1)
- Ray Cooper III (24-7-1) — PFL Champion — (-1)
- Sean Brady (15-0) — UFC — (-1)
- Michael Chiesa (18-6) — UFC — (-1)
- Douglas Lima (32-9) — Bellator
- Khamzat Chimaev (10-0) — UFC
- Neil Magny (25-9) — UFC
Lightweight
- Charles Oliveira (32-8) — UFC Champion
- Dustin Poirier (28-7) — UFC
- Justin Gaethje (23-3) — UFC
- Beneil Dariush (21-4-1) — UFC
- Islam Makhachev (20-1) — UFC
- Conor McGregor (22-6) — UFC
- Michael Chandler (22-7) — UFC
- Rafael Dos Anjos (30-13) — UFC
- Tony Ferguson (25-6) — UFC
- Dan Hooker (21-10) — UFC
- Gregor Gillespie (14-1) — UFC
- Rafael Fiziev (11-1) — UFC
- Mateusz Gamrot (20-1) — UFC — (unranked)
- Brad Riddell (10-2) — UFC
- Arman Tsarukyan (17-2) — UFC
Dropped Out: Diego Ferreira (17-5)
Featherweight
- Alexander Volkanovski (23-1) — UFC Champion
- Max Holloway (23-6) — UFC
- AJ McKee (18-0) — Bellator Champion
- Brian Ortega (15-2) — UFC
- Patricio Pitbull (32-5) — Bellator
- Giga Chikadze (14-2) — UFC
- Calvin Kattar (22-5) — UFC
- Yair Rodriguez (13-3) — UFC
- Korean Zombie (17-6) — UFC
- Arnold Allen (17-1) — UFC
- Josh Emmett (16-2) — UFC
- Movsar Evloev (14-0) — UFC
- Movlid Khaybulaev (19-0-1) — PFL Champion
- Dan Ige (15-4) — UFC
- Edson Barboza (22-10) — UFC
Bantamweight
- Aljamain Sterling (20-3) — UFC Champion
- Petr Yan (15-2) — UFC
- TJ Dillashaw (17-4) — UFC
- Cory Sandhagen (14-3) — UFC
- Jose Aldo (30-7) — UFC
- Rob Font (19-5) — UFC
- Merab Dvalishviili (14-4) — UFC
- Dominick Cruz (23-3) — UFC
- Sergio Pettis (22-5) — Bellator Champion
- Kyoji Horiguchi (29-4) — Bellator
- Marlon Moraes (23-9-1) — UFC
- Pedro Munhoz (19-6) — UFC
- John Lineker (33-9) — ONE Champion
- Marlon Vera (18-7-1) — UFC
- Sean O’Malley (15-1) — UFC
Flyweight
- Brandon Moreno (19-5-2) — UFC Champion
- Deiveson Figueiredo (20-2-1) — UFC
- Adriano Moraes (19-3) — ONE Champion
- Askar Askarov (13-0) — UFC
- Demetrious Johnson (30-4-1) — ONE
- Matheus Nicolau (17-2-1) — UFC
- Alexandre Pantoja (24-5) — UFC
- Alex Perez (24-6) — UFC
- Brandon Royval (12-6) — UFC
- Kai Kara-France (22-9) — UFC
- Manel Kape (17-6) — UFC
- Rogerio Bontorin (17-3) — UFC
- David Dvorak (20-3) — UFC
- Jose Torres (10-1-1) — Brave CF Champion
- Matt Schnell (15-6) — UFC
Women’s Featherweight
- Amanda Nunes (21-5) — UFC Champion
- Cris Cyborg (24-2) — Bellator Champion
- Kayla Harrison (12-0) — PFL Champion
- Norma Dumont (7-1) — UFC
- Julia Budd (16-3) — PFL
- Megan Anderson (11-5) — UFC
- Pam Sorensen (9-3) — Invicta FC Champion
- Larissa Pacheco (15-4) — PFL
- Cat Zingano (12-4) — Bellator
- Arlene Blancowe (14-8) — Bellator
- Leslie Smith (12-9-1) — Bellator
- Leah McCourt (4-1) — Bellator
- Leah Letson (5-2) — UFC
- Janay Harding (6-5) — Bellator
- Sarah Kaufman (21-5) — PFL
Women’s Bantamweight
- Julianna Peña (11-4) — UFC Champion
- Amanda Nunes (21-5)
- Germaine De Randamie (10-4) — UFC
- Holly Holm (14-5) — UFC
- Irene Aldana (13-6) — UFC
- Aspen Ladd (9-2) — UFC
- Yana Kunitskaya (14-6) — UFC
- Ketlen Vieira (12-2) — UFC
- Raquel Pennington (12-8) — UFC
- Macy Chiasson (7-1) — UFC
- Meisha Tate (19-8) — UFC
- Sara McMann (12-6) — UFC
- Josiane Nunes (8-2) — UFC
- Pannie Kianzad (15-6) — UFC
- Karol Rosa (14-3) — UFC
Women’s Flyweight
- Valentina Shevchenko (22-3) — UFC Champion
- Jessica Andrade (22-9) — UFC
- Juliana Velasquez (12-0) — Bellator Champion
- Katlyn Chookagian (16-4) — UFC
- Liz Carmouche (16-7) — UFC
- Lauren Murphy (14-6) — UFC
- Jennifer Maia (19-7-1) — UFC
- Andrea Lee (13-5) — UFC
- Cynthia Calvillo (9-4-1) — UFC
- Taila Santos (19-1) — UFC
- Joanne Wood (15-7) — UFC
- Ilima Lei-MacFarlane (11-1) — Bellator
- Alexa Grasso (13-3) — UFC
- Viviane Araujo (9-3) — UFC
- Roxanne Modaferri (25-18) — UFC
Women’s Strawweight
- Rose Namajunas (12-4) — UFC Champion
- Weili Zhang (21-3) — UFC
- Joanna Jedrzejczyk (16-4) — UFC
- Carla Esparza (18-6) — UFC
- Marina Rodriguez (15-1) — UFC
- MacKenzie Dern (11-2) — UFC
- Yan Xionan (13-2) — UFC
- Amanda Lemos (11-1-1) — UFC — (+2)
- Tecia Torres (13-5) — UFC — (-1)
- Amanda Ribas (10-2) — UFC — (+1)
- Michelle Waterson (18-9) — UFC — (+1)
- Angela Hill (13-11) — UFC — (+1)
- Nina Nunes (10-7) — UFC
- Virna Jandiroba (17-2) — UFC
- Kanako Murata (12-2) — UFC
Dropped Out: Claudia Gadelha (18-5) — (retired)
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