June 2023 MMA Rankings
Neal mashes up a few ranking lists for June 23, 2023
Note: We forgot to get images that worked as a theme for this article, so I (Eric) have decided to add random martial arts movies images instead of fighter images this time.
Notable events since last post: UFC on ESPN: Kara-France vs. Albazi, UFC 289 Nunes vs Aldana, UFC on ESPN: Vettori vs Cannonier, Bellator 297. The entire PFL Light Heavyweight division failing commission PED testing also probably affected the bottom end of our m205 lists.
Reminder of our eligibility criteria:
a. Fighter has made weight in the division in the last 12 months.
b. If fighter has a fight booked when those 12 months elapse they will not be removed from eligibility.
c. Fighters will be classified by actual weight on the scale, division names and other promotional eligibility criteria notwithstanding.
d. A fighter must be clearly competing in a division and will be removed when declaring intention to switch or retire.
The notable drop this time was two-division champion Amanda Nunes, causing a big shakeup all through the women’s rankings. Favourite Jiří Procházka sadly passed the inactivity threshhold, and Angela Lee’s ambigously announced retirement (via Chatri) led us to drop her as well. We will welcome them back to the rankings when they’ve competed again.
On the flip side of that, we welcome Dan Ige back to the featherweight rankings.
Men’s Rankings
125 Lbs.
Brandon Moreno
Alexandre Pantoja
Brandon Royval
Amir Albazi
Matheus Nicolau
Manel Kape
Kai Kara-France
Alex Perez
Muhammad Mokaev
Jarred Brooks
Steve Erceg
Bruno Gustavo da Silva
Tim Elliott
Joshua Pacio
Allesandro Costa
135 Lbs.
Aljamain Sterling
Merab Dvalishvili
Cory Sandhagen
Marlon Vera
Demetrious Johnson
Sean O'Malley
Patchy Mix
Petr Yan
Dominick Cruz
Adriano Moraes
Sergio Pettis
Rob Font
Yadong Song
Henry Cejudo
Raufeon Stots
145 Lbs.
Alexander Volkanovski
Max Holloway
Yair Rodriguez
Arnold Allen
Ilia Topuria
Brian Ortega
Josh Emmett
Patricio Pitbull
Calvin Kattar
Fabricio Andrade
Movsar Evloev
Bryce Mitchell
John Lineker
Dan Ige
Stephen Loman
155 Lbs.
Islam Makhachev
Charles Oliveira
Dustin Poirier
Justin Gaethje
Rafael Fiziev
Beneil Dariush
Usman Nurmagomedov
Mateusz Gamrot
Arman Tsarukyan
Michael Chandler
Guram Kutateladze
Damir Ismagulov
Jailin Turner
Alexander Shabliy
Tang Kai
170 Lbs.
Leon Edwards
Belal Muhammad
Kamaru Usman
Yaroslav Amosov
Shavkat Rakhmonov
Gilbert Burns
Stephen Thompson
Geoff Neal
Jack Della Maddalena
Logan Storley
Christian Lee
Sean Brady
Vicente Luque
Neil Magny
Michael Page
185 Lbs.
Israel Adesanya
Robert Whittaker
Johnny Eblen
Jared Cannonier
Paulo Costa
Dricus du Plessis
Marvin Vettori
Roman Dolidze
Derek Brunson
Brendan Allen
Sean Strickland
Jack Hermansson
Fabian Edwards
Chris Curtis
Anthony Hernandez
205 Lbs.
Magomed Ankalaev
Jan Blachowicz
Jamahal Hill
Vadim Nemkov
Johnny Walker
Nikita Krylov
Corey Anderson
Volkan Oezdemir
Khalil Rountree
Azamat Murzakanov
Ryan Spann
Kennedy Nzechukwu
Phil Davis
Carlos Ulberg
Anthony Smith
265 Lbs. (Heavyweight)
Sergei Pavlovich
Jon Jones
Ciryl Gane
Curtis Blaydes
Tom Aspinall
Sergey Spivak
Alexander Volkov
Ryan Bader
Marcin Tybura
Jailton Almeida
Anatoly Malykhin
Linton Vassell
Phil de Fries
Tai Tuivasa
Alexander Romanov
Women’s Rankings
105 + 108 Lbs. combined (Atomweight)
Seika Izawa
Si Woo Park
Ayaka Hamasaki
Rayanne dos Santos
Jillian DeCoursey
Kanna Asakura
Mina Kurobe
Saori Oshima
Viviane Pereira
Ayaka Watanabe
Jeong Eun Park
Miyuu Yamamoto
Satomi Takano
Hisae Watanabe
Anastasia Nikolakakos
115 Lbs.
Weili Zhang
Amanda Lemos
Xiaonan Yan
Carla Esparza
Marina Rodriguez
Mackenzie Dern
Virna Jandiroba
Luana Pinheiro
Tabatha Ricci
Piera Rodriguez
Polyana Viana
Seo Hee Ham
Angela Hill
Stamp Fairtex
Loma Lookboonmee
125 Lbs.
Alexa Grasso
Valentina Shevchenko
Erin Blanchfield
Manon Fiorot
Katlyn Chookagian
Jennifer Maia
Xiong Jing Nan
Liz Carmouche
Taila Santos
Amanda Ribas
Lauren Murphy
Tatiana Suarez
Tracy Cortez
Viviane Araujo
Juliana Velasquez
135 Lbs.
Julianna Pena
Raquel Pennington
Holly Holm
Irene Aldana
Ketlen Viera
Mayra Bueno Silva
Pannie Kianzad
Talita Bernardo
Karol Rosa
Taneisha Tennant
Yana Santos
Olga Rubin
Joselyne Edwards
Julia Avila
Julija Stoliarenko
145 Lbs.
Cat Zingano
Norma Dumont
Arlene Blencowe
Sinead Kavanaugh
Sara McMann
Josiane Nunes
Larissa Pacheco
Leah McCourt
Dayana Silva
Olena Kolesnyk
Pam Sorenson
Julia Budd
Aspen Ladd
Chelsea Chandler
Amber Leibrock
A good point to ponder is when it’s worth updating our list - there’s something to be said for monthly lists and regular communication. But speaking as a white-noise adverse person, there’s also something to be said for waiting until a certain amount of movement happens before publishing.
This time around we had a few weeks of low promotional activity. I was on the cusp of arguing for putting off the ranking update until mid-July when Amanda Nunes announced her retirement.
It would have been nice to wait one more event: as of press time we are less than 24 hours away from a major bout at Featherweight as Ilia Topuria and Josh Emmet fight for a spot in the top strata of one of the sport’s best divisions.
But we’ll find out what that landscape looks like in July.