With his dominant victory over Frankie Edgar at UFC Fight Night 165, Chan Sung Jung picked up a statement win of the sort that can put a man in line for a shot at a world championship. The victory was good enough to launch “The Korean Zombie” from the No. 7 slot to No. 3 in the featherweight division of the CBS Sports UFC Divisional Rankings. Edgar, meanwhile, fell completely out of the top 10, a move which seems hard to imagine given how long the former lightweight champ has occupied top 10 lists across the sport. While a rematch between newly crowned featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski and the man he defeated to take the title, Max Holloway, seems inevitable as the next step for the division, a fight with Jung may be waiting for the winner.
The event was the last of the 2019 calendar for UFC, meaning this is the final ranking list for the year and provides a snapshot of where things stand as the UFC heads into the next decade.
Here’s a quick look at the state of each division as 2019 ends:
- Flyweight will get a shakeup in 2020 with current No. 1 Henry Cejudo vacating the championship at 125 pounds, leading to a new era for the always-at-risk division. No. 2 Joseph Benavidez and No. 4 Deivieson Figueiredo will battle for the vacant strap.
- Cejudo still holds the bantamweight title, however, and No. 2-ranked Petr Yan represents a significant test for the champ. Cejudo has also expressed interest in fighting unranked Jose Aldo, who made an unsuccessful debut at 135 pounds.
- Featherweight is the Volkanovski and Holloway show with No. 3 Jung waiting in the wings, as mentioned above.
- Lightweight will hopefully see Khabib Nurmagomedov defend his championship against No. 2 Tony Ferguson as they’ve been booked to fight after four previously unsuccessful attempts to make the clash. With Conor McGregor’s return to UFC and Dana White making it clear a win in his welterweight clash with Donald Cerrone would lead to a lightweight title bout, there’s a clear roadmap at 155.
- After vanquishing rival Colby Covington, welterweight champ Kamaru Usman could be looking at a fight with red-hot No. 2 Jorge Masvidal. The winner of the March 21 bout between No. 4 Leon Edwards and former champ No. 5 Tyron Woodley could set up the next challenger.
- At middleweight, Israel Adesanya’s championship reign has just started, but potential fights with No. 2 Paulo Costa and No. 4 Yoel Romero have fans drooling, while former champ No. 3 Robert Whittaker squaring off against No. 5 Jared Cannonier has potentially massive impact.
- Light heavyweight remains the Jon Jones show, though he continues to tease a potential jump to heavyweight. Undefeated No. 2 Dominick Reyes gets the next crack at the champ while No. 4 Thiago Santos will return to the cage in 2020 after battling Jones to a split decision loss.
- Heavyweight has plenty of big hitters, but No. 2 Daniel Cormier’s attempt to regain the title from Stipe Miocic in their rubber match headlines the division’s activities.
- Weili Zhang has yet to defend her women’s strawweight title, but her first defense will come against the ultra-tough former champ No. 4 Joanna Jedzejczyk.
- On Feb. 8, Valentina Shevchenko will put the women’s flyweight belt on the line against No. 2 Katlyn Chookagin. Challenges are starting to run out for Shevchenko within her dominant run.
- Amanda Nunes recently defended her women’s bantamweight title with a win over No. 3 Germaine de Randamie, and now it looks as though No. 2 Aspen Ladd may be the next woman up.
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Rankings are compiled following the submission of ballots by Brent Brookhouse, Brian Campbell, Jack Crosby and Brandon Wise. Without further ado, here’s where things stand ahead of the monumental UFC 244 event on Saturday night.
For Brian Campbell’s updated Pound for Pound Rankings, click here.
Flyweight
Fighter |
Record |
1. Henry Cejudo (c) |
15-2 |
2. Joseph Benavidez |
28-5 |
3. Jussier Formiga |
23-6 |
4. Deivieson Figueiredo |
16-1 |
5. Brandon Moreno |
16-5 |
6. Alexandre Pantoja |
21-4 |
7. Matt Schnell |
14-4 |
8. Matt Schnell |
14-4 |
9. Kai Kara-France |
20-8 |
10. Rogerio Bontorin |
16-1 |
Bantamweight
Fighter |
Record |
1. Henry Cejudo (c) |
15-2 |
2. Petr Yan |
14-1 |
3. Aljamain Sterling |
18-3 |
T4. Marlon Moraes |
23-6-1 |
T4. Cory Sandhagen |
12-1 |
6. Pedro Munhoz |
18-4 |
7. Jimmie Rivera |
22-4 |
T8. Raphael Assuncao |
27-7 |
T8. TJ Dillashaw |
16-4 |
10. Song Yadong |
15-4-1 |
Featherweight
Fighter |
Record |
1. Alexander Volkanovski (c) |
22-1 |
2. Max Holloway |
21-5 |
T3. Korean Zombie |
16-5 |
T3. Zabit Magomedsharipov |
18-1 |
5. Brian Ortega |
14-1 |
6. Yair Rodriguez |
12-2 |
7. Shane Burgos |
13-1 |
8. Chase Hooper |
9-0-1 |
9. Josh Emmett |
15-2 |
10. Jeremy Stephens |
28-17 |
Lightweight
Fighter |
Record |
1. Khabib Nurmagomedov (c) |
28-0 |
2. Tony Ferguson |
25-3 |
3. Dustin Poirier |
25-6 |
4. Justin Gaethje |
21-2 |
5. Conor McGregor |
21-4 |
6. Dan Hooker |
19-8 |
7. Paul Felder |
17-4 |
8. Donald Cerrone |
36-13 |
9. Kevin Lee |
18-5 |
10. Al Iaquinta |
14-6-1 |
Welterweight
Fighter |
Record |
1. Kamaru Usman (c) |
16-1 |
2. Jorge Masvidal |
35-13 |
3. Colby Covington |
15-2 |
4. Leon Edwards |
18-3 |
5. Tyron Woodley |
19-4-1 |
6. Nate Diaz |
20-12 |
7.Stephen Thompson |
15-4-1 |
T8. Santiago Ponzinibbio |
27-3 |
T8. Demian Maia |
28-9 |
10. Rafael dos Anjos |
29-12 |
Middleweight
Fighter |
Record |
1. Israel Adesanya (c) |
18-0 |
2. Paulo Costa |
13-0 |
3. Robert Whittaker |
20-5 |
4. Yoel Romero |
13-4 |
5. Jared Cannonier |
13-4 |
6. Derek Brunson |
20-7 |
7. Kelvin Gastelum |
15-5 |
8. Jack Hermansson |
20-5 |
9. Darren Till |
18-2-1 |
10. Uriah Hall |
15-9 |
Light heavyweight
Fighter |
Record |
1. Jon Jones (c) |
25-1 |
2. Dominick Reyes |
12-0 |
3. Jan Blachowicz |
25-8 |
4. Thiago Santos |
21-7 |
5. Corey Anderson |
13-4 |
6. Anthony Smith |
32-14 |
7. Volkan Oezdemir |
17-4 |
8. Glover Teixeira |
30-7 |
9. Aleksandr Rakic |
12-2 |
10. Johnny Walker |
17-4 |
Heavyweight
Fighter |
Record |
1. Stipe Miocic (c) |
19-3 |
2. Daniel Cormier |
22-2 |
3. Francis Ngannou |
14-3 |
4. Junior dos Santos |
21-6 |
5. Curtis Blaydes |
12-2 |
6. Derrick Lewis |
21-7 |
T7. Alexander Volkov |
31-7 |
T7. Jairzinho Rozenstruik |
10-0 |
9. Walt Harris |
13-7 |
10. Alistair Overeem |
45-18 |
Women’s strawweight
Fighter |
Record |
1. Weili Zhang (c) |
20-1 |
2. Jessica Andrade |
20-7 |
3. Tatiana Suarez |
8-0 |
4. Joanna Jedzejczyk |
16-3 |
5. Claudia Gadelha |
17-4 |
6. Nina Ansaroff |
10-6 |
7. Carla Esparza |
14-6 |
8. Michelle Waterson |
17-7 |
9. Cynthia Carvalho |
8-1 |
10. Rose Namajunas |
8-4 |
Women’s flyweight
Fighter |
Record |
1. Valentina Shevchenko (c) |
18-3 |
2. Katlyn Chookagin |
12-2 |
3. Joanne Calderwood |
14-4 |
4. Maycee Barber |
8-0 |
5. Jessica Eye |
14-7 |
Women’s bantamweight
Fighter |
Record |
1. Amanda Nunes (c) |
19-4 |
2. Aspen Ladd |
9-1 |
3. Germaine de Randamie |
9-4 |
4. Irene Aldana |
11-5 |
5. Holly Holm |
12-5 |
6. Julianna Pena |
9-3 |
7. Raquel Pennington |
10-5 |
8. Ketlen Vieira |
10-1 |
9. Yana Kunitskaya |
12-5 |
10. Sara McMann |
11-5 |