Who Are The Best P4P Fighters in UFC Ever?: Since being introduced in 2013, UFC’s Pound for Pound (P4P) rankings have been the measure of the best fighters in the MMA promotion across all weight divisions. While the rankings for all divisions are released separately each week, a list of the best fighters in UFC based on their stature in the company and regardless of their weight class is also published weekly.
The list is made by imagining if every fighter in the company was in the same division. For example, if we see a featherweight fighter ranked above a heavyweight, it does not mean that the 145-pound fighter could take on their larger counterpart. These rankings are purely based on a fighter’s performance in their own division.
While these lists, for both – men and women, extend to 15 fighters each, here we will be taking a deeper look at the top five fighters on the men’s lists while mentioning the others as well.
Who Are The Best P4P Fighters in UFC Ever?
1) Jon Jones
Considered one of the greatest fighters of all time, Jon ‘Bones’ Jones has had a record six stints at the top of P4P rankings. A former two-time Light-Heavyweight Champion, Jones’ most recent reign at the top started when he fought for the first time in three years and moved up to Heavyweight.
He won the bout for the vacant UFC Heavyweight championship against Ciryl Gane via submission at UFC 285. Since that bout in March 2023, Jon Jones has been UFC’s top-ranked male P4P fighter.
Check Out: Greatest UFC P4P fighters of all time
2) Islam Makhachev
The man who handed Alexander Volkanovski two consecutive losses, Islam Makhachev has been the reigning defending UFC Lightweight Champion since October 2022, when he defeated Charles Oliviera for the vacant title via arm-triangle submission at UFC 280.
In his 14-fight UFC career, Islam has lost only one fight has been undefeated since October 2015, and has been on the P4P ranking ever since winning the Lightweight title.
- Also Read: Historical UFC P4P rankings and fighters
3) Alexander Volkanovski
The current UFC Featherweight Champion was no.1 ranked from August 2022 to March 2023, when Jon Jones took the spot. Alex has had a hold on the Featherweight title since defeating Max Holloway at UFC 245 in December 2019. Since then, he has defended his title on five occasions, most recently against Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 via TKO.
In February 2023, Vokanovski lost his first UFC fight after moving up to the Lightweight division and challenging champion Islam Makhachev. Even the loss wasn’t enough to kick him off the P4P throne, as it was Jon Jones winning the Heavyweight Championship for the first time that pushed Alexander down to second on the list. Later in October 2023, Volkanovski got knocked out by Islam Makhachev in the rematch and stepped down to No.3.
4) Leon Edwards
Leon Edwards defeated the then-top-ranked P4P fighter Kumaru Usman to win the UFC Welterweight Championship at August 2022’s UFC 278 via a head kick. The title win shot Edwards right into the P4P rankings.
Edwards lost his last fight back in 2015, which was against Kumaru Usman too. Since winning the Welterweight Championship, Leon Edwards has defended his title once, at UFC 286 against Usman.
- Also Read: Who are the best P4P fighters in UFC ever?
5) Charles Oliviera
The first non-champion on the current P4P list, Charles Oliviera is a former Lightweight Champion and has been one of the most exciting fighters in the business.
With a record 16 submission wins in UFC, Oliviera is currently the no.1 ranked fighter in the Lightweight division. Since losing the championship to Islam Makhachev, Charles has bounced back with a win over Beneil Dariush at UFC 289 and a Performance of the Night.
6) Sean O’Malley – Bantamweight Champion
7) Kumaru Usman – No.1 Ranked Welterweight
8) Sean Strickland – Middleweight Champion
9) Israel Adesanya – No.1 Ranked Middleweight
10) Alexandre Pantoja – Flyweight Champion
11) Alex Pereira – No. 3 Ranked Light Heavyweight (will fight for the vacant title)
12) Max Holloway – No.1 Ranked Featherweight
13) Aljamain Sterling – No.1 Ranked Bantamweight
14) Jiří Procházka – No.1 Ranked Light Heavyweight (will fight for the vacant title)
15) Jamahal Hill – Light Heavyweight (Recently Vacated The Title)
Also Read:
- Who are the best P4P fighters in UFC ever?
- UFC P4P kingpins through the years
- Greatest UFC P4P fighters of all time
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