As I said yesterday when we went over the women, I have a busy week coming up, so I'm looking for some things to post that don't require as much research or time on my end. Maybe I'll do some kind of list week or something. Today I'll be updating my men's pound for pound rankings that I originally did at the beginning of the year. To go over the rules again, to be eligible for placement, a fighter needs to have been on the schedule in any way in either 2021 or 2022. They don't have to have actually fought, but just been scheduled to do so. I originally made that rule because 2021 had a ton of fights falling off due to COVID and other things, so I'm just sticking with it. That means no Jon Jones, Zabit, or Henry Cejudo on this list. I'll also be including the movement for the fighters who move up or down.
1. Kamaru Usman (no movement)
Usman hasn't appeared yet in 2022 and he is only a gnat's eyelash away from losing his top spot. The next guy is really pushing and depending how active the both of them are and the results of their fights, Usman could find himself in the two spot before too long. Usman is extremely well rounded and has seen his striking really take major strides over the last two years. He has continued to distance himself from the pack at welterweight and is another couple of fights away from truly clearing it out. I just hope for our sake that he doesn't go the route of the Canelo Alvarez fight. To see him interrupt what could potentially be a run at GOAT status to box Canelo would be disappointing from a fan's perspective.
2. Alexander Volkanovski (Up 1 spot)
Volkanovski is pushing for that top spot and I almost gave it to him. He is one of the most under appreciated fighters in the entire promotion. I think the fact that Volk's fights against Max Holloway have been so close is really a testament to how great Max is rather than a slight on Volk himself. He is also extremely well rounded, but he is more of a striker and he still seems to be getting better. His hand speed is just on another level right now. He absolutely dominated Korean Zombie in a way that I didn't even know was possible. Volk has vaulted past Israel Adesanya and is coming for the crown. If he beats Holloway again and then Usman only has an ok performance against Leon Edwards, Volk could slide right into that top spot.
3. Israel Adesanya (Down 1 spot)
Izzy moves down a spot, but I think it says more about how good Volk has been rather than some noticeable regression from Adesanya. Izzy is still one of the best strikers the UFC has ever seen and his defensive grappling has come so far to allow him to use that striking without having to worry about ending up on his back. His last couple fights haven't been his best though and Whittaker certainly closed the gap on him a bit. I think that paired with Volk's incredibly impressive performances are enough to push Izzy down just a spot.
4. Charles Oliveira (Up 2 spots)
Charles Oliveira has one of the most devastating skill sets in the entire sport. He isn't as flawless as the guys ahead of him, but he is so tough to beat. What keeps him from advancing higher, for now, is his striking defense. He gets hit and dropped somewhat consistently, by the top fighters in the division of course, but his BJJ skills are so deadly that when he gets hurt, his opponents don't follow him to the floor. That essentially gives him a free 15-30 seconds to recover and then get back up. On the offensive side, if Oliveira hurts his opponent, he gets on top of them and then starts working what is probably the best submission game in the history of the sport. He is a really tough matchup and has more than earned this spot in the rankings.
5. Francis Ngannou (Down 1 spot)
Having to move Ngannou down hurts because he is an improved fighter. The grappling he displayed against Cyril Gane takes his game to another level. I don't think we'll ever mistake Ngannou's wrestling for Khabib's, but that was what got him the win. Unfortunately, I think Oliveira really made that push and needs to be in the 4 spot, but Ngannou is still one of the very best that the UFC has to offer. I hope there is a way for him to remain on the roster and still get the fight with Tyson Fury that he wants. I can't believe I went this long without mentioning the absolute nuclear power he has, but you already knew all of that.
6. Max Holloway (Down 1 spot)
Max is the other victim to Oliveira's rise as he slides one spot as well. Max is still a great fighter and an all time great. He has struggled to beat Volkanovski and he's getting a third opportunity to do so in July. If he can't win that fight, I'm not really sure what he does with the rest of his career, but it doesn't diminish anything in the P4P rankings. He is the best non champion in the UFC for me.
7. Islam Makhachev (Not previously ranked)
You may be asking, "how does one win over Bobby Green have Islam go from unranked to number 7?". My answer is that I think leaving Islam off of my beginning of the year was a major oversight. I didn't put too much stock into his win over Hooker for a number of reasons, but I think that was just wrong call by me at the time. Bobby Green was on a great streak and while that was also on short notice, Islam ran through him in a way that stood out even given the circumstances. Charles Oliveira may be the best lightweight in the world, but I don't think Islam is that far, if at all, behind him.
8. Khamzat Chimaev (Not previously ranked)
Not having Khamzat ranked either isn't a particularly great look, but here we are. At the time that list was made, Chimaev's biggest win was Li Jingliang, which isn't exactly top 15 P4P material, but I should have seen through that better. Chimaev put on a great fight with Gilbert Burns and proved that he is in fact ready for championship level fights. The pure power in his game is a sight to behold. The power is clear in his striking and wrestling and he was able to maintain it over 15 minutes. I would be 100% comfortable seeing him fight for the title without another fight.
9. Stipe Miocic (Up 3 spots)
It isn't often that someone moves up the rankings this far without fighting, but that is what we have here. I think I may have still been a bit down on Stipe given the rise of Ngannou and Gane at the time, but Stipe is still one of the best heavyweights in the world. If we see the trilogy fight take place, I think that would be lined pretty closely as Stipe's all around game and quickness for his size is still very impressive.
10. Robert Whittaker (Down 1 spot)
Whittaker lost his rematch with Israel Adesanya, which causes him to drop down only one spot. I am biased when it comes to Whittaker, but I think he is still very clearly the second best middleweight in the UFC. His striking and movement is so hard to deal with for anyone who isn't Izzy at this point. I think Whittaker would be a pretty nice sized favorite against everyone else in the division.
11. Aljamain Sterling (Not previously ranked)
Aljo was a tough one for me. I feel like so many of his advantages get stripped away when thinking of him in a P4P sense. He's so big and long for the division that he's tough to deal with when he's throwing so many kicks. Obviously, his wrestling and ground game are top notch, but he's just a bit of a specialist, which kind of limits his ceiling on a list like this until he proves that he is so dominant in that one area that it doesn't matter. Aljo isn't there yet, but I think he could rise up this list quite a bit if he can pick up the win over TJ Dillashaw at some point this year.
12. Deiveson Figueiredo (Not previously ranked)
Figueiredo won his title back after defeating Brandon Moreno in January. That was a really close fight, but when Figgy has his weight situation under control, he is the best flyweight in the world. His power is noticeable and his submission ability is really impressive. He has a great all around skillset, but his inconsistent performances and cardio concerns limit his ability to come in any higher on a list like this.
13. Colby Covington (Down 6 spots)
When I made this list at the beginning of the year, I think I was putting too much stock into Colby's fights against Kamaru Usman. Yea, no one has fought Usman as close as him, but he still lost so, I don't know. Colby's win over Masvidal was fine, but unimpressive. Colby basically controlled the entire fight from the top, but in the limited striking exchanges ended up getting dropped. Colby just feels like a guy who has to fight in a very particular way and can be had if you can force him into a different kind of fight. He's still an amazing fighter with great cardio and high level wrestling, but I think this is a much more reasonable place for him to be.
14. Glover Teixeira (No movement)
Glover still comes in at 14 and part of me doesn't feel good for placing him this low, but I guess the 14th best fighter in the UFC is still really good. Glover isn't the fighter he once was, which is mostly why he doesn't come in higher, but he still has a lot of skills for his age. His wrestling and grappling overall are carrying him right now and he's still extremely high level on the ground. He dominated both Anthony Smith and Jan Blachowicz from the top and I would say both of them are at least respectable on the ground, if not pretty good. Glover's striking isn't masterful by any means, but he still carries much of his power. His chin doesn't hold up like it used to, but the guy is on the other side of 40 now, so that just sort of comes with the territory. I've talked myself more and more into the idea that he can beat Jiri as the fight approaches, so we'll see how that goes. Glover is rightfully the champion and I don't think he'll be easy to unseat.
15. Jan Blachowicz (Not previously ranked)
Jan finds his way onto the list after narrowly missing out on my beginning of the year list. His win over Aleksandar Rakic didn't end the way anyone wanted, but Jan looked really good in that fight and I think he would have gone on to win. I wasn't sure if he could get the better of Rakic on the feet, but he was doing so in a pretty clear way. I was a bit worried about him after the way he looked against Glover, but he really showed that his title loss was more of a bad day at the office than it was some sort of significant regression in his skills. I think he has earned moving onto the list.
The final step will be to go over the men who fell off the list. The highest ranked fighter who fell off was Petr Yan. I feel like Yan probably is one of the 15 best fighters, but it is just hard for me to place him right now. He lost his only fight this year and we really haven't heard anything about a potential return. I know I'm going to get some blow back on this one because so many people think he's a top 3 fighter in the UFC, but I just don't rate him at that level. He is a really good boxer and has pretty good power for his size, but beyond that, I don't see what he does at a top 15 overall level. His kicking game is just solid, his grappling is fine, but it isn't really a strength, and his cardio is sufficient, but not really a weapon either. He gets off to such slow starts in basically every fight that he is always fighting from behind, which really cost him in the Aljo fight, where he was controlled for long stretches in 2 rounds and then gave his back on other occasions. Petr Yan is probably my number 16 right now and has the ability to easily rise back into the top 10, but he has to give us something to work with. Some people don't think you're supposed to consider resume when making a P4P list, but I don't know how else to do it. If his skills were truly that stand out, then he would be able to get wins against other top competition, which he hasn't done in over 7 months now. The next fighter left off was Justin Gaethje and he misses out for a lot of the same reasons. For everything he does well, there's a weakness that offsets it. With Gaethje, his power and speed is so noticeable and his leg kicks are great, but his willingness to get into fire fights with only an average chin doesn't always serve him well. His ground game is also next to nonexistent. He comes from a wrestling background and at times he shows it, but once the fight is down, he's in trouble. After the way he lost to Oliveira, there was no way I could have him in the top 15, even though we all love him. Brandon Moreno also comes off the list after he lost his title to Deiveson Figueiredo in a very close fight. Moreno still has good boxing, but he just didn't seem himself last time out. He didn't fall off by a lot, but guys like Islam, Khamzat, and Jan needed to be on ahead of him in my estimation. A good rest of the year could see Moreno find his way on to the back end of the list. Cyril Gane fell off the list and he's a little farther down than Moreno, Yan, or Gaethje for me. His grappling was exposed in a pretty big way. Francis Ngannou has obviously worked extremely hard on his grappling and was significantly improved going back to when he beat Stipe for the belt, but the fact that he was taking Gane down almost at will and beating him to positions like he was Khabib suggests that Gane has years of work to do before he becomes an average UFC level wrestler. We've seen his submission game be respectable, but his true ground game from his back and from the guard need serious work. He won't have to worry against Tai Tuivasa, but to get back to the belt, he's going to need to go through wrestlers who are way better than even Ngannou was. The final one who fell off the list is Dustin Poirier. He hasn't fought since I had him at 15th to start the year, but his inactivity has caused him to get passed up by some really good performances in the first half of the year. I'm still a believer in Poirier, but he hasn't been able to get over that last hump.
My honorable mentions are mostly the guys who just came off the list. Yan, Poirier, and Brandon Moreno are probably my 16-18. I think fighters like Jiri Prochazka, Leon Edwards, Gilbert Burns, and Tom Aspinall at least deserve to have their names mentioned, despite being a bit farther off at this point. Aspinall is rising fast and Prochazka may very well already be one of the top 15, but I just don't feel confident enough in my evaluation of his complete skillset to put him ahead of some of these fighters right now. Glover is clearly going to test his grappling, so we'll have a much clearer image of Jiri's complete game in a few weeks more likely than not.
What do you guys think? Who is too high? Who is too low? What is your biggest disagreement? Leave any and all thoughts below. Thanks for reading and have a good one. Thanks for being understanding with the maybe underwhelming topics this week.
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