UFC Rankings Update: Conor McGregor Debuts On Pound-For-Pound List

Following his second round stoppage of Chad Mendes (watch highlights here) in the main event of last weekend’s (Sat., July 11, 2015) UFC 189 pay-per-view (PPV) from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, interim UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor has finally debuted on the pound-for-pound rankings list.

‘Notorious’ came in at No. 14, just behind oft-injured former lightweight champion Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis. He also understandably moved up to No. 1 in the featherweight rankings as the interim champ, while Mendes dropped two spots to No. 3.

The news is sure to cause even more upheaval concerning the oft-basted rankings, as McGregor has won six straight fights with five finishes while Pettis has won one single fight over a fading Gilbert Melendez in the last two years and was thoroughly dominated by Rafael dos Anjos in his last fight at March’s UFC 185.

Speaking of ‘El Nino,’ the longtime veteran and former Strikeforce champ dropped out of the rankings due to his yearlong suspension after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) after a UFC 188 split decision win over Eddie Alvarez. The drop allowed several 155-pound fighters to move up a peg in the rankings, including the re-debut of Nate Diaz at No. 14 and the debut of former featherweight Dustin Poirier, who has starched two straight opponents in his return to lightweight, at No. 15.

Other movement in the rankings included longtime contender Jake Ellenberger’s inevitable drop out of the top ten after his spectacular knockout loss (highlights here) to Stephen Thompson in the main event of Sunday’s (July 12, 2015) The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 21 Finale. ‘The Juggernaut,’ who has lost four of his last five fights all by way of stoppage, dropped three spots to No. 12.

Thompson went from unranked to No. 9 with the emphatic win. Icelandic welterweight Gunnar Nelson also moved up four spots to No. 11 after his impressive submission win over Brandon Thatch at UFC 189.

Featherweight Jeremy Stephens also moved up three spots to No. 8 for his electric jumping knee KO of Dennis Bermudez, who dropped one spot to No. 9.

Michelle Waterson also stormed onto the women’s strawweight rankings, coming in at No. 12 after her dominant debut victory over Angela Magana on Sunday night.

Here are the full updated rankings from UFC.com:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Jose Aldo
2 Chris Weidman
3 Demetrious Johnson
4 Ronda Rousey
5 Fabricio Werdum +1
5 TJ Dillashaw
7 Rafael dos Anjos
8 Robbie Lawler
9 Cain Velasquez
10 Daniel Cormier
11 Anderson Silva
12 Renan Barao
13 Anthony Pettis
14 Conor McGregor *NR
15 Frankie Edgar -1

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 John Dodson
2 Joseph Benavidez
3 Jussier Formiga
4 Ian McCall
5 Henry Cejudo
6 John Moraga
7 John Lineker
8 Kyoji Horiguchi
9 Zach Makovsky
10 Chris Cariaso
11 Dustin Ortiz
12 Wilson Reis
13 Chico Camus
14 Ray Borg
15 Justin Scoggins *NR

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Renan Barao
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Urijah Faber
5 Michael McDonald
6 Eddie Wineland
7 Aljamain Sterling
8 Takeya Mizugaki
9 Johnny Eduardo
10 Thomas Almeida +4
11 Francisco Rivera -1
12 Bryan Caraway -1
13 Iuri Alcantara -1
14 Frankie Saenz -1
15 Erik Perez

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Jose Aldo
1 Conor McGregor (Interim Champion) +2
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Chad Mendes -2
4 Ricardo Lamas
5 Max Holloway
6 Cub Swanson
7 Charles Oliveira
8 Jeremy Stephens +3
9 Dennis Bermudez -1
10 Nik Lentz -1
11 Clay Guida -1
12 Hacran Dias
13 Tatsuya Kawajiri
14 Darren Elkins +1
15 Dennis Siver -1

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Rafael dos Anjos
1 Anthony Pettis
2 Donald Cerrone
3 Khabib Nurmagomedov
4 Eddie Alvarez
5 Michael Johnson +1
6 Benson Henderson +1
7 Edson Barboza +1
8 Myles Jury +1
9 Josh Thomson +1
10 Bobby Green +1
11 Tony Ferguson +1
12 Al Iaquinta +1
13 Beneil Dariush +1
14 Nate Diaz *NR
15 Dustin Poirier *NR

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Robbie Lawler
1 Johny Hendricks
2 Rory MacDonald
3 Tyron Woodley
4 Carlos Condit
5 Matt Brown
6 Demian Maia
7 Dong Hyun Kim
8 Tarec Saffiedine
9 Stephen Thompson *NR
10 Rick Story
11 Gunnar Nelson +4
12 Jake Ellenberger -3
13 Thiago Alves -2
14 Neil Magny -2
15 Kelvin Gastelum -1

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Chris Weidman
1 Luke Rockhold
2 Jacare Souza
3 Yoel Romero
4 Vitor Belfort
5 Lyoto Machida
6 Anderson Silva
7 Gegard Mousasi
8 Tim Kennedy
9 Michael Bisping
10 Thales Leites
11 CB Dollaway
12 Dan Henderson +1
13 Robert Whittaker +1
14 Roan Carneiro +1
15 Derek Brunson *NR

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Anthony Johnson
2 Alexander Gustafsson
3 Ryan Bader
4 Glover Teixeira
5 Rashad Evans
6 Ovince Saint Preux
7 Jimi Manuwa
8 Mauricio Rua
9 Rampage Jackson
10 Rafael Cavalcante
11 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
12 Jan Blachowicz
13 Fabio Maldonado
14 Patrick Cummins
15 Gian Villante

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Fabricio Werdum
1 Cain Velasquez
2 Junior Dos Santos
3 Stipe Miocic
4 Andrei Arlovski
5 Travis Browne
6 Josh Barnett
7 Ben Rothwell +1
8 Mark Hunt -1
9 Alistair Overeem
10 Frank Mir
11 Roy Nelson
12 Antonio Silva
13 Matt Mitrione
14 Alexey Oliynyk +1
15 Stefan Struve -1

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Joanna Jedrzejczyk
1 Carla Esparza
2 Claudia Gadelha
3 Rose Namajunas +1
3 Jessica Penne
5 Tecia Torres
6 Randa Markos
7 Maryna Moroz
8 Paige VanZant
9 Joanne Calderwood
10 Felice Herrig
11 Juliana Lima
12 Michelle Waterson *NR
13 Aisling Daly -1
14 Heather Clark -1
15 Valerie Letourneau -1

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Ronda Rousey
1 Cat Zingano
2 Miesha Tate
3 Alexis Davis
4 Sara McMann
5 Jessica Eye
6 Sarah Kaufman
7 Bethe Correia
8 Amanda Nunes
9 Liz Carmouche
10 Holly Holm
11 Marion Reneau
12 Julianna Pena
13 Jessica Andrade
14 Germaine de Randamie
15 Lauren Murphy

Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale for USA TODAY Sports