UFC Rankings Update: Nate Diaz Finally Removed From Lightweight List

Last weekend’s (Sat., April 20, 2019) UFC St. Petersburg didn’t elicit the most dramatic changes to the official UFC rankings. This week’s rankings have seen the removal of a high-profile fighter that many felt was overdue, however. That fighter is none other than fan favorite Nate Diaz.

Diaz was removed from the lightweight Top 15 almost three years after his last fight. Diaz was somehow still ranked at No. 15 in the last official UFC rankings update. The Stockton, Calif.-based slugger was last seen losing a hard-fought majority decision to longtime rival Conor McGregor at August 2016’s UFC 202.

He was set to come back against current interim champion Dustin Poirier at last November’s UFC 230. A hip injury to ‘The Diamond’ nixed that bout, however. Diaz’ return has been uncertain (at best) ever since. Some feel the only fight he will return for is his rumored trilogy bout with McGregor. But based on both fighters’ inactivity levels as of late, it’s debatable if the UFC will proceed with the fight. It would still most likely draw big numbers regardless.

In terms of rankings affected by actual fighting, longtime veteran Alistair Overeem moved up one spot into a tie with Alexander Volkov for the No. 6 spot after UFC St. Petersburg. He finished submission wiz Aleksei Oleinik in the main event. Interestingly enough, Overeem was originally supposed to fight Volkov in Russia. Oleinik held steady at No. 9 despite the loss.

Check out the full updated rankings via UFC.com here.

Official UFC Rankings Update:

POUND-FOR-POUND:
1 Daniel Cormier
2 Jon Jones
3 Khabib Nurmagomedov
4 Henry Cejudo
5 Max Holloway
6 Amanda Nunes 
7 Kamaru Usman
8 Dustin Poirier
9 Conor McGregor
10 Robert Whittaker
11 Stipe Miocic
12 Tony Ferguson
13 Tyron Woodley
14 Rose Namajunas
15 Cris Cyborg

FLYWEIGHT:
Champion: Henry Cejudo
1 Jussier Formiga
2 Joseph Benavidez
3 Alexandre Pantoja
4 Deiveson Figueiredo
5 Wilson Reis
6 Tim Elliott 
7 Rogerio Bontorin 
8 Magomed Bibulatov 
9 Ryan Benoit 
10 Jordan Espinosa 
11 Kai Kara France 
12 Eric Shelton 
13 Alex Perez
14 Raulian Paiva 
15 Matt Schnell

BANTAMWEIGHT:
Champion: Vacant
1 Marlon Moraes
2 Raphael Assuncao 
3 Aljamain Sterling 
4 Pedro Munhoz 
5 Dominick Cruz 
6 Cody Garbrandt 
7 Jimmie Rivera 
8 John Lineker 
9 Petr Yan 
10 Cody Stamann
11 Rob Font 
12 John Dodson 
13 Alejandro Perez
14 Thomas Almeida
15 Ricky Simon

FEATHERWEIGHT:
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Jose Aldo
2 Brian Ortega
3 Frankie Edgar
4 Alexander Volkanovski
5 Renato Moicano
6 Zabit Magomedsharipov
7 Jeremy Stephens 
8 Josh Emmett 
9 Mirsad Bektic 
10 Cub Swanson 
11 Ricardo Lamas 
12 Yair Rodriguez 
13 Chan Sung Jung
14 Darren Elkins
15 Calvin Kattar

LIGHTWEIGHT:
Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov
1 Dustin Poirier (Interim Champion)
2 Tony Ferguson
3 Conor McGregor
4 Al Iaquinta
5 Justin Gaethje 
6 Kevin Lee
7 Edson Barboza
8 Donald Cerrone -1
9 Anthony Pettis
10 Paul Felder
11 Gregor Gillespie
12 Alexander Hernandez -1 
13 James Vick
14 Charles Oliveira
15 Islam Makhachev *NR

WELTERWEIGHT:
Champion: Kamaru Usman
1 Tyron Woodley
2 Colby Covington
3 Rafael Dos Anjos
4 Jorge Masvidal
5 Ben Askren
6 Darren Till
7 Stephen Thompson
8 Anthony Pettis
9 Santiago Ponzinibbio
10 Robbie Lawler
11 Leon Edwards
12 Demian Maia
13 Neil Magny 
14 Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
15 Vincente Luque

MIDDLEWEIGHT:
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Israel Adesanya (Interim Champion)
2 Yoel Romero
3 Luke Rockhold
4 Ronaldo Souza
5 Kelvin Gastelum
6 Chris Weidman
7 Paulo Costa
8 Derek Brunson
9 Jared Cannonier
10 Jack Hermansson
11 Brad Tavares
12 Antonio Carlos Junior
13 (T) Elias Theodorou +1
13 (T) Uriah Hall
15 Anderson Silva

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT:
Champion: Jon Jones
1 Daniel Cormier
2 Alexander Gustafsson
3 Thiago Santos 
4 Anthony Smith
5 Dominick Reyes
6 Jan Blachowicz
7 Volkan Oezdemir
8 Corey Anderson
9 Ilir Latifi
10 Jimi Manuwa
11 Glover Teixeira
12 Johnny Walker
13 Mauricio Rua
14 Misha Cirkunov
15 Nikita Krylov

HEAVYWEIGHT:
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Stipe Miocic
2 Francis Ngannou
3 Junior Dos Santos
4 Curtis Blaydes
5 Derrick Lewis
6 (T) Alexander Volkov
6 (T) Alistair Overeem +1
8 Cain Velasquez
9 Aleksei Oleinik
10 Shamil Abdurakhimov
11 Justin Willis
12 Tai Tuivasa
13 Marcin Tybura -3
14 Blagoy Ivanov
15 Andrei Arlovski

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT:
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Jessica Andrade
2 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
3 Tatiana Suarez
4 Nina Ansaroff 
5 Claudia Gadelha
6 Weili Zhang 
7 Michelle Waterson 
8 Tecia Torres
9 Carla Esparza
10 Karolina Kowalkiewicz -1
11 Cynthia Calvillo
12 Felice Herrig
13 Alexa Grasso
14 Randa Markos
15 Cortney Casey

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT:
Champion: Valentina Shevchenko
1 Jessica Eye
2 Katlyn Chookagian
3 Liz Carmouche
4 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
7 Roxanne Modafferi +2
5 Joanne Calderwood
7 Alexis Davis -1
8 (T) Lauren Murphy
8 (T) Jennifer Maia +1
10 Andrea Lee
11 Montana De La Rosa
12 Mara Romero Borella
13 Maycee Barber +1
14 Paige VanZant +1
15 Poliana Botelho

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT:
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Germaine de Randamie
2 Holly Holm
3 Ketlen Vieira
4 Raquel Pennington
5 Cat Zingano
6 Aspen Ladd
7 Yana Kunitskaya
8 Marion Reneau
9 Sara McMann
10 Irene Aldana
11 Tonya Evinger 
12 Bethe Correia 
13 Lina Lansberg
14 Macy Chiasson 
15 Talita Bernardo