The performance bonuses for Van, Tsarukyan? Spots in P4P top 10

UFC 331 delivered some remarkable performances, a couple of which landed fighters in the ESPN pound-for-pound rankings.

One of them is not heavyweight Sean Sharaf, despite him pulling off the biggest upset in UFC history with his 12-second knockout of mega-prospect Gable Steveson. Women's flyweight Casey O'Neill produced a leading candidate for submission of the year, escaping a dangerous position to quickly armbar Eduarda Moura, but that didn't earn O'Neill a top-10 spot, either.

Both of those fighters were eye openers, but the rankings were reserved for the two winners of Saturday's headline fights.

In the main event, Joshua Van successfully defended his men's flyweight title against former champion Alexandre Pantoja, using crisp boxing and efficient grappling to secure a unanimous decision. Van moves into the men's rankings at No. 8, and Pantoja, who previously occupied that position, drops out.

Also earning a top-10 spot is co-main event winner Arman Tsarukyan, who knocked out flashy striker Mauricio Ruffy to all but secure a lightweight title shot. Tsarukyan moves in at No. 10, with former light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira falling from the rankings.

For the ESPN divisional MMA rankings, click here.

Note: Results are current; rankings are as of Sept. 23. To be eligible for the rankings, a fighter must have competed over the past 12 months or must have an upcoming fight booked. Fighters who have been dropped for inactivity can be reinstated only after they compete.

Men's pound-for-pound rankings

1. Islam Makhachev

UFC welterweight champion
Record: 29-1
Last: W (UD) vs. Ian Machado Garry, Aug. 15
Next: TBA

Makhachev vacated the UFC lightweight championship to go for a second title at welterweight. By winning that belt last November with a thrashing of Jack Della Maddalena, Makhachev staked his place among MMA's greatest -- not just in today's sport but of all time. His win over Machado Garry at UFC 330 was his 17th straight, breaking the UFC record for consecutive wins. Makhachev is piling up unprecedented achievements.

2. Petr Yan

UFC bantamweight champion
Record: 20-5
Last: W (UD) vs. Merab Dvalishvili, Dec. 6, 2025
Next: Oct. 24 vs. Dvalishvili

What a return to the top it's been for Yan. He began his career with 15 consecutive wins before going on a 1-4 run from 2021 to 2023. That almost doesn't feel real now, after watching him reclaim his throne against Dvalishvili, who once handed him the worst loss of his career. Yan took a major detour, but this was the destination we felt he was capable of before the skid. He once again looks like one of the best fighters on the planet. He can prove it by beating Dvalishvili again.

3. Merab Dvalishvili

UFC bantamweight
Record: 21-5
Last: L (UD) vs. Petr Yan, Dec. 6, 2025
Next: Oct. 24 vs. Yan

Dvalishvili was on one of the most impressive runs through the UFC's bantamweight division ever. Not only did he defeat Sean O'Malley for the second time in nine months at UFC 316, but he showcased a new part of his game, finishing O'Malley with a guillotine. Starting in August 2022, Dvalishvili beat José Aldo, Yan, Henry Cejudo, O'Malley (twice), Umar Nurmagomedov and Cory Sandhagen. But at UFC 323, in an attempt to become the first champion in UFC history to successfully defend a title four times in a calendar year, Dvalishvili lost a rematch with Yan. They will fight for a third time at UFC 333.

T-4. Tom Aspinall

UFC heavyweight
Record: 15-3, 1 NC
Last: NC1 vs. Ciryl Gane, Oct. 25, 2025
Next: TBA

You can make a case that Aspinall is the most dynamic, skillful, talented heavyweight the sport has seen. He is dominating opponents in a way that is unmatched. No one can last a round with him. He had hoped to prove his supremacy against Jon Jones, but Jones opted to retire, elevating Aspinall from interim champion. His first defense of the undisputed belt ended anticlimactically, as an eye poke resulted in his UFC 321 fight with Gane being declared a no-contest. Still recovering from the eye injury, Aspinall vacated his title on Sept. 14.

T-4. Justin Gaethje

UFC lightweight champion
Previous ranking: 6
Record: 28-5
Last: W (TKO4) vs. Ilia Topuria, June 14
Next: TBA

Gaethje has spent his 15-year career thrilling MMA fans, but before the title bout on the White House lawn, all he had to show for it -- aside from 15 bonus checks in 15 UFC appearances -- were two missed opportunities to be an undisputed champion. His fourth-round TKO of Topuria got Gaethje over the hump. It was a resilient performance in a back-and-forth battle that is a prime candidate for fight of the year. More important for Gaethje: At age 37, he is finally sitting at the top of the mountain.

6. Ilia Topuria

UFC lightweight
Previous ranking: 5
Record: 17-1
Last: L (TKO4) vs. Justin Gaethje, June 14
Next: TBA

Topuria was an undefeated two-division champion when he ran into Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 and was brutalized in a stoppage loss. How will that affect the immediate future of Topuria? His knockout wins over two of the greatest featherweights, Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, gave him an intimidating aura. Can the former champion get that back?

7. Alexander Volkanovski

UFC featherweight champion
Record: 28-4
Last: W (UD) vs. Diego Lopes, Jan. 31
Next: Oct. 24 vs. Movsar Evloev

It felt as if the sport had started to write Volkanovski's eulogy following his knockout loss to Ilia Topuria in February 2024. Volkanovski noticed and made a point of proving to everyone he still has plenty left by recapturing the featherweight belt at UFC 314, the first of two consecutive wins over Lopes. His age (37) will likely continue to be a prefight topic, which is fine because Volkanovski enjoys proving people wrong. Can he hand Evloev his first loss at UFC 333?

8. Joshua Van

UFC flyweight champion
Previous ranking: Unranked
Record: 18-2
Last: W (UD) vs. Alexandre Pantoja, Sept. 19
Next: TBA

Van has been champion since December, but until UFC 331, there were doubters. Van had been handed the belt by default, when his challenge for the title was waved off after 26 seconds because Pantoja dislocated his left elbow. Van went on to defend the title against Tatsuro Taira in May, then faced Pantoja in a rematch this past weekend. Van produced a clear victory -- his eighth win in a row -- to leave no doubt who rules at 125 pounds.

9. Ciryl Gane

UFC heavyweight champion
Record: 14-2, 1 NC
Last: W (TKO2) vs. Alex Pereira, June 14
Next: Nov. 14 vs. Josh Hokit

Gane is unique in that he is the first -- and could very well go down as the only -- heavyweight to face the division's four biggest names in Francis Ngannou, Jon Jones, Tom Aspinall and Pereira. None of those four have fought each other, yet all four have have fought the Frenchman. Gane was 0-2 with a no-contest against that group before he knocked out Pereira in the second round of their interim title fight. Gane was elevated to undisputed champ after Aspinall, still injured, vacated his title, and the new champ will defend against Hokit at UFC 334.

10. Arman Tsarukyan

UFC lightweight
Previous ranking: Unranked
Record: 24-3
Last: W (KO1) vs. Mauricio Ruffy, Sept. 19
Next: TBA

Tsarukyan is right back in the place he was in January 2025 -- on the cusp of a title fight. He withdrew from that challenge of Islam Makhachev one day before UFC 311 because of a back injury, and later in the year he was passed over twice when the UFC was booking lightweight title bouts. But by knocking out Mauricio Ruffy with an elbow in the first round at UFC 331, Tsarukyan put himself back at the front of the line.

Other fighter receiving votes: Alex Pereira.

How our panel voted

Brett Okamoto: 1. Islam Makhachev; 2. Petr Yan; 3. Merab Dvalishvili; 4. Ilia Topuria; 5. Alexander Volkanovski; 6. Joshua Van; 7. Arman Tsarukyan; 8. Ciryl Gane; 9. Alex Pereira; 10. Justin Gaethje.

Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Makhachev; 2. Volkanovski; 3. Gaethje; 4. Topuria; 5. Pereira; 6. Dvalishvili; 7. Van; 8. Gane; 9. Yan; 10. Tsarukyan.

Andrew Davis: 1. Makhachev; 2. Tom Aspinall; 3. Yan; 4. Dvalishvili; 5. Gaethje; 6. Topuria; 7. Volkanovski; 8. Van; 9. Gane; 10. Tsarukyan.

Dre Waters: 1. Makhachev; 2. Aspinall; 3. Yan; 4. Dvalishvili; 5. Gaethje; 6. Volkanovski; 7. Topuria; 8. Van; 9. Gane; 10. Pereira.

Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Makhachev; 2. Aspinall; 3. Yan; 4. Van; 5. Gaethje; 6. Dvalishvili; 7. Tsarukyan; 8. Topuria; 9. Gane; 10. Volkanovski.

Women's pound-for-pound rankings

1. Valentina Shevchenko

UFC flyweight
Record: 26-4-1
Last: W (UD) vs. Zhang Weili, Nov. 15, 2025
Next: TBA

Shevchenko's dominance came under question in 2022 and 2023, when she went 1-1-1 in a trilogy with Alexa Grasso. Boy, does that feel like a long time ago now. Shevchenko more than reasserted herself as the best flyweight in the world, and then she established herself as the No. 1 woman in the world, period. It wasn't surprising that she beat Zhang, but it was surprising how easy she made it look. Shevchenko is out injured, however, so she has vacated her UFC title, which will be up for grabs when Natalia Silva meets Wang Cong on Oct. 3.  

2. Zhang Weili

UFC flyweight / strawweight
Record: 26-4
Last: L (UD) vs. Valentina Shevchenko, Nov. 15, 2025
Next: TBA

It's hard to move up in weight, especially at the highest level. That sounds like it should be obvious, but Zhang had been dominant at 115 pounds for so long, some of us might have taken for granted how big of a challenge moving to 125 would be. UFC 322 was a bad night for Zhang, but she doesn't have many. And if she decides to stay at flyweight, it certainly seems reasonable to believe she'll fare better in the future.

3. Cris Cyborg

PFL featherweight champion
Record: 30-2, 1 NC
Last: W (UD) vs. Ketlen Vieira, Aug. 22
Next: TBA

It had been a while since Cyborg had fought an elite opponent in MMA until she met Larissa Pacheco in 2024. That was a legitimate matchup -- and many within the industry were predicting Cyborg's downfall. Instead, she took out the PFL's two-weight champion, upending all of Pacheco's momentum. One of the original pioneers of women's MMA is once again a champion after getting her second career submission at PFL Lyon in December. The PFL promoted her fight with Vieira as a retirement bout, but after her win Cyborg did not sound like someone who is done fighting.

4. Mackenzie Dern

UFC strawweight champion
Record: 17-5
Last: W (UD) vs. Gillian Robertson, Aug. 15
Next: TBA

Dern's rise to the 115-pound throne was truly a changing of the guard. She is the division's first first-time champion since 2019, because the previous three champs -- Zhang Weili, Carla Esparza and Rose Namajunas -- all were in their second reigns. Dern, nearly a decade into her MMA career after multiple jiu-jitsu world championships, has won four fights in a row, including a dominant performance against a fellow grappling-heavy fighter, Robertson, in her first title defense.

5. Natalia Silva

UFC flyweight
Record: 20-5-1
Last: W (UD) vs. Rose Namajunas, Jan. 24
Next: Oct. 3 vs. Wang Cong

Silva is looking every bit the part of a future UFC champion following a dominant display against Alexa Grasso at UFC 315 and a victory over Namajunas at UFC 324. Silva's stick-and-move style has frustrated even the highest level of opponent, and she's got youth on her side as she won't turn 30 until 2027. With an injured Valentina Shevchenko having vacated the title, Silva will fight Wang for the belt at UFC 332.

6. Alexa Grasso

UFC flyweight
Previous ranking: 10
Record: 18-5-1
Last: W (UD) vs. Manon Fiorot, Sept. 12
Next: TBA

Grasso went nearly three years without winning a fight, but her 2023 win right before the skid was a huge one, a submission of Valentina Shevchenko for the UFC title. What followed were two more fights with Shevchenko -- a draw, then a loss -- and then a loss to Natalia Silva. But she reasserted herself with a finish of Maycee Barber in March, then got the best of Fiorot, a fellow title contender, at Noche UFC to put herself in position for another title shot.

7. Dakota Ditcheva

PFL flyweight
Record: 16-0
Last: W (UD) vs. Denise Kielholtz, July 31
Next: TBA

Not only did Ditcheva win the PFL's flyweight season in 2024, but she did so in spectacular fashion -- a TKO finish over Taila Santos, who once challenged for a UFC title. Ditcheva fought only once in 2025, dominating Sumiko Inaba in the co-main event of the first PFL Champions Series card in Cape Town, South Africa. She then spent over a year on the sideline, healing injuries to both hands, before returning at PFL New York with a dominant win over Kielholtz.

8. Manon Fiorot

UFC flyweight
Previous ranking: 6
Record: 13-3
Last: L (UD) vs. Alexa Grasso, Sept. 12
Next: TBA

Fiorot had handled everyone the UFC put in front of her -- except the champion, Valentina Shevchenko, who defeated the Frenchwoman at UFC 315 in May 2025. But then, with another title shot within her grasp, Fiorot ran into Grasso, a former champion, at Noche UFC and lost a competitive fight.

9. Erin Blanchfield

UFC flyweight
Previous ranking: 8
Record: 14-2
Last: W (Sub2) vs. Tracy Cortez, Nov. 15, 2025
Next: Oct. 17 vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius

Her rise toward the top of the division was derailed by a March 2024 loss to Manon Fiorot, but Blanchfield bounced back with two straight wins, including one over two-time former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas in November 2024. If she wins her October bout with Jasudavicius, a fellow top-10 flyweight contender, Blanchfield would inch ever closer to a title shot.

10. Tatiana Suarez

UFC strawweight
Previous ranking: 9
Record: 12-1
Last: W (Sub2) vs. Loopy Godínez, April 11
Next: TBA

If Suarez is still feeling the effects of last year's humbling defeat to Zhang Weili in a title challenge, she certainly didn't show it at UFC 327, overcoming early adversity to thrash Godinez, a fellow top-10 strawweight. Suarez is going to be a tough out for anyone at 115 pounds.

How our panel voted

Brett Okamoto: 1. Valentina Shevchenko; 2. Zhang Weili; 3. Mackenzie Dern; 4. Cris Cyborg; 5. Alexa Grasso; 6. Manon Fiorot; 7. Dakota Ditcheva; 8. Natalia Silva; 9. Erin Blanchfield; 10. Tatiana Suarez.

Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Shevchenko; 2. Cyborg; 3. Zhang; 4. Dern; 5. Silva; 6. Grasso; 7. Ditcheva; 8. Suarez; 9. Fiorot; 10. Blanchfield.

Andrew Davis: 1. Shevchenko; 2. Zhang; 3. Cyborg; 4. Dern; 5. Silva; 6. Grasso; 7. Blanchfield; 8. Ditcheva; 9. Suarez; 10. Fiorot.

Dre Waters: 1. Shevchenko; 2. Zhang; 3. Cyborg; 4. Silva; 5. Dern; 6. Grasso; 7. Ditcheva; 8. Blanchfield; 9. Fiorot; 10. Suarez.

Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Shevchenko; 2. Zhang; 3. Cyborg; 4. Silva; 5. Grasso; 6. Dern; 7. Fiorot; 8. Blanchfield; 9. Suarez; 10. Ditcheva.