In the ever-shifting MMA landscape, ranking the world’s greatest fighters might seem like a fool’s errand, but that’s exactly what we’ve set out to do with the MMA Fighting Global Rankings. Here, our esteemed panel sorts out the movers and shakers from every division to provide you with the most definitive list of the best fighters on the planet.

Updated pound-for-pound rankings can be found here.

Khamzat Chimaev has arrived. Again.

You can’t blame fans for being disappointed with the past few years of Chimaev’s career after an unprecedented UFC debut in 2020 that saw him finish three fighters in three months. Since then, health issues (and possibly visa issues) have limited his in-cage appearances, he made embarrassed himself at UFC 279 by missing weight and missing out on a main event spot against Nate Diaz, and he had a couple of close calls against Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns that raised doubts as to whether he was truly championship material.

At UFC 308 this past weekend, those doubts went out the window as he ran through former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker. “The Reaper” was Chimaev’s toughest test yet and he not only succumbed to Chimaev’s ruthless wrestling attack, he left Abu Dhabi with a busted-up mouth courtesy after tapping out to a brutal face crank.

Chimaev jumps up 10 spots in our middleweight rankings to the No. 2 spot, but questions remain. Was his towering performance enough to jump him over Sean Strickland in the contender’s line after UFC CEO Dana White recently proclaimed that Strickland is likely to rematch champion Dricus du Plessis next? More importantly, should Chimaev be granted that opportunity, can he be trusted to make it to fight night?

One thing is for sure: There are few fighters in the world today more intriguing than Chimaev when he steps into that cage.

Let’s take a quick look at the other big storylines in our latest rankings update.

• Kamaru Usman out! Our criteria includes an automatic removal clause if a fighter is inactive for 18 months, which might have some of you scratching your head as to why Usman is no longer listed. His bout with Chimaev occurred 12 months ago, however, it was contested at 185 pounds. The former welterweight champion hasn’t actually competed at 170 pounds since March 2023 (and hasn’t actually won a fight since November 2021, yikes!), meaning he has passed the threshold and is no longer eligible to be ranked in that division.
• Julianna Peña is back! Whether you agree with the scoring or not, Peña is officially bantamweight champion again after defeating Raquel Pennington. Our panel still didn’t see enough in that comeback fight to put her over Kayla Harrison, our No. 1 fighter at 135 pounds by just a few points. Hopefully, they get the chance to prove who deserves the top spot inside the octagon.
• Hat tip to Anthony Hernandez, Paul Hughes, and Iasmin Lucindo for making major moves in the rankings. Hernandez impressed in his first UFC main event, bulldozing Michel Pereira and cracking our top-10, while Lucindo eked out a split decision over strawweight stalwart Marina Rodriguez to jump up seven spots. But the most surprising shakeup came from PFL, where highly touted Irish lightweight Paul Hughes made a gargantuan step up in competition and became just the second man to earn a victory over A.J. McKee. Hughes earns a coveted top-15 spot in MMA’s deepest division and could soon be one of the faces of the league.