Fight Week MMA Pound-for-Pound Top 10: Makhachev Holds No. 1 as Volkanovski and Yan Shine

Updated: October 28, 2026

The top of the MMA world still belongs to Islam Makhachev, but the fighters immediately behind him are doing everything possible to make sure the pound-for-pound conversation does not become predictable.

Alexander Volkanovski delivered one of the strongest performances of his latest championship run at UFC 333, stopping previously unbeaten Movsar Evloev late in the second round. On the same card, Petr Yan defeated Merab Dvalishvili for the second consecutive time, defending the bantamweight championship and settling a rivalry that had become one of the division’s defining stories.

Those victories reinforce something Fight Week has maintained throughout these rankings: pound-for-pound status should be based on what fighters are doing now, not simply on reputation or promotional visibility.

That philosophy also means fighters outside the UFC remain eligible. Usman Nurmagomedov continues to represent PFL among the sport’s elite, while unbeaten RIZIN and PFL featherweight champion Razhabali Shaydullaev finally forces his way into the Top 10 after defeating former Bellator champion A.J. McKee.

Here is the Fight Week MMA Pound-for-Pound Top 10 for October 2026.

Rank	Fighter	Promotion	Previous
1	Islam Makhachev	UFC	1
2	Alexander Volkanovski	UFC	2
3	Petr Yan	UFC	3
4	Justin Gaethje	UFC	4
5	Ilia Topuria	UFC	5
6	Joshua Van	UFC	9
7	Tom Aspinall	UFC	6
8	Usman Nurmagomedov	PFL	8
9	Sean Strickland	UFC	7
10	Razhabali Shaydullaev	RIZIN / PFL	NR

1. Islam Makhachev — 29-1

Previous Rank: 1 — No Change

Islam Makhachev remains Fight Week’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter because nobody beneath him has yet assembled the combination of championship success, elite victories and sustained dominance necessary to take the position away from him.

Makhachev has already conquered lightweight and successfully taken his game into the welterweight division. His ability to control opponents through wrestling, positional grappling and increasingly effective striking has made him one of the most complete fighters of his generation.

The UFC’s current official pound-for-pound rankings also place Makhachev at No. 1.

Volkanovski is making the argument more interesting, but Makhachev remains the standard everyone else is chasing.

2. Alexander Volkanovski — 29-4

Previous Rank: 2 — No Change

Alexander Volkanovski did more than simply defend his featherweight championship at UFC 333.

He handed Movsar Evloev the first loss of his professional career and did it emphatically, stopping the undefeated challenger with strikes at 4:54 of the second round. Evloev entered as the division’s No. 1 contender and had never lost in 10 UFC appearances. Volkanovski made him look considerably less threatening than that résumé suggested.

At this stage of his career, every major victory adds another layer to Volkanovski’s legacy. He has already survived championship changes, a move to lightweight, difficult losses and questions about whether his best days were behind him.

The answer against Evloev was clear.

Volkanovski remains elite, and his hold on the No. 2 position is stronger today than it was one month ago.

3. Petr Yan — 21-5

Previous Rank: 3 — No Change

Petr Yan has completed one of the most impressive career turnarounds in recent MMA history.

There was a point when Yan had lost three consecutive fights and seemed to be drifting away from the championship picture. Instead, he rebuilt himself, reclaimed the bantamweight championship and has now defeated Merab Dvalishvili twice in succession.

Their UFC 333 trilogy bout was considerably more competitive than their previous meeting, but Yan again found answers as the fight progressed. Dvalishvili relentlessly pursued takedowns, yet Yan’s defense, body work and increasingly sharp combinations allowed him to take control over the championship rounds. All three judges scored the fight 48-47 for Yan.

The UFC’s official pound-for-pound list currently has Yan fourth, behind Justin Gaethje. Fight Week keeps Yan at No. 3 because another successful championship defense against an elite former champion carries enormous weight.

Yan is not simply back.

He may be fighting the best MMA of his career.

4. Justin Gaethje — 28-5

Previous Rank: 4 — No Change

Justin Gaethje remains firmly inside Fight Week’s top five after becoming the UFC lightweight champion and handing Ilia Topuria the first defeat of his professional career.

Gaethje’s career has always been associated with violence and entertainment, but that reputation occasionally obscures how technically disciplined he has become. The fighter who reached the championship level this time around is considerably more measured than the version who first arrived in the UFC.

That maturity is why he remains ahead of Topuria in the rankings.

The next lightweight championship defense will tell us whether Gaethje can maintain this position or whether one of the deepest divisions in MMA produces another major shift.

5. Ilia Topuria — 17-1

Previous Rank: 5 — No Change

Ilia Topuria’s first professional defeat has not erased the résumé that brought him into the pound-for-pound elite.

Topuria knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to win the featherweight championship and then moved divisions and captured lightweight gold. Those accomplishments cannot simply disappear because of one loss to another elite fighter.

What matters now is how he responds.

The best fighters almost always encounter adversity eventually. Topuria’s next chapter will tell us whether the Gaethje loss represented the beginning of a decline or simply the first setback in what could still become an extraordinary career.

For now, he remains comfortably at No. 5.

6. Joshua Van — 18-2

Previous Rank: 9 — ↑ 3

Fight Week was conservative with Joshua Van when he first entered the rankings.

It is time to correct that.

Van has now successfully defended the UFC flyweight championship twice, and his September rematch with Alexandre Pantoja answered any remaining questions created by the unusual ending of their first meeting.

Van defeated Pantoja by unanimous decision, with scores of 49-46, 48-47 and 50-45. He adjusted to Pantoja’s grappling, gradually took control with his striking and punctuated the performance with a fifth-round knockdown.

At only 25, Van is still early in his championship development, but the body of work has grown too strong to leave him near the bottom of the Top 10.

He rises three spots to No. 6.

7. Tom Aspinall — 15-3 (1 NC)

Previous Rank: 6 — ↓ 1

Tom Aspinall falls one position without losing a fight.

That is not a punishment. It is simply what happens when another champion builds a stronger active résumé.

When healthy, Aspinall remains one of the most frightening fighters in MMA. Heavyweights are not supposed to move the way he moves, and very few fighters at his size possess his combination of boxing, speed, grappling and finishing ability.

The issue is activity.

Joshua Van has continued defending his championship while Aspinall’s heavyweight reign has slowed. Pound-for-pound rankings have to reward fighters who are actively producing elite results.

Aspinall remains one dominant heavyweight performance away from climbing again.

8. Usman Nurmagomedov — 22-0 (1 NC)

Previous Rank: 8 — No Change

Usman Nurmagomedov remains the highest-ranked fighter outside the UFC.

That is not a courtesy spot.

Nurmagomedov defended his PFL lightweight championship in July against previously undefeated Archie Colgan and destroyed him in the opening round, earning a TKO at 3:42.

His unbeaten record, championship résumé and technical completeness make him one of the sport’s best lightweights regardless of promotional affiliation.

The biggest question now concerns opposition.

Nurmagomedov has already demonstrated that he is elite. What he needs next is another opponent capable of testing exactly how elite he might be.

Until then, No. 8 remains appropriate.

9. Sean Strickland — 31-7

Previous Rank: 7 — ↓ 2

Sean Strickland drops two positions primarily because the fighters around him have been more active.

His championship résumé and awkward pressure-heavy style remain legitimate pound-for-pound credentials. Strickland has repeatedly shown that his seemingly simple approach becomes extraordinarily difficult to solve over five rounds.

But rankings cannot remain frozen.

Van has added significant championship victories, while other fighters near the top have recently strengthened their résumés. Strickland has not done enough lately to hold the same position.

He remains comfortably inside the Top 10, but the gap between No. 9 and the fighters immediately outside the rankings has narrowed.

10. Razhabali Shaydullaev — 19-0

Previous Rank: Not Ranked — New Entry

This is exactly why Fight Week’s rankings cover all of MMA.

Razhabali Shaydullaev is no longer simply an intriguing prospect fighting outside the UFC. He is an undefeated world-class featherweight with championships in two major organizations.

At Super RIZIN 5, Shaydullaev defeated former Bellator champion A.J. McKee by unanimous decision to retain the RIZIN featherweight championship and capture the vacant PFL title. The victory improved him to 19-0 and gave him the biggest name on an already impressive résumé.

Even more impressive is how Shaydullaev reached this point. Eighteen of his 19 victories have come by stoppage, and his recent run includes finishes of established fighters such as Kleber Koike, Juan Archuleta and Mikuru Asakura.

Shaydullaev enters Fight Week’s global rankings at No. 10.

If he continues winning, he will not stay there long.

Biggest Mover: Joshua Van

Joshua Van rises from No. 9 to No. 6.

The move reflects more than one victory. His championship résumé has matured rapidly, and the decisive rematch victory over Pantoja removed the biggest question surrounding his title reign.

Fight Week initially placed Van cautiously when he entered the rankings. After reevaluating the quality of his recent championship run, No. 6 better reflects where he stands in MMA today.

New Entry: Razhabali Shaydullaev

Shaydullaev becomes the second fighter outside the UFC in the Fight Week Top 10.

His victory over A.J. McKee matters because McKee is not simply a recognizable veteran. He is a former Bellator champion who had spent years competing against elite opposition.

Beating him while simultaneously holding the RIZIN and PFL featherweight championships forces Shaydullaev into the global conversation.

Dropped Out: Merab Dvalishvili

Merab falls out after his second consecutive defeat to Petr Yan.

That may sound harsh for a fighter who was recently considered one of the best bantamweights in MMA, but pound-for-pound rankings cannot ignore consecutive losses.

Merab remains elite. His cardio, wrestling and pressure still make him an extraordinarily difficult matchup.

But two straight losses to the same champion, combined with Shaydullaev’s unbeaten championship run, leave him just outside the Top 10 for now.

On the Bubble

Arman Tsarukyan is probably the closest fighter to entering. His first-round knockout of Mauricio Ruffy at UFC 331 extended his winning streak to six and reinforced his status as one of the UFC’s leading lightweight contenders.

Merab Dvalishvili does not fall far. One strong victory could immediately return him to the list.

Ciryl Gane remains close because elite heavyweights can shift the rankings rapidly with one significant win, while Khamzat Chimaev still possesses the talent to force his way back into the discussion.

Alexandre Pantoja remains an accomplished former champion despite his loss to Van, and Vadim Nemkov continues to have one of the strongest non-UFC résumés among fighters outside the Top 10.

The Biggest Statement of the Month

Alexander Volkanovski Stops Movsar Evloev

Volkanovski did not move up because there is nowhere to move without overtaking Makhachev.

But his UFC 333 performance may have been the strongest pound-for-pound statement of the month.

Evloev entered unbeaten and carrying the type of wrestling-heavy style many believed could create serious problems for an aging featherweight champion. Instead, Volkanovski stopped him before the end of the second round.

That performance matters beyond one title defense.

Volkanovski is now 29-4, remains featherweight champion and continues adding elite victories after many observers had already begun writing the final chapter of his career.

The gap between No. 1 and No. 2 is still real.

It is simply getting more interesting.

Fight Week Debate

Has Alexander Volkanovski done enough to make Islam Makhachev’s No. 1 position debatable again?

And outside the UFC, the question is becoming just as interesting:

Who deserves the higher ranking right now—Usman Nurmagomedov or unbeaten RIZIN/PFL champion Razhabali Shaydullaev?