Surprise, surprise!
Just when it felt as though Khamzat Chimaev had installed himself as a permanent fixture atop the UFC’s middleweight ranks, along comes Sean Strickland to spoil the party. At UFC 328 in Newark, New Jersey, the massive underdog narrowly outpointed the division’s great bugaboo to claim gold for the second time in his career.
And with that, Strickland hurls Chimaev out of the Uncrowned men’s top 10 pound-for-pound rankings and charts at No. 9 for the month of May.
He’s not the only debutant this month. With his dramatic stoppage of Tatsuro Taira in Saturday night’s co-main event, 24-year-old Joshua Van also breaks into the top space this month. The young phenom showed his mettle as a champion in victory, and he now awaits his rematch with Alexandre Pantoja.
The panel of Ben Fowlkes, Chuck Mindenhall, Shaheen Al-Shatti, Petesy Carroll, Drake Riggs, Eric Jackman and Conner Burks have ranked both the men’s and women’s pound-for-pound best, one through 10, using a weighted points system to determine the final rankings (being voted No. 1 equals 10 points, No. 2 equals nine points, down to No. 10 equaling one point).
Our only criterion for these monthly rankings is that a fighter has competed within at least a calendar year of the publication date or has at least had a fight booked within that window. If a fighter hasn’t competed in a year and books a fight after that time, he or she is once again eligible to be voted back in. Fighters who retire are no longer eligible for the rankings.
Though most of the best fighters are currently in the UFC, these rankings are not UFC exclusive. We take into consideration all the major promotions, from Bellator/PFL conglomerate to ONE Championship.
Without further ado, here are Uncrowned’s MMA pound-for-pound rankings for May 2026.
Sean Strickland is once again a pound-for-pound fighter. (Ed Mulholland via Getty Images)
MEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Islam Makhachev — UFC welterweight champion (Prev: 1)
What a time to rule the welterweight ranks. It looks like Ian Machado Garry will draw the assignment against Makhachev next, which should make for a fun fight, yet with Carlos Prates’ recent victory over Jack Della Maddalena — and Michael Morales closing in by the minute— Makhachev has challenges for days.
2. Ilia Topuria — UFC lightweight champion (Prev: 2)
It’s been a busy week for Topuria, who visited President Trump at the White House and then stood up for mankind after Josh Hokit’s attempt at a hostile takeover at the UFC Freedom 250 press conference. As for the matter of fighting Justin Gaethje, Topuria doesn’t seemed fazed in the slightest.
3. Alexandre Pantoja — Former UFC flyweight champion (Prev: 4)
He was at UFC 327 in Miami, so you knew that erstwhile flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja was going to be in Newark for UFC 328 to find out whom he’ll be facing next. It turns out it’ll be Van. Did you see Pantoja’s face when Van was asked if he wanted the rematch? It was a look that said, “Get a load of this guy …”
4. Petr Yan — UFC bantamweight champion (Prev: 6)
As Yan continues his recovery from back surgery, the mighty Merab Dvalishvili has been resting up for the trilogy fight. Well, we say resting up meaning Dvalishvili isn’t fighting at a breakneck pace. There’s a possibility the two will resolve things in the late summer or early fall.
5. Alexander Volkanovski — UFC featherweight champion (Prev: 5)
You don’t think Volkanovski doesn’t want to be the first guy to beat Movsar Evloev? There’s big temptation in such things, especially when you’re in the gravy mode of an already legendary career. What’s one more scalp when you’re known as “Alexander the Great”?
6. Alex Pereira — Former UFC two-division champion (Prev: 8)
Pereira found himself the victim of Josh Hokit’s nursery rhymes at the White House presser, which didn’t seem to bother “Poatan” too much. When you’re going for a historic third title, every has-been, would-be and never-was is going to be chirping at you. Ultimately, it’s all a sign of respect.
7. Tom Aspinall — UFC heavyweight champion (Prev: 7)
In Tom Aspinall’s absence, things are moving along. Next month Alex Pereira will fight Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title, which will determine whom Aspinall next faces. At least, that’s the hope. Meanwhile, new names like Hokit are hogging up attention, leaving Hokit’s next opponent, Derrick Lewis, to do pest control.
8. Merab Dvalishvili — Former UFC bantamweight champion (Prev: 8)
It’s doubtful Dvalishvili is enjoying his downtime, but you can’t help but think it’s much needed. The year he had in 2025, in which he defended the bantamweight title three times before losing it to Yan, was enough to do in any man. Or any “Machine,” for that matter.
9. Sean Strickland — UFC middleweight champion (Prev: NR)
Listen you guys, not a lot of people gave Strickland a snowball’s chance in Hades to beat Chimaev. It wasn’t pretty and it wasn’t easy, but Strickland got the job done. As a now two-time middleweight champion, he defies odds in ways we’ve never seen before. Looks like a rematch with Nassourdine Imavov is in order for his first defense.
10. Joshua Van — UFC flyweight champion (Prev: NR)
There is a youthful exuberance to Van that suggests life hasn’t yet had a chance to wear him down. Taira sure tried to at UFC 328, and Van coolly bid his time until he could light up the Japanese contender with a beautiful boxing display. He lit Taira up so bright that you could see the challenger from space.
(Others receiving votes: Khamzat Chimaev, Arman Tsarukyan, Carlos Ulberg)
(Hassan Ahmad, Yahoo Sports)
WOMEN’S POUND-FOR-POUND
1. Valentina Shevchenko — UFC flyweight champion (Prev: 1)
It’s been six months since Shevchenko humbled the ambitious Zhang Weili at UFC 322 and still no rumblings of her next fight. The sound you hear is “tick tock,” as the clock is ticking. Though she has looked as deadly as ever recently, Shevchenko quietly turned 38 in March, which makes her the oldest champion on the roster.
2. Kayla Harrison — UFC bantamweight champion (Prev: 2)
With her fight against Amanda Nunes in a state of pending as Harrison recovers from neck surgery, her nsideline battle has been against Ronda Rousey. Her fellow judoka condemned Harrison’s money-making ability and discounted her as a draw. To all this Harrison posted a classic three-word response: “Fight me den.”
3. Zhang Weili — Former UFC strawweight champion (Prev: 3)
There’s still a strong suspicion that Zhang will move back to the division she ruled after her lark at flyweight, which would almost certainly mean a clash with current champ Mackenzie Dern. Timetables may come into play here, especially now that Tatiana Suarez has re-announced her authority at 115 pounds, but Zhang has little reason to compete in non-title situations.
4. Cris Cyborg — PFL women’s featherweight champion (Prev: 4)
Cyborg’s name will be mentioned a lot this week, as Gina Carano returns from a short 17-year hiatus to take on Ronda Rousey. It was Cyborg who beat the daylights out of Carano back in 2009 and sent her packing to Hollywood. Needless to say, it’ll be bittersweet if Cyborg gets to looking for something to watch on Netflix on Saturday.
5. Dakota Ditcheva — PFL flyweight contender (Prev: 5)
A hand injury has slowed Ditcheva’s return, but there’s hope she’ll be returning to the PFL cage at some point this summer. It’s a shame she’s been shelved so long after her magical run in 2024. With just one fight in the last 18 months, her star dims a little with each passing day.
6. Natalia Silva — UFC flyweight contender (Prev: 6)
Look, she handled former champ Rose Namajunas in January. Before then she beat former champ Alexa Grasso, a win that has aged extremely well given that Grasso scored one of the finishes of the year against Maycee Barber. Before then she beat former champ Jessica Andrade. What more does Silva have to do to get signed on for a title shot?
7. Manon Fiorot — UFC flyweight contender (Prev: 7)
It’s less than ideal for a 36-year-old contender like Fiorot to be put on a seven-month hold after knocking out someone as tough as Jasmine Jasudavicius, yet things move suuuuu(yawn)uuuuper slowly in the women’s ranks. With Grasso’s incredible showing in Seattle, a contender’s bout between Fiorot and the heart of Guadalajara would carry some heat.
8. Seika Izawa — RIZIN super atomweight champion (Prev: 8)
You know who plays taps? Seika Izawa, that’s who. She subbed Rena Kubota at the end-of-the-year RIZIN show with a guillotine to run her record to 18-0. What’s wild is she’s scored submissions in seven of her past 10 bouts, which is why the word “phenom” is used so frequently when describing the 28-year-old champ.
9. Mackenzie Dern — UFC strawweight champion (Prev: 9)
Another champion who hasn’t fought in over half-a-year, Dern is at least making appearances. She was seen with her dog in a recent Paramount+ commercial, and she pops up fairly regularly at the live shows. At some point it would be neat to see her defend the title, but — from her perspective — what’s the rush? (Especially if that title defense is against Weili Zhang.)
10. Erin Blanchfield — UFC flyweight contender (Prev: 10)
Somebody needs to call matchmaker Sean Shelby and find out what the hold-up is in making these fights. Blanchfield just turned 27 last week, which is how old a full collective of rock stars were when they perished, and she hasn’t fought since last October. Granted, there’s a clusterblank at women’s flyweight, but the best way to sort it out is to have them fight one another.
(Others receiving votes: Tatiana Suarez, Alexa Grasso, Virna Jandiroba, Liz Carmouche)
(Hassan Ahmad, Yahoo Sports)
Here’s how we voted:
SHAHEEN AL-SHATTI
MEN
Islam Makhachev
Ilia Topuria
Alexandre Pantoja
Tom Aspinall
Alex Pereira
Sean Strickland
Alexander Volkanovski
Petr Yan
Merab Dvalishvili
Arman Tsarukyan
WOMEN
Valentina Shevchenko
Kayla Harrison
Zhang Weili
Cris Cyborg
Seika Izawa
Natalia Silva
Dakota Ditcheva
Tatiana Suarez
Mackenzie Dern
Alexa Grasso
CONNER BURKS
MEN
Islam Makhachev
Ilia Topuria
Petr Yan
Alexandre Pantoja
Alexander Volkanovski
Tom Aspinall
Alex Pereira
Merab Dvalishvili
Joshua Van
Carlos Ulberg
WOMEN
Valentina Shevchenko
Kayla Harrison
Cris Cyborg
Zhang Weili
Dakota Ditcheva
Natalia Silva
Manon Fiorot
Seika Izawa
Mackenzie Dern
Erin Blanchfield
PETESY CARROLL
MEN
Islam Makhachev
Ilia Topuria
Alexandre Pantoja
Alex Pereira
Tom Aspinall
Alexander Volkanovski
Petr Yan
Sean Strickland
Khamzat Chimaev
Merab Dvalishvili
WOMEN
Valentina Shevchenko
Zhang Weili
Kayla Harrison
Dakota Ditcheva
Cris Cyborg
Mackenzie Dern
Natalia Silva
Manon Fiorot
Erin Blanchfield
Tatiana Suarez
BEN FOWLKES
MEN
Islam Makhachev
Ilia Topuria
Alexander Volkanovski
Petr Yan
Merab Dvalishvili
Alexandre Pantoja
Alex Pereira
Tom Aspinall
Joshua Van
Arman Tsarukyan
WOMEN
Valentina Shevchenko
Zhang Weili
Kayla Harrison
Cris Cyborg
Dakota Ditcheva
Erin Blanchfield
Natalia Silva
Manon Fiorot
Alexa Grasso
Tatiana Suarez
ERIC JACKMAN
MEN
Islam Makhachev
Ilia Topuria
Alexandre Pantoja
Petr Yan
Merab Dvalishvili
Alex Pereira
Sean Strickland
Alexander Volkanovski
Joshua Van
Arman Tsarukyan
WOMEN
Valentina Shevchenko
Kayla Harrison
Zhang Weili
Cris Cyborg
Manon Fiorot
Natalia Silva
Mackenzie Dern
Tatiana Suarez
Dakota Ditcheva
Erin Blanchfield
CHUCK MINDENHALL
MEN
Islam Makhachev
Ilia Topuria
Alexandre Pantoja
Alexander Volkanovski
Tom Aspinall
Petr Yan
Merab Dvalishvili
Alex Pereira
Joshua Van
Sean Strickland
WOMEN
Valentina Shevchenko
Kayla Harrison
Zhang Weili
Cris Cyborg
Dakota Ditcheva
Manon Fiorot
Erin Blanchfield
Tatiana Suarez
Natalia Silva
Alexa Grasso
DRAKE RIGGS
MEN
Islam Makhachev
Ilia Topuria
Alexandre Pantoja
Petr Yan
Alexander Volkanovski
Tom Aspinall
Alex Pereira
Merab Dvalishvili
Carlos Ulberg
Sean Strickland
WOMEN
Valentina Shevchenko
Seika Izawa
Zhang Weili
Cris Cyborg
Kayla Harrison
Natalia Silva
Mackenzie Dern
Virna Jandiroba
Liz Carmouche
Dakota Ditcheva
