You’ll also want to stay tuned for the Fight Club of Pain, which will be airing live Thursday at 7 pm EST. Don’t forget about my Five-tastic Picks article, which is only on the Dr. Roto network. Now it’s time to get to the rankings for this week. Have a great day, everyone, and may the fights be with you.
1. Ilia Topuria: Ilia Topuria is now the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world after knocking out Charles Oliveira. Since then, Topuria has been running his mouth but choosing his spots when he takes his shots on the X. It’s fun watching him cuss everyone out, and then you have the rumors that Justin Gaethje and he may happen at UFC 322. That matchup would be a barn-burner since both guys live to meet in the middle and bang.
2. Islam Makhachev: Islam Makhachev is preparing himself to challenge Jack Della Maddalena for the Welterweight Championship. Since then Dana White has come out and said that if Makhachev wins the title, that a super fight between him and Topuria will most likely happen. However, I don’t think JDM is going to let them walk him like this.
3. Merab Dvalishvili: Merab Dvalishvili defeated Sean O’Malley via submission this past weekend at UFC 316. This extended his winning streak to 13 as he broke down Sean easily and cemented his legacy like we talked about in the Fight Club of Pain. That legacy will be tested soon since Cory Sandhagen has stepped up to be the frontrunner for Dvalishvili’s next opponent.
4. Alexandre Pantoja: Alexandre Pantoja dismantled Kai Kara-France within two rounds, giving us those fireworks I talked about for weeks. Not only did Pantoja out-class Kara-France on their feet, he also took him down immediately and held him there for most of the fight. After the fight, Pantoja and Joshua Van had a face-of,f which most likely means Van will be the next man up for a total shot.
5. Dricus Du Plessis: Dricus Du Plessis moves down to the fifth spot while gearing up for his next fight against Khamzat Chimaev. That fight will take place at UFC 319, which is in Chicago. I’ve caught some flack for having DDP ranked so high but I love how great he can be. Anyone that can dominate Sean Strickland the way DDP has done only shows why he deserves this spot. However, since I rank my rankings on fighters who fight or have fought, DDP slips a little until his war with Chimaev.
6. Alexander Volkanovski: Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski stays ranked as my sixth pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Now that Volk is on this list, let’s talk about what he did to Diego Lopes. In their fight, Volkanovski kept on fighting which many people thought was a stupid decision. Instead, he threw down with Lopes before taking him down and winning the fight. As of right now, it looks like Yair Rodriguez may be getting the next title shot so we’ll have to wait and see what Uncle Dana comes up with.
7. Tom Aspinall: Tom Aspinall finally received his answer from Jones about their fight, and it was answered with his retirement. That means Ciryl Gane becomes the matchup that everyone wants to see. Tom also mentioned that he wouldn’t mind fighting Jailton Almeida and Alexander Volkov, who he has beaten before. However, with so many people talking about how Tom can’t handle Gane, you can bet that when this fight goes down, Tom will bring the pain.
8. Magomed Ankalaev: Magomed Ankalaev has since settled into being the champion since defeating Alex Pereira. Ankalaev has said that the contract is all but signed, but we’re waiting on this match until Pereira is ready. Once it’s officially announced, you can bet that we’ll all be ready to see if Poatan can bring the pain, this time around. Till then we all wait for Uncle Dana to give us the word.
9. Jack Della Maddalena: After defeating Belal Muhammed, I removed him from the list until there’s a clear path for a rematch or title bout. Unfortunately for JDM, Makhachev is coming for him so he better get ready because Islam is nothing like Muhammed. It feels like everyone is just looking past JDM and his ability to win so they can set up a super match between Topuria and Makhachev. I admit that I would love to see that fight but you should never look past an opponent like JDM.
10. Alex Pereira: Alex Pereira looks like he’ll be getting a rematch with Magomed Ankalaev as soon as he’s ready. Alex did say that he didn’t feel ready when asked about 317 but that doesn’t mean he isn’t ready to throw kana at Ank. Alex recently said “No one knows he’s champion,” after Ankalaev decided to talk trash after turning down the rematch a few weeks back. Since then Alex has been enjoying his time off while he gets ready for his rematch with Ank. He even grew his hair back and had been leaving videos of his training recently which could spell trouble for Ankalaev once the date is set. CHAMA!
