USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings review: Biggest movers in 2024

Males’s pound-for-pound greatest rise: Ilia Topuria

Topuria, MMA Junkie’s Male Fighter of the 12 months for 2024, went 2-0 in 2024. He claimed the UFC featherweight title by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski after which defended his throne by knocking out Max Holloway.

Males’s pound-for-pound greatest fall: Demetrious Johnson

Johnson naturally fell from No. 5 to out of the pound-for-pound rankings resulting from retirement.

Males’s pound-for-pound motion from starting to finish of 2024:

1. Jon Jones –
2. Alex Pereira +5
3. Islam Makhachev -1
4. Ilia Topuria UR
5. Alexandre Pantoja +8
6. Francis Ngannou +8
7. Alexander Volkanovski -4
8. Dricus Du Plessis UR
9. Belal Muhammad UR
10. Leon Edwards -6
11. Tom Aspinall UR
12. Merab Dvalishvili UR
13. Sean O’Malley -3
14. Magomed Ankalaev UR
15. Khamzat Chimaev UR

Fighters current at starting of 2024, now eliminated:

– Demetrious Johnson (began No. 5)
– Sean Strickland (began No. 8)
– Israel Adesanya (began No. 9)
– Patricio Freire (began No. 12)
– Jamahal Hill (began No. 15)

Heavyweight greatest rise: Jailton Almeida

Almeida climbed 4 spots after a 1-1 yr, shedding to Curtis Blaydes and defeating Alexandr Romanov.

Heavyweight greatest fall: Stipe Miocic

Miocic went 0-1 in 2024, shedding to Jon Jones in his first struggle since 2021. Miocic additionally introduced his retirement.

Heavyweight motion from starting to finish of 2024:

1. Francis Ngannou –
2. Tom Aspinall +1
3. Jon Jones -1
4. Ciryl Gane +1
5. Alexander Volkov +3
6. Sergei Pavlovich -2
7. Curtis Blaydes –
8. Jailton Almeida +4
9. Serghei Spivac +2
10. Marcin Tybura –
11. Derrick Lewis +2
12. Renan Ferreira UR
13. Jairzinho Rozenstruik UR
14. Tai Tuivasa -5
15. Alexandr Romanov –

Fighters current at starting of 2024, now eliminated:

– Stipe Miocic (began No. 6)
– Ryan Bader (began No. 14)

Mild heavyweight greatest rise: Carlos Ulberg

Ulberg rose from unranked to No. 10 following a 2-0 yr the place he defeated Alonzo Menifield and Volkan Oezdemir.

Mild heavyweight greatest fall: Aleksandar Rakic

Rakic fell from No. 8 to No. 12 following an 0-2 yr the place he misplaced to Jiri Prochazka and Magomed Ankalaev.

Mild heavyweight motion from starting to finish of 2024:

1. Alex Pereira –
2. Magomed Ankalaev +2
3. Jiri Prochazka –
4. Jamahal Hill -2
5. Corey Anderson +1
6. Vadim Nemkov -1
7. Jan Blachowicz –
8. Nikita Krylov +1
9. Khalil Rountree +2
10. Carlos Ulberg UR
11. Volkan Oezdemir UR
12. Aleksandar Rakic -4
13. Johnny Walker -3
14. Dominick Reyes –
15. Anthony Smith -3

Fighters current at starting of 2024, now eliminated:

– Ryan Spann (began No. 13)
– Alonzo Menifield (began No. 15)

Middleweight greatest rise: Caio Borralho

Borralho started the yr unranked and ended at No. 7 following a 2-0 yr which included a stoppage of Paul Craig and a choice win in his first UFC foremost occasion over former title challenger Jared Cannonier.

Middleweight greatest fall: Alex Pereira

Pereira’s elimination from the middleweight rankings was merely resulting from his everlasting transfer to mild heavyweight, the place he at the moment holds the division’s title.

Middleweight motion from starting to finish of 2024:

1. Dricus Du Plessis +3
2. Sean Strickland -1
3. Israel Adesanya -1
4. Khamzat Chimaev +5
5. Robert Whittaker –
6. Johnny Eblen +1
7. Caio Borralho UR
8. Nassourdine Imavov UR
9. Jared Cannonier -3
10. Marvin Vettori -2
11. Brendan Allen +2
12. Gregory Rodrigues UR
13. Anthony Hernandez UR
14. Roman Dolidze -2
15. Shara Magomedov UR

Fighters current at starting of 2024, now eliminated:

– Alex Pereira (began No. 3)
– Derek Brunson (began No. 10)
– Paulo Costa (began No. 11)
– Jack Hermansson (began No. 14)
– Kelvin Gastelum (began No. 15)

Welterweight greatest rise: Joaquin Buckley

Buckley started the yr unranked and ended at No. 5 following a 4-0 yr which included wins over Vicente Luque, Nursulton Ruziboev, Stephen Thompson and Colby Covington.

Welterweight greatest fall: Jason Jackson

Jackson fell six spots from No. 8 to No. 14 following a 1-1 yr the place he misplaced the Bellator welterweight title to Ramazan Kuramagomedov.

Welterweight motion from starting to finish of 2024:

1. Belal Muhammad +2
2. Leon Edwards -1
3. Shavkat Rakhmonov +1
4. Kamaru Usman -2
5. Joaquin Buckley UR
6. Jack Della Maddalena +9
7. Sean Brady +2
8. Gilbert Burns -2
9. Ian Machado Garry +5
10. Colby Covington -5
11. Stephen Thompson -4
12. Ramazan Kuramagomedov UR
13. Shamil Musaev UR
14. Jason Jackson -6
15. Michael Morales UR

Fighters current at starting of 2024, now eliminated:

– Khamzat Chimaev (began No. 10)
– Yaroslav Amosov (began No. 11)
– Geoff Neal (began No. 12)
– Vicente Luque (began No. 13)

Light-weight greatest rise: Dan Hooker

Hooker jumped 5 spots from No. 14 to No. 9 following a 1-0 yr with a break up determination win over Mateusz Gamrot.

Light-weight greatest fall: Mateusz Gamrot

Gamrot fell three spots from No. 7 to No. 10 after a 1-1 yr which included a unanimous determination win over Rafael dos Anjos and a break up determination loss to Hooker.

Light-weight motion from starting to finish of 2024:

1. Islam Makhachev –
2. Arman Tsarukyan +3
3. Charles Oliveira -1
4. Justin Gaethje -1
5. Dustin Poirier -1
6. Usman Nurmagomedov +2
7. Beneil Dariush -1
8. Grant Dawson +1
9. Dan Hooker +5
10. Mateusz Gamrot -3
11. Rafael Fiziev –
12. Renato Moicano UR
13. Olivier Aubin-Mercier -3
14. Michael Chandler -2
15. Benoit Saint Denis -2

Fighters current at starting of 2024, now eliminated:

– Jared Gordon (began No. 15)

Featherweight greatest rise: Diego Lopes

Lopes started the yr unranked and ended at No. 7 following a 3-0 yr which included wins over Sodiq Yusuff, Dan Ige and Brian Ortega.

Featherweight greatest fall: Patricio Freire

Patricio Freire started the yr at No. 3, however fell to No. 11 after a 1-0 yr which included a title protection in opposition to Jeremy Kennedy in March. The autumn was primarily resulting from inactivity, which Freire not too long ago voiced his frustrations about.

Featherweight motion from starting to finish of 2024:

1. Ilia Topuria +3
2. Alexander Volkanovski -1
3. Max Holloway -1
4. Movsar Evloev +4
5. Yair Rodriguez –
6. Josh Emmett –
7. Diego Lopes UR
8. Brian Ortega +4
9. Arnold Allen -2
10. Bryce Mitchell –
11. Patricio Freire -8
12. Lerone Murphy +3
13. Aljamain Sterling UR
14. Calvin Kattar -3
15. Giga Chikadze -2

Fighters current at starting of 2024, now eliminated:

– A.J. McKee (began No. 9)
– Dan Ige (began No. 14)

Bantamweight greatest rise: Umar Nurmagomedov

Nurmagomedov vaulted from No. 15 to No. 5 following a 2-0 yr, which included wins over Bekzat Almakhan and Cory Sandhagen. He’s additionally set for a title shot within the first pay-per-view of 2025 in opposition to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311.

Bantamweight greatest fall: Aljamain Sterling

Sterling’s fall from No. 3 to out of the rankings was merely resulting from switching to the featherweight division.

Bantamweight motion from starting to finish of 2024:

1. Merab Dvalishvili +1
2. Sean O’Malley -1
3. Patchy Combine +1
4. Petr Yan +3
5. Umar Nurmagomedov +10
6. Cory Sandhagen -1
7. Mario Bautista +4
8. Jose Aldo UR
9. Henry Cejudo –
10. Track Yadong -2
11. Deiveson Figueiredo +2
12. Raufeon Stots -2
13. Marlon Vera -7
14. Vinicius Oliveira UR
15. Rob Font -1

Fighters current at starting of 2024, now eliminated:

– Aljamain Sterling (began No. 3)
– Ricky Simon (began No. 12)

Flyweight greatest rise: Brandon Royval

Royval jumped from No. 8 to No. 2 following a 2-0 yr which included break up determination wins over Brandon Moreno and Tatsuro Taira.

Flyweight greatest fall: Demetrious Johnson

Johnson’s fall from No. 1 to out of the rankings was resulting from retirement.

Flyweight motion from starting to finish of 2024:

1. Alexandre Pantoja +1
2. Brandon Royval +6
3. Brandon Moreno –
4. Amir Albazi +2
5. Muhammad Mokaev +2
6. Manel Kape +6
7. Tatsuro Taira +6
8. Kai Kara-France +2
9. Steve Erceg +5
10. Kai Asakura UR
11. Alex Perez +4
12. Jafel Filho UR
13. Bruno Silva UR
14. Asu Almabayev UR
15. Charles Johnson UR

Fighters current at starting of 2024, now eliminated:

– Demetrious Johnson (began No. 1)
– Deiveson Figueiredo (began No. 4)
– Askar Askarov (began No. 5)
– Adriano Moraes (began No. 9)
– Matheus Nicolau (began No. 11)

Girls’s pound for pound greatest rise: Julianna Peña

Peña began the yr unranked and completed No. 7 following a 1-0 yr which included her first struggle since 2022 to reclaim the ladies’s bantamweight title by defeating Raquel Pennington.

Girls’s pound for pound greatest fall: Liz Carmouche

Carmouche fell from No. 6 to out of the rankings following a 2-1 yr which included wins over Juliana Velasquez and Kana Watanabe but additionally a loss to Taila Santos.

Girls’s pound for pound motion from starting to finish of 2024:

1. Cris Cyborg –
2. Zhang Weili –
3. Valentina Shevchenko +1
4. Alexa Grasso -1
5. Larissa Pacheco –
6. Julianna Peña UR
7. Raquel Pennington UR
8. Kayla Harrison +2
9. Manon Fiorot -1
10. Erin Blanchfield -3
11. Tatiana Suarez -2
12. Rose Namajunas –
13. Dakota Ditcheva UR
14. Taila Santos UR
15. Virna Jandiroba UR

Fighters current at starting of 2024, now eliminated:

– Liz Carmouche (began No. 6)
– Carla Esparza (began No. 11)
– Jessica Andrade (began No. 13)
– Juliana Velasquez (began No. 14)
– Holly Holm (began No. 15)

Girls’s strawweight greatest rise: Iasmin Lucindo

Lucindo began the yr unranked and ended at No. 9 following a 2-0 yr, which included determination wins over Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Marina Rodriguez.

Girls’s strawweight greatest fall: Rose Namajunas

Namajunas’ fall from No. 5 to unranked was merely resulting from completely switching divisions to flyweight.

Girls’s strawweight motion from starting to finish of 2024:

1. Zhang Weili –
2. Tatiana Suarez –
3. Virna Jandiroba +4
4. Yan Xiaonan +1
5. Jessica Andrade +4
6. Amanda Lemos –
7. Mackenzie Dern +3
8. Crazy Godinez +4
9. Iasmin Lucindo UR
10. Tabatha Ricci +4
11. Marina Rodriguez -3
12. Tecia Pennington UR
13. Carla Esparza -10
14. Amanda Ribas -1
15. Gilian Robertson UR

Fighters current at starting of 2024, now eliminated:

– Rose Namajunas (began No. 4)
– Xion Jing Nan (began No. 11)
– Denise Gomes (began No. 15)

Girls’s flyweight greatest rise: Dakota Ditcheva

Ditcheva began the yr unranked and completed No. 5 following a 4-0 yr which included wins over Lisa Muldin, Chelsea Hackett, Jena Bishop, and Taila Santos to win the PFL girls’s flyweight championship. Ditcheva was additionally MMA Junkie’s Feminine Fighter of the 12 months for 2024.

Girls’s flyweight greatest fall: Jessica Andrade

Andrade’s fall from No. 6 to out of the rankings got here after a 1-1 yr which included a strawweight win over Marina Rodriguez and a flyweight loss to Natalia Silva.

Girls’s flyweight motion from starting to finish of 2024:

1. Valentina Shevchenko +1
2. Alexa Grasso -1
3. Manon Fiorot +2
4. Erin Blanchfield –
5. Dakota Ditcheva UR
6. Taila Santos +2
7. Liz Carmouche -4
8. Juliana Velasaquez -1
9. Maycee Barber +3
10. Rose Namajunas UR
11. Tracy Cortez -2
12. Natalia Silva UR
13. Jasmin Jasudavicius UR
14. Miranda Maverick UR
15. Katlyn Cerminara -5

Fighters current at starting of 2024, now eliminated:

– Jessica Andrade (began No. 6)
– Lauren Murphy (began No. 11)
– Viviane Araujo (began No. 13)
– Jennifer Maia (began No. 14)
– Ariane Lipski (began No. 15)

Girls’s bantamweight greatest rise: Kayla Harrison

Harrison started the yr unranked and ends at No. 3 following a 2-0 yr, which included her bantamweight and UFC debuts. She defeated Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira.

Girls’s bantamweight greatest fall: Jennifer Maia

Maia’s fall from No. 10 to No. 15 got here after her exit from the UFC, though she put collectively a 2-0 yr with wins over Mayra Cantuaria and Talita Bernardo in Invicta.

Girls’s bantamweight motion from starting to finish of 2024:

1. Julianna Peña –
2. Raquel Pennington –
3. Kayla Harrison UR
4. Ketlen Vieira -1
5. Norma Dumont UR
6. Irene Aldana -1
7. Macy Chiasson UR
8. Mayra Bueno Silva -4
9. Holly Holm -3
10. Miesha Tate -3
11. Karol Rosa -1
12. Julia Avila -4
13. Pannie Kianzad -4
14. Ailin Perez UR
15. Jennifer Maia -5

Fighters current at starting of 2024, now eliminated:

– Yana Santos (began No. 11)
– Joselyne Edwards (began No. 12)
– Irina Alekseeva (began No. 13)
– Stephanie Egger (began No. 14)
– Talita Bernardo (began No. 15)

Girls’s featherweight greatest rise: Sara Collins

Collins began the yr at No. 12 and ended at No. 4 following a 1-0 yr which included a submission win over Leah McCourt.

Girls’s featherweight greatest fall: Kayla Harrison

Harrison’s fall from No. 9 to No. 11 was resulting from inactivity within the division after committing to a transfer to bantamweight to hitch the UFC.

Girls’s featherweight motion from starting to finish of 2024:

1. Cris Cyborg –
2. Larissa Pacheco –
3. Cat Zingano –
4. Sara Collins +8
5. Leah McCourt -1
6. Sara McMann -1
7. Arlene Blencowe -1
8. Norma Dumont -1
9. Olena Kolesnyk -1
10. Aspen Ladd –
11. Kayla Harrison -2
12. Julia Budd -1
13. Sinead Kavanagh –
14. Marina Mokhnatkina –
15. Pam Sorenson –

Fighters current at starting of 2024, now eliminated:

None