The final pay-per-view event of the UFC/ESPN era saw two new champions crowned, while the rest of the fighters in action at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday stepped up to deliver one of the most memorable fight cards of the year.
Petr Yan (20-5 MMA, 12-4 UFC) put an end to Merab Dvalishvili’s (21-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC) hopes of rubber-stamping a historic calendar year at the top of the bantamweight division, while Joshua Van left Las Vegas with the UFC flyweight championship around his waist after one of the most shocking finishes to a title fight in recent UFC history.
Let’s take a look at how the drama of UFC 323 has affected the latest official UFC rankings.
Big Changes in the Pound-for-Pound Rankings
After delivering the standout performance of 2025 against Merab Dvalishvili in Saturday’s main event, Petr Yan finds himself back in the driver’s seat at 135 pounds and wearing championship gold for the first time since his loss to Aljamain Sterling in April 2022.
Having reached the summit once more, “No Mercy” has also broken into the upper echelon of the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings, entering at No. 6. His arrival caused a minor shake-up in the standings, with Dvalishvili dropping to No. 8, while both Alex Pereira (13-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) and Alexander Volkanovski (27-4 MMA, 14-3 UFC) move up two places to fourth and fifth, respectively.
Middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) is the biggest beneficiary of the changes, climbing one spot to third, just behind current No. 1 Islam Makhachev and second-ranked Ilia Topuria.
Bantamweight Reshuffle
In addition to entering the pound-for-pound rankings, Yan now sits at the top of the UFC bantamweight division. Dvalishvili (No. 1), Umar Nurmagomedov (No. 2), and Sean O’Malley (No. 3) all drop one place.
Flyweight Contenders Gather
Joshua Van (16-2 MMA, 9-1 UFC) is the new king of the flyweight division, while the man he replaces, Alexandre Pantoja (30-6 MMA, 14-4 UFC), slides down into the No. 1 contender spot.
With his win over former champion Brandon Moreno on Saturday’s main card, Tatsuro Taira (18-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) moves up two places to third, while Brandon Royval (17-8 MMA, 7-4 UFC) also benefits from the changes, climbing one spot to second.
