With a fourth-round TKO win over Chan Sung Jung at this past weekend’s UFC 163 event, champion Jose Aldo maintained his top spot in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com featherweight rankings. He stayed put at No. 4 in the pound-for-pound rankings, however.
UFC 163 also saw a key light heavyweight matchup between Lyoto Machida and Phil Davis. Davis’ controversial unanimous decision win prompted a shakeup in the rankings at 205 pounds.
The rankings take into account a fighter's wins/losses, quality of competition, finishing rate/dominance and frequency of fights.
Fighters are no longer eligible to be ranked after they've been inactive for 24 months, either due to injuries, drug/conduct suspensions, contract disputes or self-imposed hiatuses.
Fighters serving drug/conduct suspensions are eligible to be ranked, so long as they're not inactive for more than 24 months.
To the best of our ability, fighters will be ranked in their primary weight class. Catchweight fights and bouts outside the fighter's primary weight class can have a positive or negative impact on the ranking. However, fighters can be ranked in only one weight class at a given time, and in most cases, they won't be ranked in a new weight class until they've had their first fight at that weight.