Pound for pound: How sweet it is for ‘Suga’ Sean O’Malley
Sean O’Malley was a star even before he stepped inside the Octagon this past Saturday in Boston. And with a thrilling TKO of Aljamain Sterling in the UFC 292 main event, O’Malley elevated himself in a glorious new way, becoming the men’s bantamweight champion.
That accomplishment, and the big-punch manner in which he authored it 51 seconds into Round 2, has earned “Suga Sean” a spot in the ESPN men’s pound-for-pound rankings.
O’Malley was not the only fighter to put on a performance in the past few days that was worthy of a rankings debut. On Friday in New York, Larissa Pacheco scored a 14-second knockout of Olena Kolesnyk in a PFL women’s featherweight semifinal to move within one victory of becoming the first two-division PFL champ. Pacheco won last year’s championship when the promotion’s competition for women was held at lightweight.
Pacheco’s blink-and-you-missed-it TKO earned her a spot in a ESPN women’s pound-for-pound top 10 headed by Zhang Weili. The UFC strawweight champ went into the weekend at No. 1, and after her domination of Amanda Lemos at UFC 292, Zhang is now a unanimous choice for the top spot.
For the ESPN divisional MMA rankings, click here.
Note: Results are current; rankings as of Aug. 22. In order to be eligible for the rankings, a fighter must have competed over the past 12 months or must have an upcoming fight booked. Fighters who have been dropped for inactivity can be reinstated only after they compete.
UFC featherweight champion
Record: 26-2
Last: W (TKO3) Yair Rodriguez, July 8, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC lightweight champion
Record: 24-1
Last: W (UD) Alexander Volkanovski, Feb. 11, 2023
Next: Oct. 21 vs. Charles Oliveira
3. Jon Jones 
UFC heavyweight champion
Record: 27-1, 1 NC
Last: W (Sub1) Ciryl Gane, March 4, 2023
Next: Nov. 11 vs. Stipe Miocic
UFC middleweight champion
Record: 24-2
Last: W (TKO2) Alex Pereira, April 8, 2023
Next: Sept. 9 vs. Sean Strickland
5. Leon Edwards
UFC welterweight champion
Record: 21-3, 1 NC
Last: W (MD) Kamaru Usman, March 18, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC lightweight
Record: 34-9, 1 NC
Last: W (TKO1) Beneil Dariush, June 10, 2023
Next: Oct. 21 vs. Islam Makhachev
7. Kamaru Usman 
UFC welterweight
Previous ranking: 8
Record: 20-3
Last: L (MD) Leon Edwards, March 18, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC flyweight champion
Previous ranking: 9
Record: 26-5
Last: W (SD) Brandon Moreno, July 8, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC bantamweight champion
Previous ranking: Unranked
Record: 17-1, 1 NC
Last: W (TKO2) Aljamain Sterling, Aug. 19, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC bantamweight
Previous ranking: 7
Record: 22-4
Last: L (TKO2) Sean O’Malley, Aug. 19, 2023
Next: TBD
Other fighters receiving votes: Justin Gaethje, Max Holloway, Demetrious Johnson, Brandon Moreno and Alex Pereira.
Brett Okamoto: 1. Alexander Volkanovski; 2. Islam Makhachev; 3. Jon Jones; 4. Israel Adesanya; 5. Leon Edwards; 6. Charles Oliveira; 7. Kamaru Usman; 8. Alexandre Pantoja; 9. Max Holloway; 10. Brandon Moreno.
Marc Raimondi: 1. Jones; 2. Makhachev; 3. Volkanovski; 4. Adesanya; 5. Edwards; 6. Oliveira; 7. Sean O’Malley; 8. Pantoja; 9. Usman; 10. Moreno.
Megan Anderson: 1. Volkanovski; 2. Jones; 3. Makhachev; 4. Adesanya; 5. Edwards; 6. Oliveira; 7. Usman; 8. Justin Gaethje; 9. Aljamain Sterling; 10. O’Malley.
Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Volkanovski; 2. Makhachev; 3. Jones; 4. Adesanya; 5. Edwards; 6. Oliveira; 7. Usman; 8. O’Malley; 9. Sterling; 10. Alex Pereira.
Eddie Maisonet III: 1. Volkanovski; 2. Makhachev; 3. Adesanya; 4. Jones; 5. Oliveira; 6. Edwards; 7. Usman; 8. Pantoja; 9. Demetrious Johnson; 10. Sterling.
Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Makhachev; 2. Volkanovski; 3. Jones; 4. Adesanya; 5. Edwards; 6. Oliveira; 7. Pantoja; 8. O’Malley; 9. Usman; 10. Sterling.
1. Zhang Weili
UFC strawweight champion
Record: 24-3
Last: W (UD) Amanda Lemos, Aug. 19, 2023
Next: TBD
UFC flyweight
Record: 22-4
Last: L (Sub4) Alexa Grasso, March 4, 2023
Next: Sept. 16 vs. Alexa Grasso
3. Alexa Grasso
UFC flyweight champion
Record: 16-3
Last: W (Sub4) Valentina Shevchenko, March 4, 2023
Next: Sept. 16 vs. Valentina Shevchenko
UFC flyweight
Record: 11-1
Last: W (Sub2) Jessica Andrade, Feb. 18, 2023
Next: Aug. 26 vs Taila Santos
UFC strawweight
Record: 19-7
Last: L (Sub2) Zhang Weili, Nov. 12, 2022
Next: TBD
6. Yan Xiaonan
UFC strawweight
Record: 17-3
Last: W (KO1) Jessica Andrade, May 6, 2023
Next: TBD
PFL lightweight
Record: 15-1
Last: L (UD) Larissa Pacheco, Nov. 25, 2022
Next: TBD
PFL lightweight champion
Previous ranking: Unranked
Record: 22-4
Last: W (TKO1) Olena Kolesnyk, Aug. 18, 2023
Next: Nov. 24 vs. Marina Mokhnatkina
UFC strawweight
Previous ranking: Unranked
Record: 10-0
Last: W (Sub2) Jessica Andrade, Aug. 5, 2023
Next: TBD
10. Seika Izawa 
Rizin super atomweight champion
Previous ranking: 8
Record: 11-0
Last: W (Sub1) Claire Lopez, July 30, 2023
Next: TBD
Other fighters receiving votes: Liz Carmouche, Amanda Lemos, Raquel Pennington, Jessica Andrade, Manon Fiorot, Taila Santos and Mayra Bueno Silva.
Brett Okamoto: 1. Zhang Weili; 2. Valentina Shevchenko; 3. Alexa Grasso; 4. Erin Blanchfield; 5. Tatiana Suarez; 6. Kayla Harrison; 7. Carla Esparza; 8. Jessica Andrade; 9. Larissa Pacheco; 10. Yan Xiaonan.
Marc Raimondi: 1. Zhang; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Grasso; 4. Blanchfield; 5. Esparza; 6. Yan; 7. Izawa; 8. Suarez; 9. Liz Carmouche; 10. Pacheco.
Megan Anderson: 1. Zhang; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Grasso; 4. Esparza; 5. Blanchfield; 6. Yan; 7. Raquel Pennington; 8. Manon Fiorot; 9. Taila Santos; 10. Mayra Bueno Silva.
Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Zhang; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Grasso; 4. Harrison; 5. Esparza; 6. Blanchfield; 7. Yan; 8. Pacheco; 9. Andrade; 10. Carmouche.
Eddie Maisonet III: 1. Zhang; 2. Grasso; 3. Shevchenko; 4. Blanchfield; 5. Pacheco; 6. Lemos; 7. Harrison; 8. Izawa; 9. Carmouche; 10. Yan.
Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Zhang; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Grasso; 4. Blanchfield; 5. Esparza; 6. Yan; 7. Carmouche; 8. Izawa; 9. Suarez; 10. Pacheco.