MMA Divisional Rankings: Michael Chandler exits due to inactivity as uncertainty swirls around Conor McGregor

In the ever-shifting MMA landscape, ranking the world’s greatest fighters might seem like a fool’s errand, but that’s exactly what we’ve set out to do with the MMA Fighting Global Rankings. Here, our esteemed panel sorts out the movers and shakers from every division to provide you with the most definitive list of the best fighters on the planet.

Updated pound-for-pound rankings can be found here.

This month, you may notice one curious removal from the list due to inactivity: Upcoming UFC 303 headliner Michael Chandler.

The lightweight star is expected to fight Conor McGregor on June 29, but after not competing in 18 months (actually 19 months by the time fight night rolls around), he is now subject to the rules for automatic removal, so he joins his rival among the unranked.

Though this may sound unfair with the fight just weeks away, keep in mind that Chandler isn’t officially active again until that cage door closes — and who knows if the mercurial McGregor even makes it to Las Vegas (he couldn’t even make it to Dublin!). And if Chandler loses, will he still merit a return to the rankings?

For now, he’s out.

Check out the complete June rankings below.

[Ed. note: Our rankings panel recently dropped from eight members to seven. That means one ballot’s points completely left the board, which had an effect across several divisions. If you see movement in a division that doesn’t relate to recent bouts, that’s probably why.]

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Heavyweight

MMA Fighting

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 6 Jailton Almeida def. Alexandr Romanov

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Tom Aspinall vs. No. 4 Curtis Blaydes (UFC 304, July 27), No. 3 Sergei Pavlovich vs. No. 7 Alexander Volkov (UFC Fight Night, June 22), No. 14 Phil De Fries vs. Augusto Sakai (KSW 95, June 7)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Derrick Lewis (4), Linton Vassell (3), Ryan Bader (1), Denis Goltsov (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): N/A

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Light Heavyweight

MMA Fighting

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 13 Anthony Smith def. Vitor Petrino, Bogdan Guskov def. No. 14 Ryan Spann

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 6 Jamahal Hill vs. No. 14 (tied) Carlos Ulberg (UFC 303, June 29), No. 8 Johnny Walker vs. No. 15 Volkan Oezdemir (UFC Fight Night, June 22)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Azamat Murzakanov (2), Bogdan Guskov (2), Alonzo Menifield (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): No. 15 Ryan Spann

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Middleweight

MMA Fighting

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 2 Sean Strickland def. No. 8 Paulo Costa

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 4 Robert Whittaker vs. No. 10 Khamzat Chimaev (UFC Fight Night, June 22), No. 5 Jared Cannonier vs. No. 11 Nassourdine Imavov (UFC Louisville, June 8)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Caio Borralho (3), Fabian Edwards (2), Jack Hermansson (2), Ikram Aliskerov (1), Chris Curtis (1), Impa Kasanganay (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): No. 14 Fabian Edwards

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Welterweight

MMA Fighting

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 13 Joaquin Buckley def. Nursulton Ruziboev, Shamil Musaev def. No. 15 Logan Storley

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 1 Leon Edwards vs. No. 4 Belal Muhammad (UFC 304, July 27), No. 7 Jason Jackson vs. Ramazan Kuramagomedov (Bellator Dublin, June 22), No. 8 Ian Machado Garry vs. No. 13 (tied) Michael Page (UFC 303, June 29), No. 15 Vicente Luque vs. Nick Diaz (UFC Abu Dhabi, Aug. 3)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Magomed Magomedkerimov (3), Randy Brown (2), Colby Covington (1), Rinat Fakhretdinov (1), Magomed Umalatov (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): No. 15 Logan Storley

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Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Lightweight

MMA Fighting

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 1 Islam Makhachev def. No. 6 Dustin Poirier

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: N/A

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Bobby Green (2), Jalin Turner (1), Matt Frevola (1), Drew Dober (1), Drakkar Klose (1), Tofiq Musayev (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): No. 10 (tied) Michael Chandler (inactivity)

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Featherweight

MMA Fighting

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): N/A

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 7 Arnold Allen vs. No. 13 Giga Chikadze (UFC 304, July 27), No. 15 Dan Ige vs. Joanderson Brito (UFC Fight Night, July 20)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Bryce Mitchell (3), Movlid Khaybulaev (1), Lerone Murphy (3), Chihiro Suzuki (1), Adam Borics (1), Joanderson Brito (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): N/A

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Bantamweight

MMA Fighting

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 3 Patchy Mix def. Magomed Magomedov, Jose Aldo def. No. 14 Jonathan Martinez

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 4 Cory Sandhagen vs. No. 8 Umar Nurmagomedov (UFC Abu Dhabi, Aug. 3), No. 7 Sergio Pettis vs. No. 4 FLW Kyoji Horiguchi (RIZIN 47, June 9), No. 9 Deiveson Figueiredo vs. No. 10 Marlon Vera (UFC Abu Dhabi, Aug. 3)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Kai Asakura (3), Kyler Phillips (3), Jonathan Martinez (3), Mario Bautista (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): No. 15 Kyler Phillips

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Flyweight

MMA Fighting

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 1 Alexandre Pantoja def. No. 14 Steve Erceg, No. 12 Alex Perez def. No. 10 (tied) Matheus Nicolau

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 4 Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Sergio Pettis (bantamweight bout) (RIZIN 47, June 9), No. 9 (tied) Muhammad Mokaev vs. No. 9 (tied) Manel Kape (UFC 304, July 27), No. 12 Alex Perez vs. No. 13 Tatsuro Taira (UFC Fight Night, June 15)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Askar Akarov (1), Azamat Kerefov (1), Kairat Akhmetov (1), Hiromasa Ougikubo (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): N/A

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Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Women’s Bantamweight

MMA Fighting

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): N/A

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 3 Mayra Bueno Silva vs. No. 8 Macy Chiasson (UFC 303, June 29), No. 12 Talita Bernardo vs. Olga Rubin (Invicta FC 55, June 28)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Tainara Lisboa (2), Melissa Mullins (2), Lucie Pudilova (2), Julia Avila (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): No. 15 Melissa Mullins

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Women’s Flyweight

MMA Fighting

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): N/A

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 13 Viviane Araujo vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius (UFC Fight Night, July 13), No. 5 Taila Santos vs. Jena Bishop (PFL 4, June 13), No. 6 Liz Carmouche vs. Kana Watanabe (PFL 4, June 13), No. 7 Maycee Barber vs. No. 10 Rose Namajunas (UFC Denver, July 13), No. 12 Viviane Araujo vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius (UFC Denver, July 13)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Karine Silva (4), Ariane Lipski (2), Julianna Velasquez (1), Jena Bishop (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown): No. 15 Julianna Velasquez

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Strawweight

MMA Fighting

Recent results for ranked fighters (previous ranking shown): No. 12 Angela Hill def. Luana Pinheiro, No. 13 Tabatha Ricci def. Tecia Pennington, Iasmin Lucindo def. No. 15 Karolina Kowalkiewicz

Upcoming bouts featuring ranked fighters: No. 5 Amanda Lemos vs. No. 6 Virna Jandiroba (UFC Fight Night, July 20), No. 8 Mackenzie Dern vs. No. 10 Loopy Godinez (UFC Abu Dhabi, Aug. 3), No. 14 Gillian Robertson vs. Michelle Waterson-Gomez (UFC 303, June 29)

Fighters also receiving votes (number of ballot appearances shown): Loma Lookboonmee (5), Karolina Kowalkiewicz (2), Tecia Pennington (1), Danni McCormack (1)

Falling out of the rankings (previous ranking shown: No. 6 Carla Esparza (inactivity), No. 15 Karolina Kowalkiewicz

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A refresher on the ground rules:

• The seven-person voting panel consists of MMA Fighting staffers Shaheen Al-Shatti, Alexander K. Lee, Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, E. Casey Leydon, Damon Martin, and Jed Meshew.
• Fighters will be removed from the rankings if they do not compete within 18 months of their most recent bout. Updates to the rankings are typically completed following each month’s UFC pay-per-view.
• Should a fighter announce their retirement, our panel will decide whether that fighter should immediately be removed from the rankings or maintain their position until further notice. (Let’s put it this way: We’d have taken Khabib Nurmagomedov out of our rankings a lot quicker than the UFC did.)
• Holding a promotion’s title does not guarantee that fighter will be viewed as the best in their promotion. Additionally, fighters who regularly compete or hold titles in multiple weight classes are eligible to be ranked in multiple lists.

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Make your voice heard in the comments below.