The new UFC – Meta rankings are out under the new system and they have already garnered their fair share of controversy.
Under the new system here are the biggest movers:
Moved up:
Alex Pereira, Heavyweight: Unranked to #4.
Paulo Costa, Light Heavyweight: #7 to #4.
Bo Nickal, middleweight: #15 to #12.
Carlos Prates, welterweight: #2 to #1.
Quillan Salkilld, lightweight, #12 to #8.
Moved down:
Derrick Lewis, heavyweight: #11 to unranked
Jan Blachowicz, heavyweight: #4 to #15
Rafael Fiziev, lightweight: #11 to unranked
Yair Rodriguez, featherweight: #5 to unranked
Payton Talbott, bantamweight: #11 to unranked
The Meta UFC Rankings will be automatically calculated and updated by Monday following every official UFC event. To determine individual athlete ranks, the system combines statistical modeling and machine learning with the deep domain expertise of the UFC. It evaluates a comprehensive set of objective metrics, including outcome probability, win type, fighter trajectory, and weight-class sensitivities.
Not all wins or losses are treated equally: Under the Meta UFC Rankings, beating a higher-ranked opponent carries more weight than defeating a lower-ranked one, and a dominant finish against a Top 5 ranked contender is a stronger signal than a close decision over an unranked opponent. The system also accounts for recency, with more recent fights carrying greater weight while applying inactivity penalties for fighters who go extended periods without competing. By relying exclusively on measurable fight data, the Meta UFC Rankings ensure a fighter’s placement accurately reflects their true competitive performance inside the Octagon – nothing else.
The reaction to the new system has its critics:
Two days ago Guskov was fighting against the top opponent to climb in the light heavyweight ladder. It turns out that it’s the other way around now 😁 #ufcrankings
— Jan Blachowicz (@JanBlachowicz) June 23, 2026
Genuinely f—–g terrible.
2-4 Borjas at #10.
Blachowicz at #15 while Guskov is #10.
Literally the worst idea the UFC has ever had.
— Blessed Man Forever (@blessedszn) June 22, 2026
Pereira not being in the rankings makes sense he hasn’t even won a fight at heavyweight
— Patrick (@Patrickpqkd) June 22, 2026
Prates over Garry? Buckley over Usman? What’s goin on
— Amir 🙏🏾🦇🐍😷 (@SaquonMVP) June 22, 2026
Heavy Weight is now the weakest and least interesting division. Pathetic.
— The Cold Hard Truth (@coldtruthcoach) June 22, 2026
So ones actual stats and the other is fan base .. makes sense . I’ll go with the proper stats seeing how casuals will hype a 2 streak loser
— Rickey (@justrickey_) June 22, 2026
the new Meta AI rankings are interesting. It takes the bias out of media polls and gives a data-driven view.
— Joshua Aweda (@AwedaJoshua) June 22, 2026
Dana White attempting to fix the UFC rankings, but Ai puts Kevin Borjas as a UFC champion: pic.twitter.com/YuowxjMmPy
— MMA On Point (@mmaonpoint) June 23, 2026
So the Meta UFC rankings as it turns out are not AI but just another Elo ranking system. Which, cool. Are they actually gonna mean something different than the previous rankings though? Some thoughts. https://t.co/NKPNu0paZ1
— Ben Fowlkes (@benfowlkesMMA) June 23, 2026
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