Former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is no longer on top of the men’s pound-for-pound rankings, dropping to the No. 2 spot days after his arrest in Las Vegas, Nevada.
On Friday, September 24, 2021, “Bones” was arrested and charged “with misdemeanor battery domestic violence and injuring or tampering with a vehicle,” according to a report from ESPN. Few details have been shared about what Jones has been accused about.
And on Tuesday, September 28, 2021, the official UFC rankings updated with a new king of the pound-for-pound list, welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. Also, UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski rose to No. 3, dropping middleweight king Israel Adesanya to No. 4.
Here are the rankings below:
1. Kamaru Usman
2. Jon Jones
3. Alexander Volkanovski
4. Israel Adesanya
5. Francis Ngannou
6. Dustin Poirier
7. Jan Blachowicz
8. Stipe Miocic
9. Max Holloway
10. Charles Oliveira
11. Brandon Moreno
12. Robert Whittaker
13. Petr Yan
14. Ciryl Gane
15. Justin Gaethje
UFCMen’s UFC P4P Rankings
All of the UFC’s rankings, including the pound-for-pound list, are determined by select media members.
“Rankings were generated by a voting panel made up of media members,” according to the UFC’s official website. “The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC.
“A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings.”
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Jones Hasn’t Competed Since February 2020, Wants to Return in 2022
It’s been a long time since fans have watched Bones inside the Octagon. Jones last fought at UFC 247 in February 2020 when he defended his 205-pound strap against Dominick Reyes via unanimous decision.
That summer, Jones announced he was vacating the light heavyweight strap and heading north to heavyweight.
Since then, Bones has been preparing his body to fight the bigger men of heavyweight, and the former champion has confirmed on multiple occasions he plans on fighting in 2022.
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Khabib Nurmagomedov Surpassed Jones in the Pound-for-Pound Rankings Last Year
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At UFC 254 in October 2020, Khabib Nurmagomedov successfully defended his lightweight title for the third time, choking out Justin Gaethje in the second round. After the fight, “The Eagle” announced his retirement from the sport.
He also had one request for the UFC and that was to place him at the top of the pound-for-pound list where he had been sitting below Jones at No. 2.
When the rankings updated, Nurmagomedov rose to No. 1, dropping Jones to No. 2.
Bones was vocal about his displeasure with The Eagle surpassing him, saying Nurmagomedov’s four title wins did not stack up to his 15. The Russian was eventually removed from the rankings as he had retired and vacated his belt.
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UFC’s Jon Jones Suffers Another Blow After Latest Arrest [LOOK]