MMA Weight Rankings – After a shocking fall, where did Harrison land?

Kayla Harrisonloss for Larissa Pacheco at the 2022 PFL Championship last Friday was a great one. It was the first defeat of her career, and it came against a fighter she’d beaten twice before — and whom she liked to bet 8-1.

Aside from sending shockwaves to the PFL and female MMA in general, the results also shed light on just how mysterious Harrison has been in her MMA career.

She won her first 15 matches in outstanding performances, making great use of the judo skills that earned her two Olympic gold medals. She quickly became the biggest star in the PFL. But Harrison’s aim was higher than that. “I’m the female MMA queen!” Harrison has stated more than once.

The ESPN panel’s vote on our pound rankings didn’t make it that far, but Harrison made it into our female top 10.

Why not at the top, a more appropriate place for a queen?

Because it’s hard to judge how good Harrison is, given how competitive she is in the PFL. Most of the other fighters in our top 10 men and women are consistently tested at elite level in UFC fights or have established their legitimacy in other high-profile competitions.

Much of our weight council, like observers in the sport, is waiting for Harrison to prove herself more convincingly to become the queen she claims to be.

Then she lost to Pacheco, and the meaning of that amazing result is being felt in our latest female top 10.

How split was our panel on Harrison? Before the Pacheco fight, she was in the top 10 of our six voters; someone put her in fourth place. But after Friday’s loss, Harrison only appeared on two ballots. That’s not to say that others despise her, it’s just that they consider at least 10 other boxers to be better than her. However, Harrison ranked high enough in the two ballots that she appeared, for her to retain a spot in our top 10, just one place lower than before.

But now comes the test that MMA fans have been waiting for. Will Kayla Harrison have the courage to rise from the ashes of failure? In MMA, losing is not the end of the world. But some fighters react better than others. Those who overcome the first stumbling block in their career have the opportunity to become MMA royalty.

For the ESPN division MMA rankings, click here.

Note: Results are current; rankings as of November 30.

first. Amanda Nunes

UFC bantamweight and featherweight champion
Record: 22-5
Last: W (UD) Julianna PenaJuly 30
Next: TBD

2. Valentina Shevchenko

UFC flyweight champion
Record: 22-3
Last: W (SD) Taila SantosJune 11th
Next: TBD

3. Truong Ve Ly

UFC Straw Champion
Record: 23-3
Last: W (Extra 2) carla esparzaNovember 12, 2022
Next: TBD

4. Cris Cyborg

Bellator featherweight champion
Record: 26-2, 1 NC
Last: W (UD) Arlene BlencoweApril 23
Next: TBD

5. Julianna Pena

UFC chicken class
Record: 11-5
Last: L (University) Amanda NunesJuly 30
Next: TBD

6. Namajuna rose

UFC straw class
Record: 11-5
Last: L (SD) carla esparzaMay 7
Next: TBD

7. carla esparza

UFC straw class
Record: 19-7
Last: L (Extra2) Truong Ve LyNovember 12, 2022
Next: TBD

8. Jessica Andrade

UFC flyweight
Prior ratings: 9
Record: 23-9
Last: W (Extra1) Amanda LemosApril 23
Next: January 21 vs. Lauren Murphy

9. Kayla Harrison

Light PFL
Prior ratings: 8
Record: 15-1
Last: L (University) Larissa PachecoNovember 25, 2022
Next: TBD

ten. Amanda Lemos

UFC straw class
Prior ratings: not rated
Record: 13-2-1
Last: W (TKO3) Marina RodríguezNovember 5, 2022
Next: TBD

Other warriors who received votes: Larissa Pacheco, Ketlen Vieira, Manon Fiorot and Seika Izawa.

How our panel voted

Brett Okamoto: 1. Amanda Nunes; 2.Valentina Shevchenko; 3. Truong Ve Loi; 4. Cris Robot; 5. Namajuna rose; 6. Julianna Peña; 7. Kayla Harrison; 8. Jessica Andrade; 9. Larisa Paceco; 10. Carla Esparza.

Marc Raimondi: 1. Nunes; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Robots; 4. Truong; 5. Peña; 6. Namajuna; 7. Esparza; 8. Andrade; 9. Amanda Lemos; 10.Seika Izawa.

Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Nunes; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Zhang; 4. Robots; 5. Peña; 6. Harrison; 7. Esparza; 8. Pacheco; 9. Namajuna; 10. Andrade.

Megan Anderson: 1. Nunes; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Zhang; 4. Robots; 5. Namajuna; 6. Esparza; 7. Andrade; 8. Ketlen Vieira; 9. Passion fruit; 10. Pena.

Eddie Maisonet III: 1. Nunes; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Zhang; 4. Peña; 5. Robots; 6. Esparza; 7. Andrade; 8. Namajuna; 9. Passion fruit; 10. Pacheco.

Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Nunes; 2. Shevchenko; 3. Zhang; 4. Robots; 5. Andrade; 6. Peña; 7. Esparza; 8. Namajuna; 9. Fiorot; 10. Passion fruit.

Men’s pound-for-pound rankings

first. Alexander Volkanovski

UFC featherweight champion
Record: 25-1
Last: W (UD) Max HollowayJuly 2, 2022
Next: Feb 11 vs Feb 11 Islam Makhachev

2. Islam Makhachev

UFC lightweight champion
Record: 23-1
Last: W (Extra 2) Charles OliveiraOctober 22, 2022
Next:Feb 11 vs Feb 11 Alexander Volkanovski

3. Kamaru Usman

UFC weight class
Record: 20-2
Last: L (KO5) Leon EdwardsAugust 20
Next: TBD

T-4. Israel Adesanya

UFC middleweight
Record: 23-2
Last: L (TKO5) Alex PereiraNovember 12, 2022
Next: TBD

T-4. Francis Ngannou

UFC Heavyweight Champion
Record: 17-3
Last: W (UD) Ciryl GanesJanuary 22
Next: TBD

6. Charles Oliveira

UFC lightweight
Record: 33-9, 1 NC
Last: L (Extra2) Islam MakhachevOctober 22, 2022
Next: TBD

7. Leon Edwards

UFC Welterweight Champion
Record: March 20, 1 NC
Last: W (KO5) Kamaru UsmanAugust 20
Next: TBD

8. GBP

UFC Heavyweight Champion
Record: 22-3
Last: W (TKO2) TJ DillashawOctober 22, 2022
Next: TBD

9. Jiri Prochazka

UFC lightweight
Record: 29-3-1
Last: W (Sub5) Glover TeixeiraJune 11th
Next: TBD

ten. Robert Whittaker

UFC middleweight
Record: 24-6
Last: W (UD) Marvin VettoriSeptember 3, 2022
Next: Feb 12 vs Feb 12 Paulo Costa

Other fighters who received votes: Deiveson Figueiredo, Alex Pereira, Dustin Poirier, Ciryl Ganes and Brandon Moreno.

How our panel voted

Brett Okamoto: 1. Alexander Volkanovski; 2. Muslim Makhachev; 3. Israel Adesanya; 4. Kamaru Usman; 5. Robert Whittaker; 6. Charles Oliveira; 7. British Pound Sterling; 8. Francis Ngannou; 9. Deiveson Figueiredo; 10. Brandon Moreno.

Marc Raimondi: 1. Volkanovski; 2. Makhachev; 3. User; 4. Olives; 5. Ngannou; 6. Adesanya; 7. British Pound; 8. Edwards; 9. Alex Pereira; 10. Ciryl Gane.

Carlos Contreras Legaspi: 1. Volkanovski; 2. Makhachev; 3. User; 4. Ngannou; 5. Olives; 6. Adesanya; 7. Edwards; 8. Jiri Prochazka; 9. British Pound; 10. Pereira.

Megan Anderson: 1. Volkanovski; 2. Makhachev; 3. Adesanya; 4. User; 5. Olives; 6. Ngannou; 7. Edwards; 8. Prochazka; 9. Whittaker; 10. Figueiredo.

Eddie Maisonet III: 1. Volkanovski; 2. Makhachev; 3. Ngannou; 4. Adesanya; 5. User; 6. Olives; 7. Dustin Poirier; 8. Figueiredo; 9. British Pound; 10. Prochazka.

Jeff Wagenheim: 1. Volkanovski; 2. Ngannou; 3. Makhachev; 4. User; 5. Olives; 6. Adesanya; 7. Edwards; 8. Pereira; 9. Prochazka; 10. British Pound.