Manel Kape replaces Alexandre Pantoja at No. 1 in UFC 331 rankings update

The UFC Meta Rankings have been updated following the UFC 331 event last weekend in Los Angeles and it’s more bad news for Alexandre Pantoja. Not only did the former flyweight champion lose his five-round title fight against Joshua Van, “The Cannibal” also coughed up his No. 1 ranking to longtime nemesis Manel Kape.

Kape and Van are expected to collide at some point in early 2027.

UFC 331 results also saw Marlon Vera return to the bantamweight rankings at No. 12, while Casey O’Neil debuted at No. 11 in the women’s flyweight class. In addition, victories for Alonzo Menifield (middleweight) and Joanderson Brito (featherweight) helped them inch closer to the Top 10 in their respective divisions.

Check out the updated UFC Meta Rankings below (for an explanation on how they work click here).

UFC META RANKINGS

Champion: Joshua Van

1. Manel Kape +1
2. Alexandre Pantoja -1
3. Brandon Royval
4. Tatsuro Taira
5. Asu Almabayev
6. Lone’er Kavanagh
7. Ramazan Temirov
8. Kyoji Horiguchi
9. Brandon Moreno
10. Amir Albazi
11. Sumudaerji
12. Mitch Raposo
13. Rei Tsuruya
14. Charles Johnson
15. Alessandro Costa

BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Petr Yan

1. Merab Dvalishvili
2. Song Yadong
3. Sean O’Malley
4. Mario Bautista
5. Umar Nurmagomedov
6. Cory Sandhagen
7. David Martinez
8. Raoni Barcelos
9. Farid Basharat
10. Marcus McGhee
11. Deiveson Figueiredo
12. Marlon Vera *NR
13. Aiemann Zahabi
14. Bryce Mitchell
15. Montel Jackson

FEATHERWEIGHT

Champion: Alexander Volkanovski

1. Movsar Evloev
2. Diego Lopes
3. Lerone Murphy
4. Aljamain Sterling
5. Jean Silva
6. Arnold Allen
7. Pat Sabatini
8. Pavel Andrusca
9. Youssef Zalal
10. Kevin Vallejos
11. Joanderson Brito +4
12. Melquizael Costa -1
13. Steve Garcia -1
14. Aaron Pico -1
15. Jamall Emmers -1

LIGHTWEIGHT

Champion: Justin Gaethje

1. Ilia Topuria
2. Arman Tsarukyan
3. Charles Oliveira
4. Max Holloway
5. Paddy Pimblett
6. Quillan Salkilld
7. Benoit Saint Denis
8. Renato Moicano
9. Mateusz Gamrot
10. Mauricio Ruffy
11. Tom Nolan
12. Rafael Fiziev
13. Tofiq Musayev
14. Grant Dawson
15. Jalin Turner

WELTERWEIGHT

Champion: Islam Makhachev

1. Carlos Prates
2. Ian Machado Garry
3. Michael Morales
4. Jack Della Maddalena
5. Sean Brady
6. Gabriel Bonfim
7. Belal Muhammad
8. Joaquin Buckley +1
9. Uros Medic +1
10. Leon Edwards -2
11. Mike Malott
12. Kamaru Usman
13. Yaroslav Amosov
14. Kevin Holland
15. Daniel Rodriguez

MIDDLEWEIGHT

Champion: Sean Strickland

1. Khamzat Chimaev
2. Dricus Du Plessis
3. Nassourdine Imavov
4. Joe Pyfer
5. Brendan Allen
6. Caio Borralho
7. Gregory Rodrigues
8. Anthony Hernandez
9. Israel Adesanya
10. Christian Leroy Duncan
11. Ikram Aliskerov
12. Bo Nickal
13. Abus Magomedov
14. Edmen Shahbazyan *NR
15. Jared Cannonier -1

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Carlos Ulberg

1. Alex Pereira
2. Magomed Ankalaev
3. Jiri Prochazka
4. Paulo Costa
5. Jamahal Hill
6. Khalil Rountree
7. Navajo Stirling
8. Dominick Reyes
9. Reinier de Ridder
10. Azamat Murzakanov
11. Alonzo Menifield +2
12. Bogdan Guskov -1
13. Robert Whittaker -1
14. Johnny Walker
15. Muhammad Saidov

HEAVYWEIGHT

Champion: Ciryl Gane

1. Tom Aspinall -1
2. Sergei Pavlovich +1
3. Alex Pereira +1
4. Alexander Volkov -2
5. Rizvan Kuniev
6. Josh Hokit
7. Curtis Blaydes
8. Waldo Cortes Acosta
9. Vitor Petrino
10. Mario Pinto
11. Brando Pericic
12. Valter Walker
13. Serghei Spivac
14. Mick Parkin
15. Shamil Gaziev

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT

Champion: Mackenzie Dern

1. Zhang Weili
2. Virna Jandiroba
3. Tatiana Suarez
4. Denise Gomes
5. Gillian Robertson
6. Fatima Klein
7. Alexia Thainara
8. Piera Rodriguez
9. Yan Xiaonan
10. Mizuki Inoue
11. Loopy Godinez
12. Tabatha Ricci
13. Jaqueline Amorim
14. Talita Alencar
15. Amanda Lemos

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT

Champion: Valentina Shevchenko

1. Natalia Silva
2. Alexa Grasso
3. Erin Blanchfield
4. Manon Fiorot
5. Zhang Weili
6. Wang Cong
7. Jasmine Jasudavicius
8. Rose Namajunas
9. Maycee Barber
10. Tracy Cortez
11. Casey O’Neill *NR
12. Miranda Maverick -1
13. Regina Tarin -1
14. Karine Silva -1
15. Carli Judice

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT

Champion: Kayla Harrison

1. Joselyne Edwards
2. Norma Dumont
3. Luana Santos
4. Ailin Perez
5. Julianna Pena
6. Yana Santos
7. Jacqueline Cavalcanti
8. Michelle Montague
9. Melissa Croden
10. Karol Rosa
11. Bia Mesquita
12. Nora Cornolle
13. Macy Chiasson
14. Daria Zhelezniakova
15. Raquel Pennington

The official media rankings have not been updated at the time of publishing and are expected to be phased out in the coming weeks.

You can expect these rankings to change around this time next week, particularly in the bantamweight division, following the upcoming UFC Vegas 121: “Rosas Jr. vs. Barcelos” MMA event on Paramount+, scheduled for Sat., Sept. 26, 2026 at Meta Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

For much more on that upcoming fight card click here.