Rankings Updated Following UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs. Hernandez | Toyota Center, Houston, TX — Feb. 21, 2026
The UFC released its updated divisional rankings Monday following Saturday night’s card in Houston. Below is a complete breakdown of every movement across all divisions.
Welterweight (Champion: Islam Makhachev)
- Uroš Medić — ENTERS at No. 12 (NR) | “The Dalmatian” crashes into the rankings with his Round 1 KO of Geoff Neal
- Colby Covington — UP 1, now No. 13 | Covington ticks up one spot despite not competing in the UFC in quite some time — a notable passive rise driven by others’ results
- Daniel Rodriguez — DOWN 2, now No. 15 | “D-Rod” slides two places following the ranking reshuffle
- Geoff Neal — EXITS Top 15 | The Houston native is dropped entirely after being stopped on home soil
Middleweight (Champion: Khamzat Chimaev)
- Sean Strickland — HOLDS at No. 3 | Main event TKO win not enough to move the needle for “Tarzan” in a crowded division
- Brendan Allen — UP 1, now No. 4
- Israel Adesanya — UP 1, now No. 5
- Anthony Hernandez — DOWN 2, now No. 6 | Pays the price for the TKO loss in the main event
Heavyweight (Champion: Tom Aspinall)
The Spivac win over Ante Delija sent significant ripple effects down the entire division. Derrick Lewis returns to the Top 10.
- Serghei Spivac — UP 1, now No. 6
- Rizvan Kuniev — DOWN 1, now No. 7
- Marcin Tybura — UP 2, now No. 8 (tied)
- Derrick Lewis — UP 3, now No. 8 (tied)
- Ante Delija — DOWN 1, now No. 10
- Tallison Teixeira — UP 1, now No. 11
- Shamil Gaziev — UP 1, now No. 12
- Mick Parkin — UP 2, now No. 13
- Vitor Petrino — ENTERS at No. 15 (NR)
Women’s Bantamweight (Champion: Kayla Harrison)
- Joselyne Edwards — UP 3, now No. 11 | The biggest mover of the week following her dominant finish
- Mayra Bueno Silva — DOWN 1, now No. 12
- Nora Cornolle — DOWN 1, now No. 13 | Falls following the loss to Edwards
- Miesha Tate — DOWN 1, now No. 14
Men’s Flyweight (Champion: Joshua Van)
- Lone’er Kavanagh — EXITS Top 15 | Drops out entirely ahead of his Feb. 28 main event vs. Brandon Moreno in Mexico City
- Joseph Morales — ENTERS at No. 15 (NR)
Featherweight (Champion: Alexander Volkanovski)
- Melquizael Costa — ENTERS at No. 13 (NR)
- Kevin Vallejos — DOWN 1, now No. 14
Women’s Flyweight (Champion: Valentina Shevchenko)
- Gabriella Fernandes — UP 1, now No. 14
- JJ Aldrich — DOWN 1, now No. 15
No Changes
Lightweight, Light Heavyweight, Men’s Bantamweight, Women’s Strawweight, and both Pound-for-Pound rankings all held steady with no movement following UFC Houston.
The next UFC event is UFC Fight Night: Moreno vs. Kavanagh on Saturday, February 28, 2026 in Mexico City.
