Merab Dvalishvili surpasses Ilia Topuria and Jon Jones in the UFC weight-for-pound rankings; see the top 15

Merab Dvalishvili with the belt on UFC 316 (Photo: Instagram)

The submission over Sean O'Malley in a rematch in the main event of the UFC 316, last Saturday (7), was valid for Merab Dvalishvili not only the second defense of the bantamweight belt (up to 61,2 kg), but also a significant rise in the organization's pound-for-pound ranking, which includes athletes from all categories.

In an update released in the early hours of Tuesday (10), the Georgian appeared in second place, overtaking the former featherweight champion (up to 65,7 kg) Ilia Topuria and the heavyweight champion (up to 120,2 kg) Jon Jones and only behind the former lightweight champion (up to 70,3kg) Islam makhachev, which tops the list.

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The moral of Merab Dvalishvili with the UFC it's no wonder. The first champion to defend his title twice in 2025, the Georgian has an incredible 13 consecutive victories in the octagon, where he has not been defeated since April 2018. The champion's resume includes triumphs over former champions such as Sean O'Malley, Henry Cejudo, Petr yan e José Aldo.

Defeated for the second time by the Georgian, Sean O'Malley was removed from the UFC's pound-for-pound top 15. The former bantamweight champion's departure gave way to Arman Tsarukyan, first place in the organization's lightweight ranking.

With Merab in second place, see the pound-for-pound rankings after UFC 316: