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Sean O’Malley suffers dip in pound-for-pound rankings after UFC 315 as new champion debuts
Sean O’Malley has dropped to No. 14 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings following UFC 315. Charles Oliveira and Belal Muhammad have also plummeted down the list, making way for new UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena. O’Malley is close to dropping out of the men’s pound-for-pound rankingsGetty Della Maddalena has debuted on the list at No. 9 as a new championGetty Della Maddalena was crowned the new UFC welterweight champion this past weekend after he was victorious in a five-round war with Muhammad. The pair headlined UFC 315 in Montreal, Canada, after Valentina Schevchenko defended her women’s flyweight against Manon Fiorot in the co-main event. Elsewhere on the pound-for-pound list, Volkanovski has moved up two spots into No. 7 to go ahead of former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. The top six are made up of UFC champions, apart from Ilia Topuria who vacated his featherweight title in February to move up 10lbs to the lightweight division. Islam Makhachev, Jon Jones, Topuria, Merab Dvalishvili, Dricus Du Plessis and Magomed Ankalaev all sit at the top of the list. Briton Tom Aspinall remains at No. 11, while Muhammad, O’Malley and Oliveira make up the bottom three. O’Malley hasn’t fought since dropping the bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili last September at UFC 306. After the defeat, ‘Suga’ had surgery to repair a torn shoulder labrum with a return in the first quarter of 2025 his main objective. Although the surgery was a success, O’Malley was dealing with personal issues and made the decision to disconnect from all forms of social media last December. He is now in training camp for a rematch with Dvalishvili at UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey on June 8 where Julianna Pena will defend her women’s bantamweight title in the co-main event. UFC Men's pound-for-pound rankings Islam Makhachev Jon Jones Ilia Topuria Merab Dvalishvili Dricus du Plessis Magomed Ankalaev Alexander Volkanovski (+2) Alex Pereira Jack Della Maddalena (New Rank) Alexandre Pantoja Tom Aspinall Max Holloway Belal Muhammad (-6) Sean O’Malley (-1) Charles Oliveira (-1) O’Malley hasn’t fought since September 2024 when he dropped the bantamweight titleGetty UFC bantamweight title contender Cory Sandhagen believes O’Malley has an advantage over Dvalishvili in the rematch. “I love rooting for an underdog,” he said last month. “So maybe O’Malley will do well, but it’s hard for me to imagine the fight going too different from the first one. “But also at the same time, the guy who has the puncher’s chance, obviously their ability to knock the person out goes up if you give them another 25 minutes to try to figure out how to do so. “It’s definitely an advantage for O’Malley going into this fight.” Della Maddalena made his first appearance on the men’s pound-for-pound list at ninth. His UFC 315 victory meant he was just the second Australian to ever win a UFC title, alongside Alexander Volkanovski who is the current UFC featherweight champion. JDM went to war with Muhammad in UFC 315’s main eventGetty Makhachev will likely fight Della Maddalena next to try and become a two-division championGetty The 28-year-old’s win also had huge ramifications on the future of UFC lightweight champion Makhachev and his division. Makhachev had been linked with a move up to welterweight, but not if Muhammad retained his title, as both men have trained together in the past and would never fight each other. However, with Della Maddalena as the new champion, Makhachev will now likely make the move up to welterweight to content for two-division championship status against the Australian. “Time to become a double champion… let’s go,” Makhachev wrote online after UFC 315’s main event. This also means that ex-UFC featherweight champion Topuria is pretty nailed on to face No. 2 ranked lightweight Oliveira for an interim title in his first fight at 155lbs. In terms of the middleweight rankings, Della Maddalena has moved up from No. 6 to the champion, meaning all names above him dropped one spot. They include Muhammad, Sean Brady, Shavkat Rakhmonov, Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman. Brady submitted Edwards at UFC London in March to boost his chances of a welterweight title shot this year.
Sean O’Malley has dropped to No. 14 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings following UFC 315.
Charles Oliveira and Belal Muhammad have also plummeted down the list, making way for new UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena.
Della Maddalena was crowned the new UFC welterweight champion this past weekend after he was victorious in a five-round war with Muhammad.
The pair headlined UFC 315 in Montreal, Canada, after Valentina Schevchenko defended her women’s flyweight against Manon Fiorot in the co-main event.
Elsewhere on the pound-for-pound list, Volkanovski has moved up two spots into No. 7 to go ahead of former UFC middleweight and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira.
The top six are made up of UFC champions, apart from Ilia Topuria who vacated his featherweight title in February to move up 10lbs to the lightweight division.
Islam Makhachev, Jon Jones, Topuria, Merab Dvalishvili, Dricus Du Plessis and Magomed Ankalaev all sit at the top of the list.
Briton Tom Aspinall remains at No. 11, while Muhammad, O’Malley and Oliveira make up the bottom three.
O’Malley hasn’t fought since dropping the bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili last September at UFC 306.
After the defeat, ‘Suga’ had surgery to repair a torn shoulder labrum with a return in the first quarter of 2025 his main objective.
Although the surgery was a success, O’Malley was dealing with personal issues and made the decision to disconnect from all forms of social media last December.
He is now in training camp for a rematch with Dvalishvili at UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey on June 8 where Julianna Pena will defend her women’s bantamweight title in the co-main event.
UFC Men's pound-for-pound rankings
- Islam Makhachev
- Jon Jones
- Ilia Topuria
- Merab Dvalishvili
- Dricus du Plessis
- Magomed Ankalaev
- Alexander Volkanovski (+2)
- Alex Pereira
- Jack Della Maddalena (New Rank)
- Alexandre Pantoja
- Tom Aspinall
- Max Holloway
- Belal Muhammad (-6)
- Sean O’Malley (-1)
- Charles Oliveira (-1)
UFC bantamweight title contender Cory Sandhagen believes O’Malley has an advantage over Dvalishvili in the rematch.
“I love rooting for an underdog,” he said last month. “So maybe O’Malley will do well, but it’s hard for me to imagine the fight going too different from the first one.
“But also at the same time, the guy who has the puncher’s chance, obviously their ability to knock the person out goes up if you give them another 25 minutes to try to figure out how to do so.
“It’s definitely an advantage for O’Malley going into this fight.”
Della Maddalena made his first appearance on the men’s pound-for-pound list at ninth.
His UFC 315 victory meant he was just the second Australian to ever win a UFC title, alongside Alexander Volkanovski who is the current UFC featherweight champion.
The 28-year-old’s win also had huge ramifications on the future of UFC lightweight champion Makhachev and his division.
Makhachev had been linked with a move up to welterweight, but not if Muhammad retained his title, as both men have trained together in the past and would never fight each other.
However, with Della Maddalena as the new champion, Makhachev will now likely make the move up to welterweight to content for two-division championship status against the Australian.
“Time to become a double champion… let’s go,” Makhachev wrote online after UFC 315’s main event.
This also means that ex-UFC featherweight champion Topuria is pretty nailed on to face No. 2 ranked lightweight Oliveira for an interim title in his first fight at 155lbs.
In terms of the middleweight rankings, Della Maddalena has moved up from No. 6 to the champion, meaning all names above him dropped one spot.
They include Muhammad, Sean Brady, Shavkat Rakhmonov, Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman.
Brady submitted Edwards at UFC London in March to boost his chances of a welterweight title shot this year.
