UFC lightweight rankings: Gaethje is champion and the top 14 did not move

Justin Gaethje, 37, is the UFC lightweight champion at 28-5-0, and nobody from number 1 to number 14 moved in the rankings of 6 October. The next title fight on the books is Charles Oliveira against Diego Lopes at UFC 335 on 12 December.

UFC lightweight rankings: Gaethje and the top 15

Rank	Fighter	Record
Champion	Justin Gaethje	28-5-0
1	Ilia Topuria	17-1-0
2	Arman Tsarukyan	24-3-0
3	Charles Oliveira	37-11-0, 1 NC
4	Max Holloway	28-9-0
5	Paddy Pimblett	24-4-0
6	Quillan Salkilld	13-1-0
7	Benoît Saint Denis	17-4-0, 1 NC
8	Renato Moicano	21-7-1
9	Mateusz Gamrot	26-5-0, 1 NC
10	Maurício Ruffy	14-3-0
11	Tom Nolan	11-1-0
12	Rafael Fiziev	14-5-0
13	Tofiq Musayev	24-6-0
14	Grant Dawson	24-3-1
15	Esteban Ribovics	17-3-0

Ilia Topuria sits at number 1 at 17-1-0 with an 88 per cent finish rate, and he is 29. Behind him the order is unchanged: Tsarukyan, Oliveira, Holloway and Pimblett hold numbers 2 to 5. Three ranked fighters carry a no contest on their record: Oliveira, Saint Denis and Gamrot. Moicano at 21-7-1 and Dawson at 24-3-1 each have a draw.

Who finishes and who goes the distance

The finish rates split the division clearly. Benoît Saint Denis is at 100 per cent, Maurício Ruffy at 93, Topuria and Tofiq Musayev at 88, Oliveira at 86. At the other end Max Holloway is at 50 per cent, Mateusz Gamrot at 54 and Tom Nolan at 55.

Oliveira has the longest record in the top 15 at 37 wins and 11 losses with one no contest. Paddy Pimblett, at 31 and 24-4-0, finishes 75 per cent of his wins.

The age profile is just as uneven. Gaethje and Moicano are both 37, Oliveira and Musayev 36, Gamrot 35. The two youngest names, Quillan Salkilld at number 6 and Tom Nolan at number 11, are both 26 and both Australian.

The last 12 months at lightweight

Across 75 bouts in the past 12 months, 49 ended in a finish. Two results involving ranked names came a few weeks apart. Arman Tsarukyan stopped Maurício Ruffy with an elbow in the first round at UFC 331, at 4:56, a win for number 2 over number 10. At UFC 332, Esteban Ribovics, number 15, finished King Green with a punch in round one at 4:08.

The same card at UFC 332 on 3 October also saw Alexander Hernandez beat Rafael Dos Anjos by TKO in round two. A week later, at UFC Fight Night: Allen vs. Duncan on 10 October, Francisco Prado stopped Ismael Bonfim in round one and Jai Herbert beat Matheus Camilo by unanimous decision.

What is booked at lightweight

Four ranked fighters are on cards in the coming weeks. Grant Dawson, number 14, meets Nurullo Aliev at UFC 333 on 24 October. On 31 October Renato Moicano, number 8, faces Tom Nolan, number 11, in the UFC Fight Night headliner.

The biggest booking comes later. Charles Oliveira against Diego Lopes on 12 December at UFC 335 is booked as a title fight. Oliveira is number 3 in the rankings and Gaethje is the champion, so the card will be the next marker for where the top of the division stands.