Flyweight (up to 56.7 kilograms)
In this division, the position of the leader does not raise questions.
In less than eight years of his professional career, Askar Askarov did not suffer a single defeat, but he managed to win 14 fights (the last one was from Joseph Benavidez at UFC 259), win and defend the ACB title twice, and then successfully prove himself in the UFC.
Soon he may receive the title of the first contender and repeat the achievement of Ali Bagautinov.
In 2014, he fought with Demetrius Johnson himself, but lost by unanimous decision.
As for Bagautinov himself, he also got into the top 5 categories, but let another UFC fighter Tagir Ulanbekov and ACA champion Azamat Kerefov go ahead.
The first managed to win a belt in the GFC promotion, which was later acquired by Khabib Nurmagomedov, after which he extended his successful streak in the American organization.
Therefore, in the ranking, he turned out to be slightly higher than his undefeated colleague.
Another representative of the Absolute Championship, Akhmat Murad Magomedov, closed the top five, in whose ideal track record there are 11 won fights.
Flyweight
Bantamweight (up to 61.2 kilograms)
The scandalous end of the duel with Aljamain Sterling, although it spoiled the reputation of Peter Yan, did not affect his position in the rating.
He is still the strongest bantamweight fighter from Russia by a wide margin and does not allow competitors to come near him.
Therefore, neither Said Nurmagomedov (3 - 1 in the UFC), nor the former opponent of the Yekaterinburg resident Magomed Magomedov (successful debut in Bellator) could deprive him of the first line.
At the same time, the aforementioned fighters may soon swap places.
Already in April, Magomedov will fight with the bright drummer Justin Scoggins and, if successful, will bypass the namesake Khabib.
As for Rustam Kerimov, his position is also not strong.
By and large, his inclusion in the rating is due to past merits, but you simply cannot pass by a fighter with such a track record.
He has a perfect record of 14 fights and also has two ACA title defenses.
The problem is that the last time he entered the cage was in 2019, after which he did not perform.
Therefore, in April, he risks missing Magomed Bibulatov.
True, for this he needs to defeat Daniel de Almeida and take the Akhmat league title.
Featherweight (up to 65.8 kilograms)
As in the two previous divisions, there is a clear leader in this one.
Zabit Magomedsharipov managed to establish himself as one of the brightest fighters in the world, and under better circumstances he could, if not own the UFC title, then at least claim it.
But even an idle time of 16 months cannot prevent him from staying at the top.
His closest pursuer is Movsar Yevloyev, but his more modest track record does not allow him to catch up with his compatriot.
To overcome the distance, the ex-M-1 Global champion should prove himself in battles with stronger opponents.
As for the position of the remaining three fighters, everything is not so simple here.
Movlid Khaibulaev could well have been on the third line, if he had not lost by knockout to Daniel Pineda in 29 seconds.
Yes, the result of the fight was canceled due to the American's positive doping test, but the fact remains.
The victory in UAE Warriors over a fighter with a record of 16 - 10 can hardly be considered compensation for that failure, and he will be able to fully rehabilitate himself for that defeat only at the end of April.
True, this may no longer matter.
If Magomedrasul Khasbulaev gets the upper hand on ACA 120 and wins the title, he will guarantee himself the third place in the ranking.
Lightweight (up to 70.3 kilograms)
In the context of this division, only places from the second to the fifth are subject to discussion, because it is unnecessary to argue about the position of Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The only question is how expedient it is for him to stay in the ranking after the announcements of his retirement.
But until the UFC decides to strip him of the belt and exclude him from their table of ranks, his stay here is legitimate.
Also, the high position of Islam Makhachev hardly raises questions.
Even before the 259th tournament, he was considered the full heir of the Eagle, and his spectacular victory over Drew Dober only strengthened the belief in the validity of the claims.
One line below is Abdul-Aziz Abdulvahabov, who not only boasts the ACA title, but also remained active for a long period of time.
Since December 2017, he has had five fights, in four of which he won.
Moreover, the latter fell on September last year, and everyone knows how difficult it was to fight in the midst of a pandemic.
For comparison, Magomed Mustafayev fought for the last time back in February, and Mayrbek Taysumov did in September 2019.
Moreover, both were defeated.
Welterweight (up to 77.1 kilograms)
Unlike the previous ones, there is no clear leader in this category, and three fighters are competing for the first line at once.
The same Ramazan Emeev lost only one of the last ten fights, and Magomed Magomedkerimov was not inferior at all since March 2015 and had excellent chances to win the PFL tournament.
But he was prevented by an injury.
However, the first place was taken by Muslim Salikhov.
The key to success was four consecutive victories in the largest MMA promotion in the world, as well as the fact that it was he who fought with the most serious rivals.
Eliseu Zaleski, Laureano Staropoli and Nordin Taleb are tough welterweights with all the potential to make it into the top 15 of the UFC rankings.
One of the most famous Russian welterweight in history, Andrei Koreshkov, is unreasonably low for himself.
This is due to three defeats in the last seven fights, which deprived him of the Bellator title and questioned his star status.
At the same time, teammate Alexander Shlemenko could well have been lower, if not for a long pause in the speeches of Albert Tumenov.
After a series of failures in the UFC, he triumphantly returned to his homeland and became the champion of the ACA, but subsequently left the league and has not fought for more than a year.
Average weight (up to 83.9 kilograms)
The situation is similar in the middle division, where the main contenders for the first place are Anatoly Tokov and Omari Akhmedov.
According to many experts, the former is one of the top contenders for the Bellator title, while the latter recently made an impressive return to the category.
He spent most of his UFC career in welterweight, but in 2017 he climbed higher and won four wins in six fights.
If it hadn't been for the loss to Chris Weidman and the draw with Marvin Vettori, Wolverine would certainly have topped the rankings.
But in the end, only the second line.
Surely many will be surprised by the absence of Vladimir Mineev and the position of Magomed Ismailov.
But lately, the first has hardly fought with serious opponents, and the second has focused on money fights in other weight categories, practically not developing in his native one.
Behind him was another star middleweight.
Alexander Shlemenko can be safely called one of the most honored Russian fighters in history, but recent results - only three victories in seven battles and more than a year of inactivity - do not allow him to count on anything more.
Now he is closer to letting the talented Aliaskhab Khizriev go ahead, and this may happen very soon.
Dana White's Contender Series member will debut in the UFC in April against Kyle Daukas.
Light heavyweight (up to 93 kilograms)
Vadim Nemkov is rightfully considered the strongest Russian light heavyweight at the moment.
Victories over the stars of mixed martial arts - Ryan Bader and Phil Davis, as well as the title of Bellator champion itself speak for him.
The possession of the belt of one of the largest organizations on the planet cannot but give certain dividends.
Therefore, the pupil of Fedor Emelianenko was not only at the head of his category, but also took a high position in the Pound-for-Pound rating.
But soon Magomed Ankalaev is able to impose serious competition on him.
He is already in the top 7 of the UFC division and very soon may get a chance to compete for the trophy.
Shamil Gamzatov could also compete with him for second place, but he was prevented by a pandemic and problems with a visa.
Because of this, his fights with Ovins Saint-Prue and Devin Clark were canceled, and the break stretched for 15 months already.
However, in April, he can extend his successful streak and break into the number of the strongest light heavyweights in the UFC.
As for Maxim Grishin and Viktor Nemkov, it was difficult for both of them to fight for getting into the top three.
Their compatriots are much younger and on the rise, which cannot be said of them.
The first won only one fight out of three, and the second has not played since October 2019.
Heavy weight (up to 120 kilograms)
The victory over Alistair Overeem elevated Alexander Volkov not only to the status of the strongest Russian heavyweight, but also one of the main stars of Russian MMA.
At the moment, his position is not in doubt, and the status of the first contender for the UFC belt will finally remove all questions.
As for his pursuers, things are not going well.
Suffice it to say that only Alexey Oleinik remained active during the pandemic.
True, it is difficult to call his performances successful.
Two defeats in four fights robbed him of a place in the top 15 of the UFC heavyweight division, and also prevented him from climbing higher in this ranking.
As a result, the PFL Grand Prix triumphant Ali Isaev remained the second, Shamil Abdurakhimov turned out to be one line below, and Sergey Pavlovich closed the top five.
However, all three should start fighting and winning, otherwise they may soon fall out of the ranks of the strongest.