MMA pound-for-pound rankings — Charles Oliveira, Carla Esparza make moves toward the top

A lot happened during the 3 minutes, 22 seconds of the UFC 274 main event. Charles Oliveira had his arm raised in the end, but along the way to that big moment he got knocked down twice and bloodied by Justin Gaethje. But the biggest hit came after Oliveira finished the fight with a rear-naked choke: He did not get the lightweight championship belt wrapped around his waist.

Oliveira had missed weight the day before, so he was stripped of the title and ineligible to win it right back.

But everyone who watches MMA understands the truth: Charles Oliveira is the greatest 155-pound fighter in the world.

He proved that over the weekend with his 11th victory in a row, all but one of them finishes. And as a result, Oliveira moves up into the top three of the latest ESPN pound-for-pound rankings.

The winner of the UFC 274 co-main event, new strawweight champ Carla Esparza, moves up in the women’s top-10 on the strength of her dethroning of Rose Namajunas, who slides down the rankings.

Note: Results are current; rankings as of May 10.

Men’s pound-for-pound rankings

1. Kamaru Usman  

UFC welterweight champion
Record: 20-1
Last: W (UD) Colby Covington, Nov. 6, 2021
Next: TBD

2. Israel Adesanya  

UFC middleweight champion
Record: 22-1
Last: W (UD) Robert Whittaker, Feb. 12, 2022
Next: July 2 vs. Jared Cannonier

3. Charles Oliveira  

UFC lightweight
Previous ranking: 5
Record: 33-8, 1 NC
Last: W (Sub1) Justin Gaethje, May 7, 2022
Next: TBD

T-4. Francis Ngannou  

UFC heavyweight champion
Record: 17-3
Last: W (UD) Ciryl Gane, Jan. 22, 2022
Next: TBD

T-4. Alexander Volkanovski  

UFC featherweight champion
Previous ranking: 3
Record: 24-1
Last: W (TKO4) Chan Sung Jung, April 9, 2022
Next: July 2 vs. Max Holloway

6. Max Holloway  

UFC featherweight
Record: 23-6
Last: W (UD) Yair Rodriguez, Nov. 13, 2021
Next: July 2 vs. Alexander Volkanovski

7. Dustin Poirier  

UFC lightweight
Record: 28-7, 1 NC
Last: L (Sub3) Charles Oliveira, Dec. 11, 2021
Next: TBD

8. Glover Teixeira  

UFC light heavyweight…