After a big weekend of no-gi action, we wanted to give an explainer as to why we made some of the decisions we did in our Official FloGrappling No-Gi Rankings. We are fresh off of a big week of action that included WNO 29, UFC BJJ 2, BJJ Stars, and ongoing PGF so there's plenty of quality jiu-jitsu to consider.

Men's 205lbs

The biggest decision for us in these new rankings was who should have the top spot at 205lbs. There's two candidates; Roberto Jimenez, who beat top-5 Ryan Aitken at WNO 29, and Pedro Marinho, the long-reigning WNO Champion. Coming into the WNO match between Roberto and Ryan, Roberto has been on a hot streak with wins in crazy fashion over Elder Cruz and Giancarlo Bodoni among others. With another top five win, including a dominant win over a guy who submitted Pedro about one year ago, I left WNO ready to name Roberto as number one at 205lbs.

Then the next night Pedro won the BJJ Stars 16 GP in one of his best performances ever. He was active with his takedowns, he was hitting submissions, and scrambling through everything. Even though this was an open weight GP and he only faced one guy in these top-15 rankings at the weight, Pedro still proved too much about his consistently elite level. He remains number one, likely until he loses at this weight.

We also have the inclusion of Mason Fowler, who had been up campaigning at heavyweight (and remains top-3 ranked at 220lbs). Mason does have a win over Marinho but that was up a weight, so he's kind of tricky to rank here. He won the UFC title but his two wins in this division are Troisi and Garmo - and neither are ranked. We know he's elite so I am going to place him fifth, but to move up much higher it will likely take ranked wins at 205lbs.

Men's 155lbs

We welcome Kennedy Maciel back to the rankings. He'd come out after over a year without competing at the weight, but he re-enters with all the same win/loss consideration he had. He slots in over Sousa who he submitted in AIGA rules in late 2023. Kennedy does look like the number one contender for Carlos Henrique's promotional championship (especially since Sousa beat Cisneros in late 2024) but sounds like that won't happen yet.

Max Hanson beat Gianni Grippo in a close match at WNO 29. Neither guy was able to get much offense going so it was kind of a coin flip of a decision but this happens in combat sports. Max re-enters the top-10 with the win. He's got a great base of a resume, as strong as anyone, but for him to break into the top-5 or beyond it'll have to be after elite wins over the top guys.

Women's 145lbs

Raquel Canuto gets back on the winning track at UFC BJJ 2 with her first round submission win over Mo Black. Raquel is as explosive and dangerous as they come in the division, but she usually only gets a handful of matches per year so she doesn't have as cemented a place as some others here who are busy in IBJJF or ADCC competition.

Men's Pound-For-Pound

Pedro Marinho is back in the pound-for-pound after BJJ Stars 16. Even though we can point to losses he's taken in the last year (Aitken & Izaak Michell come to mind), the list of wins is pretty undeniable - Craig Jones, Giancarlo Bodoni, Cyborg, Victor Hugo, Rafael Lovato Jr, Vagner Rocha, and many more. He's won 19 of his last 21 matches and is back in our top-15.

Men's 135lbs

Jalen Fonacier is now ranked at bantamweight. Even though his resume at 135lbs is very light, a first round submission win over someone as quality as Everton is enough here - especially since this isn't the deepest weight.

Men's 170lbs

Michael Sainz is world ranked, and it may stay that way for a while. He is fifteenth after another WNO win over last year's No-Gi Pan champ Natan Chueng and he showed the same kind of determination for his passing that he usually shows on the feet. There's a lot of good matchups here for Michael but next for him will be East Coast Trials.

Men's 185lbs

We want to put in a note here for why William Tackett isn't higher after repeated great performances at UFC BJJ. Clearly William has super elite BJJ and is ranked second at 195lbs (-88kg) but his resume at 185lbs makes it tougher to move him up right now. Currently William is 0-5 against guys ranked above him - he probably needs to beat someone ranked if he wants to crack the top-10 or he will be relying on attrition for other guys to fall/drop out.

Women's Pound-for-Pound

Just to put this out there, whoever wins the CJI 2 women's bracket will be our number one pound for pound. With the #2, #3, and #4 athlete along with Sarah Galvão (who only needs more elite wins to get ranked, she has all the talent and will eventually be here). Right now the number one is Ffion but with her level of activity and the close nature of her last match with Adele leaves the door open for someone else to rack up major wins and surpass her.

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