Key takeaways
- Official, partner-published, secondary and unavailable are different source classes.
- KSW and PFL use observation dates because their current sources publish no ranking revision date.
- A partial response cannot silently replace a previously valid complete structure.
- UFC history starts with Fights Now's first valid local snapshot, not with the beginning of the promotion.
Coverage at a glance
The table describes the exact publication currently accepted by each collector. It is a coverage statement, not a judgement that one promotion's athletes are stronger than another's.
| Publisher | Source class and scope | Material limitation |
|---|---|---|
| UFC | Official; 11 weight divisions plus men's and women's pound-for-pound, with ranks up to 15 | Current-state source; local history begins at first valid snapshot |
| PFL | Combat Registry media partner; five named champions and men's Media P4P positions 1–5 | No women's list or numbered divisional contenders; observation date only |
| GLORY | Secondary Wikipedia ranking table; five published divisions | Only two to four contenders per division and not official GLORY verification |
| ONE | Official English rankings page | The current page publishes no ranking tables; an empty check cannot erase history |
| OKTAGON | Official male, female, divisional and P4P publications with champion roles | Credential-free site API is public but undocumented and may change |
| KSW | Official eight-division publication with vacancy and interim handling | No revision date or Last-Modified value; snapshot date is clearly labelled observed |
UFC champions, contenders and pound-for-pound
A UFC champion sits in a separate role above the numbered contenders, and an interim champion is stored only when the official page labels one. The collector requires the complete supported 13-list set: eight men's weight divisions, three women's weight divisions and two pound-for-pound lists. Each weight division needs exactly one champion; pound-for-pound lists cannot have one; ranks and fighters must be unique.
When one valid division changes, Fights Now appends a snapshot for that division and compares it with its own immediately preceding snapshot. An unchanged daily check does not create history. The source publishes current state rather than a complete historical feed, so no movement is claimed from before the first locally stored publication.
PFL is deliberately limited
Combat Registry describes itself as PFL's official media rankings partner. The collected publication contains five champions—Heavyweight, Light Heavyweight, Middleweight, Welterweight and Lightweight—and a men's Media P4P top five. Champion-only divisions must not be rendered as if a missing numbered contender list exists.
The page supplies no publication date or Last-Modified header, so Fights Now labels when it was observed. P4P rows without athlete URLs use conservative identity handling. ESPN-listed PFL card participants remain a separate observed roster and are never promoted into rankings, standings or champion evidence.
GLORY is useful secondary context
The current GLORY ranking intake comes from the dedicated Rankings table in the community-maintained List of current Glory fighters article. The interface attributes those rows to Wikipedia rather than presenting them as an official GLORY publication. The table currently covers five divisions with two to four contenders in each, not a full top 15.
Fights Now uses the attributed Wikipedia source because the official GLORY Fighters page is not collected under the documented access policy. A secondary table can support context, but its presence never becomes a claim that GLORY itself verified the captured positions.
ONE publishes no current usable table
As reviewed on the guide's modification date, the English ONE rankings page contains a return notice but no ranking tables. The collector therefore fails safe and does not replace any older valid snapshots with an empty publication. The public interface should say that no tables are currently published rather than fill the tab from an unrelated ranking site.
OKTAGON and KSW are official with different date semantics
OKTAGON uses official website pages and credential-free JSON endpoints used by that site. It publishes male, female, divisional and pound-for-pound structures, including champions and interim champions. Complete expected structures validate before persistence, and unrecognized or malformed provider states fail closed.
KSW publishes eight official ranking divisions and explicitly distinguishes vacancies and interim champions. Its page currently supplies neither a revision date nor a Last-Modified value, so Fights Now shows an observation date. Calling that date an update or publication date would overstate what KSW supplied.
How to compare two promotion tabs responsibly
First compare source class, then published scope, then date semantics. A UFC number and a GLORY number can both be accurately transcribed while having different authority and depth. A PFL champion-only division and a KSW numbered division are not equally complete just because the interface uses the same visual card.
- Look for official, media-partner, secondary or unavailable labelling.
- Read observed dates differently from source-supplied publication dates.
- Check whether numbered contenders, champions and women’s coverage are actually published.
- Treat a failed or empty refresh as unavailable, not as evidence that all ranks vanished.
Sources and further reading
Primary or directly relevant publications used to check this guide. External publishers control their own pages and update schedules.