'How is he still ranked?' Conor McGregor drops below Justin Gaethje in lightweight rankings, somehow rises in pound-for-pound list

Conor McGregor's 15 month hiatus from the cage has seen him drop below rival Justin Gaethje to #4 in the official UFC lightweight rankings, despite the Irishman somehow rising one spot to #13 in the pound-for-pound list.

McGregor returns to action next Saturday for the firs time since suffering defeat to Khabib Nurmagomedov in October of last year, where "The Notorious" will face veteran striker Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone in the UFC 246 headliner from Las Vegas. 

The fight will bring to an end McGregor's latest prolonged absence from the cage where he will hope to secure his first victory since his two-round destruction of Eddie Alvarez to capture the UFC lightweight title in November of 2016.

Since then, McGregor has been defeated in successive bouts by Floyd Mayweather (in their highly lucrative boxing match more than two years ago) and by Nurmagomedov - the latter of which, coupled with his recent inactivity, has seen his position plummet in the recently-released official UFC rankings.

McGregor falls to fourth position in the 155lb field, below champion Nurmagomedov as well as Tony Ferguson, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje - the latter of whom has been actively campaigning for a fight with the Dubliner in recent times.

McGregor's opponent next weekend, Donald Cerrone, is one position beneath McGregor in the lightweight field in fifth position. 

However, despite falling beneath Gaethje in the 155lbs list of contenders (and, as mentioned, not fighting for 15 months) McGregor has somehow gained ground on the field in the UFC's pound-for-pound list, a category in which fighters are ranked regardless of the weight division in which they compete. 

McGregor is named in 13th spot on the list, two ahead of Poirier (who, remember, outranks McGregor at lightweight), while Gaethje is absent entirely.

Jon Jones retains his position as the world's top pound-for-pound fighter in the rankings, one place above Khabib Nurmagomedov in second place. The rest of the top five is comprised of Henry Cejudo, Stipe Miocic and Amanda Nunes.