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It may be an understatement to say the UFC has some questionable rankings. You’ll count on rankings to be questionable as they’re subjective; nonetheless, on this column, I’ll level out rankings that I feel are obtrusive errors. I may also analyze vital motion within the rankings that I agree with.
Editorial Commentary by Peter Parsons
Former UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira made his UFC mild heavyweight debut on Saturday night time within the co-main occasion at UFC 291 in Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah. In what appeared to be a possible title eliminator bout in opposition to the previous mild heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz, Pereira confirmed he belongs on the prime of the UFC mild heavyweight division with a cut up choice victory over the perennial title contender Blachowicz.
Alex Pereira ranked No. 3 at mild heavyweight
The previous two division Glory kickboxing world champion, Alex Pereira, took Jan Blachowizc’s No. 3 mild heavyweight rating on Saturday night time with the cut up choice victory. I agree with this rating.
Some didn’t agree with the choice. It was clear that Blachowicz gained the primary spherical and Pereira gained the second spherical. It got here right down to the third spherical which was shut. Blachowicz appeared exhausted however did nicely within the standup within the early a part of the spherical, nonetheless, it was Pereira who bought the higher of the standup total within the remaining spherical. Blachowicz bought the late takedown however didn’t do something with it. To me it was a transparent 10-9 Pereira spherical. One choose gave it to Blachowicz and two gave it to Pereira. Some could argue for a 10-8 Blachowicz first spherical, a spherical wherein he managed from begin to end. In my view, it didn’t warrant a 10-8 spherical as a result of Blachowicz did little or no harm.
This was the 36-year-old Brazilian’s first battle again since shedding the UFC middleweight title to Israel Adesanya in April. It’s fascinating to notice that Pereira has been dropped from the middleweight rankings.
Inconsistency with fighters being ranked in two UFC divisions
The UFC rankings have been inconsistent with having some fighters ranked in two divisions, whereas others will not be. At the moment, we see each Jessica Andrade and Amanda Ribas ranked in each the UFC ladies’s strawweight and flyweight divisions. In the meantime, we’ve seen Paul Craig just lately emerge within the UFC middleweight rankings after his latest win over Andre Muniz in Craig’s middleweight debut though Craig has publicly said that he wish to nonetheless battle at mild heavyweight, a division the place he has victories excessive within the division in Jamal Hill and Magomed Ankalaev. Pereira has gone on document to say that he would really like the MMA trilogy with middleweight champ Israel Adesanya to be at middleweight.
Kevin Holland ranked No. 12 at welterweight
Kevin Holland had his largest win at welterweight on Saturday night time over Michael Chiesa who was ranked No. 12 going into the battle. I agree with this rating. Holland is ranked one spot larger than Ian Machado Garry and one spot behind Neil Magny.
With Holland getting into the rankings, Michael Chiesa has dropped to No. 15 and Michel Pereira is now out of the UFC welterweight rankings. Apparently, Pereira was alleged to battle Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at UFC 291 on Saturday, however the Brazilian missed weight by three kilos and Thompson declined the battle.
Fighters shifting up in UFC rankings regardless of profitable after lacking weight
Within the case of Pereira vs. Thompson, if the battle would have gone forward and Pereira gained, he would have moved up within the rankings like we’ve seen up to now when a fighter strikes up within the rankings regardless of lacking weight. I don’t agree with this in any respect, and I applaud “Wonderboy” for not accepting the battle. It has been nicely documented that the final time “Wonderboy” accepted a battle after his opponent missed weight was when he fought Darren Until and misplaced a cut up choice. Until moved up the rankings and fought for the title in his subsequent battle.
We’ve seen numerous examples of this over time, however the one which stands out to me probably the most was at UFC 279 final 12 months when Daniel Rodriguez took Li Jingliang’s rating though he weighed 179 and Jingliang weighed 170. This wasn’t the results of a Rodriguez weight miss. It’s possible you’ll recall, it was a results of the last-minute swap in fights when Khamzat Chimaev missed weight by 7.5 kilos in opposition to Nate Diaz and Diaz didn’t settle for the battle. Rodriguez’ preliminary opponent Kevin Holland, who he was scheduled to battle in a 180-pound catchweight bout, went on to battle Chimaev and Rodriguez fought Li Jingliang. If Rodriguez would have decisively beat Jingliang, I woudn’t have agreed with him taking Jingliang’s rating as a result of the bout wasn’t at welterweight; nonetheless, he gained a controversial cut up choice, and took Jingliang’s rating.
Upcoming Notable UFC Gentle Heavyweight Fights
Aug 12 – (14 – HW) Chris Daukaus vs. (13) Khalil Rountree Jr.
Aug 26 – (10) Ryan Spann vs. (8) Anthony Smith
Sep 2 – (11) Azamat Murzakanov vs. (9) Volkan Oezdemir
Sep 9 – Da Un Jung vs. Carlos Ulberg
Oct 21 – (7) Johnny Walker vs. (2) Magomed Ankalaev
Upcoming Notable UFC Welterweight Fights
Aug 12 – (9 – LW) Rafael Dos Anjos vs (10) Vicente Luque
Aug 19 – (13) Ian Machado Garry vs. (8) Geoff Neal
Sep 16 – Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Daniel Rodriguez
My rankings would look totally different than every other author or fan who follows the game intently. That is to be anticipated, as rankings are subjective. Rankings needs to be based mostly totally on outcomes and never perceived potential or reputation.
Some individuals assume rankings don’t matter. Rankings do matter. They matter in the case of matchmaking. They matter in the case of contract negotiations.
Let’s maintain the rankings dialog going. Do you agree or disagree with the above Rating Assessment? Express your thoughts in the comments below.
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