Chael Sonnen uses Conor McGregor to illustrate why the UFC rankings don't work
Former UFC fighter and MMA legend Chael Sonnen has cited an example of Conor McGregor to illustrate why the UFC rankings don’t work.
Chael Sonnen noted that Conor McGregor is now ranked at No. 15 in the UFC welterweight division and is No. 12 on the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Chael Sonnen cites Conor McGregor as an example of why UFC rankings don’t matter as much
Expounding upon the same, Chael Sonnen shed light upon why he believes that the UFC rankings system is flawed. Sonnen stated:
“They (UFC rankings) came out today…You’ve got to stay with me here. To understand how much this doesn’t make sense, you must follow the wordplay that I’m about to use. This is going to confuse you.”
“Conor McGregor debuted in the (UFC) welterweight rankings. To debut in the rankings of a weight class that you’re not in, and your last time competitively was exactly 30 days short of a year, which would remove you from eligibility for the rankings. To debut in the rankings of a weight class that you’re not in, but you once were – It happened to be 10 months ago, and it lasted for 40 seconds, but it happened. It happened. And you were not beyond the expiration of eligibility. To bring somebody into that weight class would be; I mean whose idea was that? What thought pattern did they possibly use? But they can (add Conor McGregor to the welterweight rankings). They can because it hasn’t been a full year.”
“They put him at No. 15 in the world. Conor is ranked at No. 15 in the world at welterweight. Okay, no argument, but save the thought – Because they (UFC) also came out with a pound-for-pound list. Pound-for-pound, every weight, every athlete in the organization which totals 553; not just a 112 that are in the welterweight class. All 553 pound-for-pound, you get it. You know what pound-for-pound means. Conor McGregor is ranked No. 12 (in the UFC pound-for-pound list). The only other welterweight in the pound-for-pound is Kamaru Usman who’s ranked No. 5. Let me reword this for you. The official rankings have Conor McGregor as the 15th best within his weight class but the 12th best within the sport as a whole. The only other welterweight in the rankings is Kamaru at No. 5. It would seem as though that Kamaru Usman and Conor McGregor are the only two welterweights in the pound-for-pound.” (H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)
In a nutshell, Chael Sonnen clarified that although he doesn’t have a gripe with the UFC rankings system, he still believes that the rankings don’t work.
Conor McGregor’s next fight will be a lightweight bout between him and Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 on January 23rd, 2021. The event will take place at the Flash Forum in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE.