"He has zero title defenses against lightweights" - Fans react to Islam Makhachev replacing Jon Jones as UFC's new pound-for-pound king
UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev has officially moved up to the No.1 position on the latest UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings, overtaking Jon Jones.
The move comes after the heavyweight champion's withdrawal from his upcoming match against former champ Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 and Makhachev's second win against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 294.
Fans on X did not completely agree with the updated rankings that demoted Jon Jones.
Take a look at some of the comments below:
"Incredible fighter but definetly doesn’t clear jones. If he keeps doing what he’s doing and does it for 10+ years and in two weight divisions, then we can talk."
"He had zero title defenses against LWs and only has one good win at LW which is Charles"
"He hasn’t defended the belt against anyone in his weight class and beat Bobby Green to get a title shot. His best LW win outside of Do Bronx is vs Dan Hooker (on short notice)…."
"It's deserved. You KO Volk like that and you are #1. Jones shouldn't sniff #1."
"Well deserved [hands clapping emoji] should have been right after Volk fight, but better late than never."
Check out their comments below:
Islam Makhachev's coach weighs in on a potential Conor McGregor fight
Islam Makhachev's coach, Javier Mendez, weighed in on a potential fight against former champ Conor McGregor.
In an interview with Red Corner MMA, Mendez did not approve of the matchup from a sporting perspective.
“In terms of matchmaking, I don’t know if you can say from a real sport, and this is not a real sport. This is entertainment first, because if it was a real sport, then Conor wouldn’t get the amount of opportunities he gets. So from a real sport [perspective], no, he needs to show that he’s worthy. But from an entertainment, yes, because he’s still the biggest name right now.”
Javier Mendez also spoke about Islam Makhachev's pursuit of a second title.
"I think it’s great if Islam wants it. If he doesn’t, then maybe going to the welterweight title is more appealing to him to create a legacy that he wants, because beating Conor is not going to create the kind of legacy that Islam wants. Going after the welterweight title, that’s a legacy-type moment. With Conor, it’s a money and it’s a hype thing, so I don’t know his thoughts on that. It’s never been brought up.”
Check out his full comments below [11:57]: