Why was Islam Makhachev disappointed with UFC's pound-for-pound rankings after first fight against Alexander Volkanovski?
Islam Makhachev was denied the #1 P4P spot in the UFC rankings despite beating the #1 ranked fighter at the time.
At UFC 284, Islam Makhachev fought the #1 P4P fighter in the UFC, Alexander Volkanovski. The Australian held the top spot for a while and Makhachev looked to dethrone him. However, despite beating Volkanovski, albeit by slim margins, the Russian fighter stayed at #2 while 'The Great' retained his #1 spot. Then, Jon Jones made his comeback, became champion and reclaimed the #1 P4P spot.
This did not sit well with Khabib Nurmagomedov's protege, who in an interview with Daniel Cormier, spoke about the situation saying:
"This is bulls**t man. How Jon Jones can be number one? He's beat some guy who is not champion, this guy don't have belt, and they give him number one pound-for-pound. This is bulls**t."
Daniel Cormier responded saying they must have given him the #1 spot because of how quickly Jones beat Ciryl Gane. However, Islam Makhachev was of the opinion that it did not matter how quickly he beat him because other websites and people 'who knew MMA' put him in the #1 P4P spot in the UFC.
Take a look at the video (Quotes from 0:51 onwards):
Islam Makhachev calls out Jon Jones amidst UFC P4P rankings ahead of UFC 294
Islam Makhachev is still not happy about the UFC P4P rankings as he called out Jon Jones for not being a real champion. During a press conference ahead of UFC 294, a reporter asked him about his fight with Alexander Volkanovski as a last-minute replacement for Charles Oliveira. The lightweight champion responded by saying he was a 'real champion:'
"You know, this is what UFC champion have to do. If you're a real champion you have to take fight, doesn't matter how many days, who it's gonna be. Not like your pound-for-pound champion (Jon Jones) when they give him Chael Sonnen. If you're a real champion you have to fight. They put him number one, the number one guy right now, who he beat last five fights?"
Take a look at the interview:
Islam Makhachev questioned the legitimacy of Jon Jones' #1 rank and even went on to say that he was not a real champion because he did not accept the Chael Sonnen fight. Fans have blasted the lightweight champion for questioning Jones's legitimacy when Makhachev himself has just one title defence under his name.