Islam Makhachev was highly critical of the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings, and UFC CEO Dana White heard those complaints.
Makhachev defends his UFC lightweight title in a rematch against Alexander Volkanovski this Saturday at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi. Ahead of the event, Makhachev expressed his frustration with being ranked behind Jon Jones and Volkanovski, even though he beat Volkanovski back in February at UFC 284. Volkanovski was ranked No. 1 pound-for-pound at the time.
“I love him, but he doesn’t care about pound-for-pound because he’s pissed off about where the pound-for-pound is right now,” White said in a media scrum on Friday. “Everybody cares about the pound-for-pound. I get it. I get where he’s at mentally, and that’s another reason why he stepped up and took this fight. You can say what you want to say about the first fight. The first fight was very close. It was very controversial. Both guys have the opportunity to have that all go away tomorrow night.
“And however it plays out, the pound-for-pound will also play out. When you look at what pound-for-pound means, Vokanovski was the lighter guy coming up to challenge for the belt, and depending on how you think that fight went or who you think won, the media controls that. They control the pound-for-pound rankings. So what’s that tell you where they rank Volkanovski?”
Makhachev is taking this fight on short notice, as Volkanovski is replacing an injured Charles Oliveira. He believes this is what champions should do, unlike Jones, who sits at No. 1 in the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings, and refused to fight late replacement Chael Sonnen back in 2012, thus getting UFC 151 canceled.
It’s unclear if a second win would put Makhachev at the top of the list on the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings. The rankings are done by a select number of independent media members.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.
