Rank Amateurs, Relevant Rewards, and Raconteurs: Official or Not, UFC Rankings Will Remain Irrelevant at Best

By Raphael Garcia

Everyone wants to be #1. It doesn’t matter if it’s in track and field, soccer, or badminton, if there are rankings created by “those in the know,” there’s someone that wants to be ranked at the top. For years, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has stayed away from creating official rankings, for reasons that were never really discussed. However, this week the organization has bucked the trend and released its own official rankings for the fighters battling in the Octagon. The news of these rankings has caused some concern, and raised more than a few questions in the MMA world.

The UFC has decided to work with Fight Metric to create Top 10 rankings for the divisions that the fighters under contract with the organization compete in. Fight Metric is compiling an opinion poll of media members who cover mixed martial arts, and their votes will determine the placement of fighters when the rankings are reported. The idea can be considered akin to the coaches’ polls that are used for college football and basketball; however, there’s been one red flag raised already with the idea behind the UFC rankings.

Prominent MMA manager Malki Kawa, who works with big name fighters such as Benson Henderson and Jon Jones, brought up the idea of managers cozying up to media outlets to improve the likelihood that for their fighters will be ranked higher, and perhaps land bigger fights and paydays. The conflict of interest that can potentially be created has the potential to create negative media response to the UFC, who is still at the point in development where it needs all the positive coverage from sports press that it can get.

Beyond this question, the UFC has already turned away from the rankings by announcing that Jose Aldo will defend his UFC Featherweight Championship against Anthony Pettis later this year. Pettis has not fought in the featherweight division, but he’s leaping over the surging Ricardo Lamas, who has defeated a number of important fighters within the division, many of whose names can be found within the ranks of the Top 10 at 145 pounds. It took less for one day for UFC matchmakers to create a fight based on potential excitement and drawing power rather than the rankings that the organization is presenting to the fan base.

As mentioned in a previous piece on MMA Ratings, show ratings will always take precedent over fighter rankings based on the fact that the UFC is primarily a business and a means to draw revenue. Great ratings with fights that may not matter to the overall “storyline” of mixed martial arts will win out over bouts featuring competitors that have worked their way up and put together impressive win streaks. If fighters have the ability to create fights that are deemed “exciting” by the paying, mainstream fans, they will always hold a place of importance to the UFC, whether or not the media members vote them onto these rankings.

The UFC should not have gone out of their way to create these rankings. Joe Silva and Sean Shelby will not be bound by these rankings when creating fights, so there really isn’t a point of presenting them to the public as if they have some sort of meaning. The MMA community is intelligent enough to understand that fights are made based on potential excitement and who the fans want to see. Look no further than Chael Sonnen vs. Jon Jones, or Nick Diaz being matched against Georges St. Pierre as exhibits 1 and 1a.

Instead, the company should become more open about its matchmaking policies. The UFC often presents fights as the “fight fans want to see,” but in place of saying that, the company should just be up front, and state that matchup A has the best potential of being a Pay per View draw at this point. Would that insult fans? Probably not. In fact, the onus would then be put on fighters to better market themselves to create brands that fans want to see. Sonnen has become a master at talking his way into fights he may not deserve, but has received huge paydays, some of which were comparable to or more than those of some current UFC champions. In the end, everyone would win with complete matchmaking transparency.

Being ranked number one by the UFC’s media poll will not mean much as the company transforms from more of a sports organization to an entertainment entity. As long as fighters can bring something worth watching to the Octagon, they will get their shots to do so in front of the largest crowds in the biggest events, no matter where they are ranked.