Since the main event of UFC 284, there has been a lot of chatter about the UFC pound-for-pound rankings. According to the people who make the list over at UFC headquarters, Volk remained pound-for-pound king even after defeat. According to the UFC, the order of champions are ranked Volk (1), Islam (2), Leon Edwards (3), Alex Pereira (6), Aljamain Sterling (7), Brandon Moreno (9), and Jamhal Hill (13). Newly crowned Interim Featherweight Champion, Yair Rodriguez was left out of their rankings. Opinion Octagon believes that the only pound-for-pound rankings that matter are the fighters holding belts. Here are our rankings!
Newly crowned Interim Featherweight Champion, Yair Rodriguez, has been on an absolute tear. Yair is one of the most complete fighters in the game right now and can finish you via knockout or submission. He won the title this past weekend by forcing Josh Emmett to tap out. Yair also broke Brian Ortega's arm to earn the interim title shot. He is becoming quite the submission specialist of late. Yair just winning the belt and sharing the title of champion in the Featherweight division is what keeps him at the bottom of our list. Although, a win against Volk to become Undisputed Champion soon could sky-rocket Yair to the top!
The Assassin Baby earned his Undisputed Flyweight Championship last month at UFC 283 after defeating Deiveson Figueiredo for the second time. Moreno's last three wins have come against Figgy twice and Kai Kara-France for the interim title. Realistically, Moreno should be ranked a lot higher considering the list is a "pound-for-pound" ranking, yet it is really tough to rank Moreno over the other champions because at the end of the day, he is still a Flyweight and it is tough to see Moreno going up to challenge any Bantamweight in this current landscape. Moreno is one of, if not, the most exciting Flyweight in the division and we can't wait to see what else he's got in store for 2023!
The Welterweight Champion, Leon Edwards, is known for being the pound-for-pound assassin because of the headshot he delivered to Kamaru Usman as seen above. Leon is another fighter who could probably be ranked higher. However, in rounds two through four of Leon's championship fight he was absolutely dominated by Usman. For about three and a half rounds it seemed like Usman was rag-dolling Edwards. On the other hand, Leon showed amazing resilience against Usman and has a chance to defend his championship in their trilogy on March 18th at UFC 286 in his home London, England. As long as he is fighting Usman, I believe Leon gets the knockout again. However, there are rumors Kamaru's health may not allow for the trilogy to happen.
Newly crowned Light Heavyweight Champion Jamahal Hill won his title against Glover Teixeira in extremely dominant fashion last month in Brazil at UFC 283. The way Jamahal beat Glover is what gives him the edge over Leon. Jamahal just pounded Glover till the final bell, even when Glover took Jamahal to the ground he had fantastic grappling defense. Jamahal Hill looks like a problem for the Light Heavyweight Division. This list is a "pound-for-pound" ranking that also only goes against Hill's favor. Usually the heavier you are on these lists, the lower you are. Yet, Jon Jones consistently defied the odds, it's certainly possible Hill can as well after a few title defenses.
As we enter the upper half of the rankings we look to the Bantamweight Champion, Aljamain Sterling. Aljo is an absolute beast of a wrestler. He outwrestled Petr Yan for crying out loud. When looking at his resume Aljo has a legitimate argument to be number one on this list. On the other hand, when he did defeat Dillashaw, TJ was fighting on one arm. When he won the title it was via DQ because Yan illegally kneed him. His second victory against Yan was also controversial according to fans. Many argue Yan was robbed by the judges in their rematch. However, non of these things are Aljo's fault, he handled his business and won. All things considered, we believe four is a fair position for Sterling. Yet, if he goes up and wins the Featherweight Title like he has been teasing it'll do wonders for his rank.
Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev just fought the hardest fight of his life...against a Featherweight. Yes, Volk is probably the greatest Featherweight of all time and would probably be a top one or two Lightweight Fighter, but the fact of the matter is Islam had Volk by at least ten pounds the other night. Obviously, you have to credit Makhachev for the historic victory. In fact, Opinion Octagon had Makhachev winning the fight 47-46. The thing is he may have scored more points than Volk, but Volk won the fight. Take the octagon out of the equation and Volk probably ends up finishing Makhachev after thirty minutes. We also don't want you to think we are hating on Islam, because he is a great competitor and his stock is virtually the same after Saturday, but his "pound-for-pound" rank decreased due to a Featherweight giving him all he can eat. Plus there are rumors Islam took an IV after weighing in. That's against USADA policy. The reason Makhachev would do such a thing is to boost back to his walking weight. If true, that certainly isn't helping anyone's pound-for-pound rank.
Alex "Poatan" Pereira is the only Middleweight to ever defeat Israel Adesanya. The Last Stylebender's only other UFC loss belongs to former Light Heavyweight, Champion Jan Blachowicz. That being said, defeating Adesanya at Middleweight is no easy task. Although, for Alex Pereira, their UFC title fight wasn't the first time he's done so. He's already defeated Adesanya in kickboxing twice and on April 8th at UFC 287 he's getting the chance to do it for a fourth time. The Middleweight Champ has looked dominant in his four UFC fights. He destroyed everyone he faced on his way to the belt. The one-punch KO to Sean Strickland will live on the internet forever. Pereira's first UFC fight against Adesanya was unbelievably challenging for him, especially when Izzy took it to the ground. Yet, Alex remained strong and finished Izzy at the end of the fifth round. I believe Alex gets the KO he desires in Miami at UFC 287. After that, it feels like Alex is gonna move up and take on Jamahal Hill or whoever the Light Heavyweight Champion is at the time as Alex is a tank and walks around at almost 225 pounds of pure muscle. Opinion Octagon can't wait for the rematch at UFC 287 and the future of Alex Pereira!
You had to have known this was coming. The Featherweight Champion, Alexander "The Great" Volkanovski showed why he is the pound-for-pound champion on Saturday night. Somehow in defeat, Alex was able to remain the number-one ranked pound-for-pound UFC fighter not only on our rankings but the UFC's as well. No one here is arguing Volk was robbed in the scoring of that decision, but he still won that fight in terms of eye test. When the fight is looking dead even, the fifth round ends with one guy pounding the other, and the guy who was getting pounded in the fifth looks worse afterward you would say the guy giving the pounding won. Volk was the guy delivering a pounding to Islam in the final minute of that fifth round. If Volk told someone who didn't watch the fight "you should see the other guy" he wouldn't be kidding. Islam's face looked far more beat up compared to Volk's. Again I'm not arguing over who won on the scorecard. Personally, I had it 47-46 in favor of Islam, but in the words of Nate Diaz "Islam got his ass whooped." He got his ass whooped by the reigning, defending, pound-for-pound champion of the UFC, Featherweight Champion, Alexander "The Great" Volkanovski. I have a feeling Volk will remain here for a while, and eventually as the "champ champ."
Kommentare