Chael Sonnen criticizes the latest UFC rankings which sees Conor McGregor rise up
Former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen has taken a crack at the recent UFC rankings and has singled out Conor McGregor for featuring in a weight class he does not currently fight in.
The latest UFC rankings were released earlier this week, and while it is mostly what the fans predicted, there are also some eyebrow-raising inclusions.
Khabib Nurmagomedov rightly tops the pound-for-pound rankings in the men’s division, while Amanda Nunes is the #1 pound-for-pound women’s fighter.
One name that surprised many was Conor McGregor’s. The Notorious One has been placed at #12 in the pound-for-pound rankings.
However, he also makes the top 15 in the welterweight rankings. Anthony Pettis, who is ranked at #12, left the UFC earlier this week. This meant that Conor McGregor, ranked #16, makes his way into the top 15.
The seemingly nonsensical logic behind this was mentioned by Chael Sonnen on his ‘Beyond the Fight‘ talk-show on 23rd December.
Sonnen says that it is ridiculous that Conor McGregor is included in a weight class (welterweight) where he no longer fights in.
He criticizes the criterion which allows an active fighter to be included in the weight class rankings if he fought in it in the past 1 year. McGregor last fought in the welterweight division on 18th January 2020, which just qualifies him for the list.
Sonnen also highlights the ridiculousness behind having McGregor as the #15 welterweight, but the #12 pound-for-pound fighter on the list.
He says that it does not make sense that a fighter who has 14 fighters ahead of him in a specific weight class, is the 12th best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
“The official [UFC] rankings have Conor McGregor as the 15th best within his weight class, but the 12th best within the sport as a whole.“
Sonnen’s argument here is not invalid and his logic does make sense. However, it must be noted that McGregor’s preferred weight class is lightweight, where he is ranked #4.
Due to McGregor playing in different weight classes, it would obviously bring out some potential flaws within the ranking system.
It becomes easier to deal with the situation if we just consider that a lightweight Conor McGregor is the 12th best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and not the welterweight Conor McGregor.
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