It might be an understatement to say the UFC has some questionable rankings. You would expect rankings to be questionable as they are subjective; however, in this column, I will point out rankings that I think are glaring mistakes. I will also analyze significant movement in the rankings that I agree with.
Editorial Commentary by Peter Parsons
This past Saturday, Tom Aspinall was not the only British fighter to go 5-0 in the UFC. Jack Shore had one of the best performances of the night when he defeated a very tough Timur Valiev by unanimous decision after almost having the Russian fighter out in the third round. The former Cage Warriors champ is now 5-0 in the UFC and 16-0 overall in his pro MMA career.
Jack Shore unranked at bantamweight
Going into Saturday night, Shore had not defeated any top-level UFC bantamweights; however, going 4-0 in the UFC is very impressive and would have had him in the top 20. Timur Valiev was on the cusp of a ranking spot himself. Valiev was coming off a victory over Raoni Barcelos who at the time was 5-0 in the UFC. I would have Shore ranked at least No. 14 ahead of Marlon Moraes and Raphael Assuncao and as high as No. 10 ahead of Pedro Munhoz, Frankie Edgar, Ricky Simon and Sean O’Malley.
No. 15 ranked Raphael Assuncao last won a fight in the UFC in 2018 and has now lost four in a row. No. 14 ranked Marlon Moraes has also lost four in a row and his last victory came in 2019, a controversial split decision over Jose Aldo. I know Moraes and Assuncao have lost to top competition, but I feel the 27-year-old Shore has done enough to earn a ranking spot ahead of them.
Shamil Abdurakhimov ranked No. 12 at heavyweight
I’ve written about Abdurakhimov in this column before when he stayed in the top 10 after being inactive for over two years. He returned and lost to Chris Daukus and only dropped one spot in the rankings. After losing on Saturday to Sergei Pavlovich, who had been inactive for over two years himself, Abdurakhimov only dropped two spots. Abdurakhimov was somehow ranked No. 10 going into Saturday night, one spot ahead of Tom Aspinall.
Abdurakhimov should not still be in the rankings. With Pavlovich re-entering the rankings, previous No. 15 ranked Serghei Spivac falls out of the rankings. Spivac should be ranked ahead of Abdurakhimov. Spivac has won 4 out of his last 5 fights which includes notable victories over Carlos Felipe and Aleksei Oleinik. His only loss during that stretch was against current No. 6 Tom Aspinall.
Spivac also holds a submission victory over current No. 3 Tai Tuivasa. The Tuivasa victory happened in October of 2019. Yes, that was two and a half years ago, but it was also six months after Abdurakhimov’s last victory.
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Andrei Arlovski is another unranked fighter who should be ranked ahead of Abdurakhimov. Arlovski has now won 5 out of his last 6 with his only loss coming against Tom Aspinall during that stretch, a stretch that has seen the former champ defeat Tanner Boser and Carlos Felipe among other heavyweight prospects.
Alexander Romanov is 4-0 in the UFC and 15-0 overall. He has notable wins over Marcos Rogerio de Lima and TUF 28 winner Juan Espino. Romanov is another fighter who should be ranked ahead of Abdurakhimov.
Maybe the voting panelists do not drop Abdurakhimov further down the rankings because the ranked fighters below him have also not performed well in the past couple of years. The No.’s 13 through 15 heavyweights Augusto Sakai, Walt Harris and Blagoy Ivanov are all on losing streaks. Sakai is the only fighter of the three to have won a fight since 2020, a split decision victory over Ivanov in May of 2020. This was the last fight Ivanov has had.
The top half of the UFC heavyweight rankings look good with the exception of Curtis Blaydes being ranked ahead of Derrick Lewis. The bottom half, however, is in need an overhaul. The voters need to look at fighters like Spivac, Arlovski and Romanov.
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My rankings would look different than any other writer or fan who follows the sport closely. This is to be expected, as rankings are subjective. Rankings should be based primarily on results and not perceived potential or popularity.
Some people think rankings do not matter. Rankings do matter. They matter when it comes to matchmaking. They matter when it comes to contract negotiations.
Let’s keep the rankings conversation going. Do you agree or disagree with the above Ranking Review? Express your thoughts in the comments below.
