‘Bulls—t!’ Chimaev ‘Hasn’t Beat An ‘85er’

Brendan Allen isn’t the biggest fan of the official Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) rankings.

Khamzat Chimaev returned to the Middleweight division for his biggest fight yet at UFC 294 last month (Oct. 21, 2023). As a result of his short-notice majority decision win over the former Welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, Chimaev found himself ranked at No. 8 in the division upon the following Tuesday’s rankings update.

Headlining UFC Vegas 82 opposite Paul Craig this weekend (Sat., Nov. 18, 2023), the No. 10-ranked Allen wasn’t overly impressed by “Borz’s” performance.

“It wasn’t a Middleweight fight,” Allen said at UFC Vegas 82 media day. “They weighed in at ‘85, but they’re both 170s. I don’t know how you rank — I don’t know if anyone here’s on the panel, but if you do, I don’t like you. I’m just gonna be honest.

“It’s bulls—t,” he continued. “This guy hasn’t beat an ‘85er. He hasn’t beat an ‘85er, especially a ranked ‘85er. He beat the No. 1 170 guy. Cool. Congratulations. I think everyone can agree a five-round fight, Kamaru wins and that was off the couch. Keep him at ‘70 and rank him No. 1, do that. This is a different thing.”

Before his return bout against Usman, Chimaev had established himself as a top contender in the Welterweight division. Unfortunately for the undefeated rising superstar, Chimaev’s big weight miss in his previous bout led to a change in divisions after one full year out of competition.

When it comes to the rankings overall, Allen believes there should be more rules in place regarding who stays in over certain periods. Along with Chimaev, fighters like Jack Hermansson and Paulo Costa are also ranked ahead of him despite having not fought in over one year (Hermansson will have been out for one year come Dec. 3, 2023).

“The rankings are absolutely political bulls—t,” Allen said. “It’s people going off of what? It’s politics because it’s not off of skill. If we’re going off pure skill there’s tons of guys that shouldn’t be in.

“How do we have guys that haven’t fought in two years in the rankings? Three years,” he continued. “How is that a thing? It shouldn’t even be close. There should be guidelines. You have to fight at least this many times — at least once a year. If you don’t, you get pulled.”

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