UFC chief Dana White is enlisting Mark Zuckerberg’s help to correct the organization’s pound-for-pound rankings.
White has long campaigned UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones as the best pound-for-pound and greatest fighter of all time, despite his lack of activity.
After Jones’ first successful defense of the heavyweight title on Saturday, he rose up the pound-for-pound list, but still lags behind the top spot that White religiously claims is his.
As a result, White called on the tech giant to help fix what he says is a flawed system.
‘I gotta get rid of these CLOWNS!!’ White wrote on top of a screenshot of the list on his Instagram Story. ‘@zuck Let’s get this AI deal done ASAP!!!!!’
Dana White enlisted the help of tech giant Mark Zuckerberg to fix the UFC’s ranking system
White has long insisted that Jon Jones should be the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC
The UFC rankings are voted on by a panel of MMA journalists across various channels.
With Jones’ placement being an ongoing point of contention for White, he has previously threatened to replace the panel with artificial intelligence. However, the media continues to cast their votes and their results are posted on the UFC’s official website.
Jones put on a masterclass against Stipe Miocic, which ended in a third-round TKO, at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden.
The win moved him from third to second, trading places with UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. The move seems drastic considering Pereira has defended his title three times this year, scoring knockouts in each appearance.
On the other hand, Bones’ last fight before 309 was in March 2023, when he submitted Ciryl Gane to win the vacant heavyweight title. Poatan has fought six times and won five straight between Jones’ last two fights.
Jones moved into second place in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings, overtaking Alex Pereira
Pereira defended his UFC light heavyweight title this year with three knockout victories
UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev tops the list after one fight in June
Jones was scheduled to face Miocic in November 2023 at UFC 295 – a pay-per-view that Pereira saved in Jones’ absence – but withdrew due to a serious shoulder injury. Nevertheless, Pereira’s recent success is proving to be more valuable than Jones’ sole defense.
At the top of the pound-for-pound rankings is lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who stepped into the Octagon once this year in a submission victory over Dustin Poirier in June. Aside from the Jones and Pereira trade, the rest of the roster remained the same after UFC 309.
A specialist team from Fight Minds has already released an AI-generated UFC rankings system on their Vercel app.
While White insists that artificial intelligence would rightfully put Jones at the top, the Fight Minds list Pereira is at the top, with Jones and Makhachev in second and third respectively.