So if you live under a rock, you didn’t hear that Jon “Bones” Jones made his return to the octagon this past weekend after a three-year layoff. He quickly disposed of Cyril Gane and claimed the Heavyweight crown. Jones is now the 8th fighter in UFC history to win titles in two separate divisions.
However, while Jones technically has reclaimed the Men’s top P4P ranking according to the UFC, the media isn’t quite convinced.
The MMA Fighting panel thinks that more has to be done. Following his ridiculously swift submission victory over Cyrill Gane at UFC 285, three panelists put Jones at the top of their rankings, but it wasn’t enough to propel him ahead of Islam Makhachev (two first-place votes) or Alexander Volkanovski (three first-place votes). Jones, who for years ruled the pound-for-pound rankings, will have to make do with the No. 3 spot for the time being.
Here’s what MMA Fighting had to say:
“[But] if you’re wondering how Jones ended up behind Volkanovski despite having more first-place votes, it’s because our panelists took an all-or-nothing approach to evaluate Jones’ impressive comeback: He was either No. 1 for voters or outside of the top three — with one voter placing him as low as No. 7.
Regardless of how you feel about Jones’ placement (universal agreement, we’re sure), everyone can agree that the pound-for-pound list is an absolute s*** show these days with long-reigning champions getting knocked off left and right last year. Imagine if Volkanovski faces Yair Rodriguez next and loses an upset or if Makhachev falters in his next title defense? We may as well scrap the whole rankings and start over.”
Do you agree? Disagree? Let us know!