Jon Jones leapfrogs Alex Pereira in the UFC pound-for-pound rankings following his third-round finish over heavyweight legend Stipe Miocic.
‘Bones’ claimed his second victory in the land of the giants last Saturday, retaining his title after stabbing Stipe Miocic with a spinning back kick to the body.
Not only that, but the 37-year-old’s destructive performance at UFC 309 has, in the eyes of most fans, cemented his status as the greatest MMA fighter of all time.
Yet still, Jon Jones remains one spot behind lightweight king Islam Makhachev on the UFC’s pound-for-pound list, with Dana White now putting his promotion’s rankings under the microscope.
Dana White blasts UFC rankings for keeping Islam Makhachev above Jon Jones
White has always insisted that Jones should be placed above Makhachev in the pound-for-pound rankings, even before the American made his first heavyweight title defense.
The two-division champion has, after all, amassed a scintillating run of victories, beating the likes of Daniel Cormier and Vitor Belfort down at 205 lbs.
Makhachev, meanwhile, boasts an exceptionally impressive resume too, with the UFC lightweight champion defeating Dustin Poirier, Alexander Volkanovski and Charles Oliveira in his last four outings.
However, White remains convinced that Jones’ body of work should see him top the pound-for-pound list, even though Makhachev has faced a higher caliber of opposition in recent years.
As for light heavyweight champion Pereira, it could be said that he, too, has a remarkably strong claim to be regarded as the top fighter.
And so, White has maintained his frustration with the panel of media members who are responsible for organizing the UFC rankings.
On his Instagram story, he said: “I have to get rid of these CLOWNS!”
Dana White looks to accelerate his AI deal with Mark Zuckerberg
The pound-for-pound rankings are, of course, immensely subjective, lending itself to endless debates among fight fans.
And yet, White has expressed a desire to introduce a cutting edge AI system, removing the scope for human error.
He has, in fact, called upon the services of Facebook CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, with the tech genius potentially representing a solution to his problem.
Even with an AI system, though, one would assume that the fierce debates over rankings will not exactly cease to exist.