In a move that has sent ripples through the mixed martial arts community, the UFC has revealed plans to revolutionize its ranking system through a new partnership with tech giant Meta.
During a recent announcement, UFC President Dana White expressed frustration with the current media-based ranking system, particularly regarding Jon Jones‘ position in the pound-for-pound (P2P) rankings.
“Jon Jones is ranked number three pound for pound in the world. Most ridiculous, embarrassing, stupid, know-nothing-about-fighting ranking of all time,”
White stated emphatically.
“But don’t worry, my friend, AI will be here soon, and this will all be fixed.”
The UFC executive didn’t hold back his criticism of the media members currently responsible for rankings:
“We get all these bums that know nothing about fighting out of this and get AI in here, and we can fix all these rankings.”
White was adamant about Jones’ standing in the sport:
“Jon Jones is the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world. It’s undebatable. Anybody who even tries to debate this with me, you’re just hating on Jon Jones.”
The new partnership between UFC and Meta, described as a “massive long-term partnership,” will position Meta as UFC’s first-ever official fan technology partner. According to the announcement, they will work together to create a new fighter ranking system set to debut later this year.
This move comes after criticism regarding Jones’ ranking following periods of inactivity. Critics point out that Jones has competed just twice in five years, with his most recent victory coming against Stipe Miocic, who himself had been inactive for three years.
An early AI-generated ranking list that circulated online placed Jones at number one, followed by Islam Makhachev, Kamaru Usman, Alexander Volkanovski, and Max Holloway rounding out the top five.
The announcement has generated mixed reactions within the MMA community. Some fans expressed skepticism about AI-based rankings, with one commenting that AI is “just a glorified search engine” and predicting the new rankings would be problematic. Others questioned how the accuracy of the rankings would be verified.
This partnership with Meta represents one of the organization’s most significant technological initiatives to date. Whether this new ranking system will provide the objectivity White seeks remains to be seen, but it clearly signals the UFC’s intent to take greater control over how its fighters are evaluated and presented to fans worldwide.
