(You’ll always be a star in our eyes, bro.)
This morning, the UFC Rankings voting panel was informed that middleweight Mark Munoz (previously ranked #9) would be removed from the rankings as of this afternoon. Oddly enough, the sudden removal has nothing to do with the fact that Munoz has suffered first-round stoppage losses in his last two fights. It’s business, not personal:
A UFC official later informed MMAWeekly.com that, “Mark is no longer under contract at this time. However, we are negotiating towards a new agreement.”
One would assume that if negotiations go well, Munoz will be placed back in the UFC top ten. And if not…well, good luck in World Series of Fighting.
I don’t even know why I care about this crap. From the very beginning, the UFC’s official rankings have been a useless exercise, carried out by a random assortment of credentialed media with too much time on their hands. In terms of actual competition and match-making, the rankings mean exactly zero.
But in light of Nate Diaz’s recent removal for “inactivity” — made more ludicrous by Dominick Cruz‘s continued existence in the bantamweight top ten — it’s clear that the UFC’s rankings are just another way to punish fighters for getting out of line. “Oh, so some media nerds said you were a top ten fighter? Well, until you sign this contract and/or bout agreement, you don’t even exist. #UFCisRAW”
Dear UFC rankings panel: Stop supporting this crap. When top ten fighters are ineligible for voting due to purely political reasons, you’re just wasting your time. You’re only helping the promotion exert pressure on fighters, and you’re not even getting paid for it. Is it really that important to your ego, to have your name included on the most meaningless rankings system in professional sports? Who’s side are you on, anyway?