Ali Abdelaziz slams the UFC rankings following Islam Makhachev’s recent descent on the P4P list
Ali Abdelaziz has hit out at the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings as a result of Islam Makhachev’s position in the list.
Next month, Islam Makhachbev will defend his UFC lightweight championship against Charles Oliveira in a rematch of their title collision last year. It comes after a superfight against Alexander Volkanovski earlier this year and while it was a tight and competitive affair, Makhachev was the one who had his hand raised when all was said and done.
However, because it was such a closely-fought encounter, Makhachev did not move ahead of Volkanovski in the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Now, the rankings currently have Jon Jones at #1, Volkanovski at #2 and finally, lightweight king Islam Makhachev at #3. As you can imagine, his manager Ali Abdelaziz isn’t best pleased with that.
@MAKHACHEVMMA Islam Makhachev was #2 P4P, fought the #1 P4P for his ranking, won and now he's P4P #3
These rankings are bullshit
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) September 25, 2023
Abdelaziz defends Makhachev
“@MAKHACHEVMMA Islam Makhachev was #2 P4P, fought the #1 P4P for his ranking, won and now he’s P4P #3. These rankings are bulls***.”
If Makhachev is able to get past Charles Oliveira for the second time, there’s a good chance that he will leapfrog above ‘The Great’. Even if he doesn’t, fans and pundits can’t seem to stop talking about the possibility of the two champions taking part in a rematch at some point in the future.
Whatever the case may be, it feels as if Islam isn’t going to stop until he reaches number one – an accolade that formerly belonged to his close friend Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Do you believe that Ali Abdelaziz is right to be furious about Islam Makhachev’s position in the rankings? Is there a chance we will see him have a rematch against Alexander Volkanovski if he’s able to get past Charles Oliveira? Let us know your thoughts on this, BJPENN Nation!
Topics:
Ali Abdelaziz Islam Makhachev UFC
