Daniel Cormier doesn’t agree with Weili Zhang being ranked ahead of Valentina Shevchenko in P4P rankings

Daniel Cormier has said that he doesn’t agree with Weili Zhang being ahead of Valentina Shevchenko in the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings.

In the wake of Amanda Nunes’ dominant victory over Felicia Spencer, there has been a great deal of talk surrounding the upper tier of women’s fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and who belongs in that discussion.

Alongside Nunes, it goes without saying that the other two female champions Zhang and Shevchenko, are widely considered to be amongst the best female fighters of their generation – and of any others, for that matter.

During a recent chat with Ariel Helwani, however, Cormier questioned the logic behind having Zhang being placed above Shevchenko in the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings.

“I love Zhang Weili but there’s no way she should be above Valentina Shevchenko,” Cormier said (via MMA News). “She’s number two. She should never be number two over Valentina. I get it but there’s no way. It’s Amanda, Valentina, and then Zhang Weili and everybody else. But it’s Amanda and Valentina, and then everybody else because they’ve completely separated themselves from anybody else in female fighting to this point.”

As of this writing Nunes is the number one ranked fighter in the female standings, whereas Zhang is placed in second and Shevchenko in third.

Both women have earned the right to be called champions in their respective divisions, but as is the case with any P4P list, there’s always going to be some kind of dispute – although, when looking at the numbers, many do feel as if Shevchenko has accomplished more in her UFC tenure, Daniel Cormier included. 

Zhang is 5-0 with the promotion, whereas Shevchenko holds a record of 8-2 in the UFC with her only two defeats coming against Nunes, one of which being very contentious.

It seems unlikely that they’ll be squaring off anytime soon to determine who the real number two is, so for now, fans can enjoy seeing them try and turn back as many challengers as they possibly can.