Dominick Cruz makes stunning claim that the UFC rankings are based on money, not merit

Former UFC champion Dominick Cruz claims the promotion’s current rankings system isn’t dictated by achievement inside the Octagon.

Dominick Cruz is regarded by many as one of the greatest fighters in UFC bantamweight history, after two title reigns and numerous dominant performances inside the cage. After announcing his retirement from fighting earlier this year, Cruz remains one of the top television analysts for ESPN’s UFC coverage and is one of the brightest minds in the sport.

In recent years, the UFC’s rankings system has been a hot topic in and out of the promotion, most notably by UFC CEO Dana White. White teamed up with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to overhaul the UFC’s rankings system, but as of this writing, the current rankings remain unchanged.

Several legends, including Demetrious Johnson, have also been critical about how fighters are ranked in each UFC division. According to Cruz, the system is anything but a meritocracy.

Dominick Cruz reveals potentially significant issue with UFC’s current rankings.

During a recent interview on the MightyCast podcast, Cruz was asked about the UFC’s rankings system and made some unique claims about how fighters are slotted.

“My experience, the way the rankings are made are according to how you wrote your contract last,” Cruz said.

“So if I wrote a big contract to fight you and I renegotiate at fight No. 4 and then they ask me for a favor to fight you on one week’s notice for a title, I have an opportunity to renegotiate my contract and I can probably get a good chunk. So let’s say I negotiate really well and I get up to more money than anybody in the division and then I lose to you. I’m still making that money.

“Now that they’re paying me, you’re telling me, I just lost, they’re going to give me No. 10 now?” Cruz continued. “But I’m making money to fight for a title. They’re not going to pay me title money [for that], never. You see what I mean? So that’s the true ranking is how much your contract is written for.” (h/t MMA Fighting)

Fans were perplexed when BMF titleholder Max Holloway debuted at No. 8 in the UFC lightweight rankings just days after knocking out Justin Gaethje at UFC 300. Gaethje was ranked higher than Holloway despite being on the receiving end of the buzzer-beating knockout.

Islam Makhachev remained in the UFC lightweight rankings despite vacating the belt earlier this year. He’ll face UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena in the UFC 322 main event.