UFC 287 was an action-packed event as the fans and the fighters were excited to get back to Miami after 20 years. Israel Adesanya settled the score with Alex Pereira by knocking him out in round 2 of the fight. It was a vicious knockout as Alex Pereira took a minute or two to get back to consciousness. The question is, after regaining the title, has Israel Adesanya moved up the pound for pound ranking in the UFC.
Pound for pound rankings signifies the best fighter in the world currently, irrespective of weight class. The rankings have gained a lot of traction in the media very recently.
UFC Pound for Pound Rankings:
The pound for pound ranking represents the fighter that skill for skill would be the best irrespective of any weight class. In the past we have had fighters like GSP, Anderson Silva, Demetrious Johnson who were always amongst the top fighters in the organization.
For a long time, Alexander Volkanovski held this title as he had a fantastic run in the UFC’s featherweight division. He continued to be the pound for pound number even after he suffered a loss against Islam Makhachev at 155 pounds.
Israel Adesanya is currently ranked number 5 in the pound for pound UFC rankings. Jon Jones is number one in the rankings. Volkanovski and Makhachev are number 2 and 3 respectively. The number 4 ranked pound for pound fighter in Leon Edwards.
Jon Jones, however, recently said that fighters like Alexander Volkanovski who have been fighting regularly deserve to be number one in the pound for pound rankings. Jon Jones was more interested in Greatest of all time (GOAT) which is a different conversation all together.
Israel Adesanya’s next opponent:
Israel Adesanya is now again the undisputed king of the middleweights. Stylebender is an active fighter and is already waiting to know who his next opponent would be. Khamzat Chimaev vs Paulo Costa is in the works. The winner possibly gets to face Adesanya for the belt.
The back and forth online between Israel Adesanya and Dricus Du Plessis was an exciting one and even though Du Plessis is ranked 6 in the division, Adesanya won’t mind giving him a title shot. A fight between these two in South Africa would be a huge deal if UFC can pull it through.
Israel Adesanya has tested the waters at 205 pounds but came up short against Jan Blachowicz. The guy with the Polish power has tweeted that he is ready to face Adesanya again, but this time it would be at middleweight for Adesanya’s belt. Things just got interesting at 185 pounds.
What are your thoughts on this?
