Rankings Focus: Why isn't Jorge Masvidal getting ranked opponents?
Jorge Masvidal is not a gatekeeper. He's a legitimate lightweight title contender. So why does the UFC keep giving him un-ranked opponents?
Masvidal has been in the 155-pound top 15 since beating Pat Healy in April. Since then, he has fought twice and has another bout scheduled. None of those foes are ranked. Meanwhile, Masvidal moved up two spots to No. 11 on the UFC's official lightweight contenders list this week. At least the media voters are taking notice.
Masvidal defeated Daron Cruickshank by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night on FOX in July. After nearly being knocked out in the first round, Masvidal dominated Cruickshank, a good but unranked fighter. Then, Masvidal was matched up against James Krause at UFC 178 in September. He dispatched Krause in a workmanlike, three-round unanimous decision. Krause, like Cruickshank, is a solid fighter, but no title contender.
Now, Masvidal has been booked to meet Norman Parke at UFC Fight Night on FOX Sports 1 on Jan. 18 in Boston. Like the previous two, this promises to be a fun fight and it's an excellent stylistic matchup. But Parke, like Cruickshank and Krause, are up-and-coming competitors. Masvidal has more than established himself as a lightweight contender.
In fairness to the UFC, the original plan for Masvidal was to have him fight Bobby Green, currently ranked No. 7, at UFC 178. But then Green was pulled to be in the co-main event against Donald Cerrone and Masvidal was given Krause. Green never ended up fighting Cerrone anyway, though. The UFC yanked him from that spot and inserted the newly signed Eddie Alvarez. Instead of Green going back to Masvidal, Krause was kept as Masvidal's opponent.
Green will meet No. 13 Edson Barboza at UFC Fight Night on FOX Sports 1 on Nov. 22 in Austin. Masvidal might not have been ready for that date due to a hand injury, but Barboza, ranked two spots below him, is getting a more high-profile fight than Masvidal has ever gotten.
It isn't like Masvidal is boring. He's extremely technical and always has a solid game plan, but "Gamebred" is always willing to bring the violence. This is the same guy who grew up street fighting in Miami and has the YouTube videos to prove it.
If Masvidal, 29, beats Parke in January, he will have won four in a row in the deepest division in the UFC. It would be hard to ignore him then. With the UFC making its big push into Latin America, Masvidal, of Cuban and Puerto Rican descent who speaks fluent Spanish, is a huge asset.
Inexplicable move of the week: Dennis Siver
Dennis Siver moved up in the rankings last week, but it might not be for the reason you think.
This is more like the inexplicable move of last week, but I felt like it should be addressed here. Many noticed that Siver jumped over Nik Lentz in the featherweight rankings after it was announced that Siver would be fighting Conor McGregor in the main event of UFC Fight Night on FOX Sports 1 on Jan. 18 in Boston. That certainly seems suspicious, but it's highly doubtful there was anything sinister going on.
Many times when a fight is announced, the following week one of those fighters moves up a spot in the rankings. Is that something the UFC is doing to manipulate the lists? Probably not. More likely is that the media voters are reminded that fighter is around and he or she is fresh in the voters' minds when it comes down to sort out the rankings. That seemed to happen this week when Mitch Gagnon, booked recently to fight Renan Barao at UFC Fight Night on FOX Sports 1 on Dec. 20 in Sao Paulo, moved up one spot in the bantamweight rankings to No. 14 over Joe Soto.
Rankings riffs
Luke Rockhold should be higher than No. 5 in the middleweight rankings.
-- Luke Rockhold dominated Michael Bisping on Friday night in Australia and finished him in the second round with a one-armed, mounted guillotine. What was Rockhold's reward for giving Bisping the most complete beating of his career? Sticking at No. 5 in the rankings. I get that the middleweight top 5 is pretty strong, but Rockhold has a win over Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza already. Rockhold has done enough in the UFC, with three straight impressive finishes over ranked opponents, to move over him.
-- The light heavyweight division has sorted itself out somewhat. Ryan Bader moved up one spot to No. 7 this week over Dan Henderson and Ovince Saint Preux followed those two, jumping up one spot to No. 9 after his 34-second knockout of Mauricio "Shogun" Rua on Saturday night in Uberlandia. Jimi Manuwa moved up one spot to No. 10 and Rua dropped two notches to No. 11. It speaks volumes of the light heavyweight division that "Shogun" remains that high. That's not a good thing.
-- The UFC rightly pulled Chan Sung Jung from the featherweight rankings two weeks ago after I wrote about his presence in this space. "The Korean Zombie" will be taking two years off from the UFC to fulfill his mandatory military service in South Korea. There's no reason for him to remain in the rankings if he's going to be inactive for that long. Tatsuya Kawajiri has replaced him on the list at No. 15 and I'm not sure why. There are plenty of better options, like Thiago Tavares.
