According to Dominick Cruz, UFC rankings are put together based on how much money you make.
Although media members – many who are not prominent in the MMA industry – who assemble the weekly UFC rankings, Cruz (24-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) suggests the amount a fighter makes impacts the standings and matchmaking.
Sounds a little off the wall? He broke down his theory.
“My experience, the way the rankings are made are according to how you wrote your contract last,” Cruz said in an interview with Demetrious Johnson. “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? But I’m making money to fight for a title. They’re not going to pay me title money. You see what I mean? Never. So that’s the true ranking, is how much your contract is written for.”
Former two-time UFC bantamweight champion Cruz was in the title picture for practically his entire career, with various injuries sidelining him for many years.
“Even if I lost the title, even if I lost two in a row, they’re still giving me top five because I’m getting paid so much, they want to see me get beat to death for that money,” Cruz said. “Once a fighter can surrender to the fact that rankings aren’t based off your skill, it’s based off of who wants to watch you, then you’re ranked. I think that still makes it a sport. It’s just wrapped in a different package, and we’re all OK with it or we’re not. I still signed up. I’m still here. I’m still going to do it. I’m still going to sign.”
