Dominick Cruz has an idea of how the UFC rankings are really made.
For years, fans have questioned the methodology behind the official rankings, with the UFC maintaining a murky panel of media members (some of which are obscure or outright inactive) and UFC CEO Dana White frequently criticizing them.
In an interview on Demetrious Johnson’s MightyCast, Cruz explained that the number next to a fighter’s name has more to do with the numbers on their latest contract as opposed to their in-cage performance.
“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.”
Cruz, who retired from competition in February, was in the championship pay bracket for years as the UFC’s reigning bantamweight champion. Injuries limited his bookings, but he competed in several high-profile bouts with the likes of Urijah Faber, Cody Garbrandt, T.J. Dillashaw, and Henry Cejudo.
It’s his understanding that even if a current fighter at the top of the rankings starts to slump, the UFC matchmakers will continue to give them big-name opponents to get a return on their investment.
“Even if I lost the title, even if I lost two in a row, they’re still giving me top 5 because I’m getting paid so much they want to see me get beat to death for that money,” Cruz said.
Cruz and Johnson then had a brief discussion about whether MMA at the UFC level should still be considered a sport, given the seemingly capricious nature of the rankings and how that can affect a fighter’s career. “Mighty Mouse” has long argued that it is more entertainment than sport at that point, but Cruz believes it’s still a sport based on the shared agreement that all athletes have when they decide to step into the cage.
“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,” Cruz said. “I still signed up. I’m still here. I’m still going to do it. I’m still going to sign.”
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