Light Heavyweight UFC Rankings: Vacant Title Available
The Title is Up for Grabs
Due to Jamahal Hill’s basketball injury, he will relinquish his light heavyweight UFC belt.
It will shake up the light heavyweight rankings, and upcoming UFC events including Jan Blachowicz vs Alex Pereira hold the key.
They fight for the title, where the winner is likely to move to the top spot.
No Belt for the Winner
Blachowicz vs Pereira is the co-main event at UFC 291, but it won’t be for the vacant light heavyweight UFC belt.
However, it will change the rankings, so it’s still a significant fight, where the winner could face either Jiri Prochazka or Magomed Ankalaev for the title.
UFC odds have a close fight framed, and it will be interesting to see how Pereira handles the rise in weight after fighting Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title earlier this year.
The winner could become the UFC light heavyweight champion in the future, so all eyes are on this fight.
Daniel Cormier spoke with UFC matchmaker Mick Maynard, who explained why it’s not a title fight.
“I called Mick Maynard, Mick goes, ‘It doesn’t make any sense.’ He goes, ‘Jiří was supposed to fight for the belt. He was gonna fight Jamahal when he came back.’ He goes, ‘Now you make an interim championship fight, for what? They’re just still the number one contender to fight for a vacant championship when Jiří comes back,” Cormier recalled.
Whoever wins will be in a good position to rise up the rankings.
Ankalaev Continues Russian Dominance
The Russian have taken over the UFC, and Ankalaev could be the newest champion from Russia.
The 31-year-old is 18-1-1 following a draw against Blachowicz for the vacant title. It was a split draw, so the title remained vacant, which was an unfortunate situation for both UFC fighters.
Light heavyweight UFC ranks run deep, and Ankalaev is one of the very best to do it. He defeated the likes of Thiago Santos and Anthony Smith to earn his number two ranking, which is earned.
He has yet to face a huge name in the company, but that’s because most fighters have avoided him.
“That’s the matchup that you as Alex Pereira would want to avoid,” Cormier said. “I think that’s the only one at 205 that you want to avoid right now is Ankalaev because Ankalaev can wrestle, and we saw that in the fight against Jan Blachowicz, where he took him down for the last three rounds.”
Don’t Sleep on Walker
Johnny Walker is an enigmatic fighter, but he’s super talented and good enough to rise up the rankings.
He suffered four losses from five fights in 2019-2022, but he has bounced back with wins over Ion Cutelaba, Paul Craig, and Smith.
Two of those were first-round knockouts before beating Smith by decision, which holds him in good stead for a potential title fight next year.
Walker is a fighter that had a massive hype train, but he seems more focused now, which is a dangerous proposition.
Expect to see value odds for Walker in his upcoming fight.
For more UFC betting news, fighters stats, and odds visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
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