For better or worse, it seems yesterday will go down as the day UFC officially took ownership of the MMA universe. Below is a brief breakdown of the percentage of top fighters under the Zuffa banner based on the current consensus rankings.
|
Top 10 Fighters |
||
|
Weight Class |
Under Zuffa Banner |
% |
|
HW |
10 |
100% |
|
LHW |
10 |
100% |
|
MW |
10 |
100% |
|
WW |
10 |
100% |
|
LW |
7 |
70% |
|
FW |
6 |
60% |
|
BW |
9 |
90% |
|
|
Total |
89% |
Of those in the top 10 not currently under the Zuffa banner, almost all are based in Japan where if current news is correct they are or shortly will be there for the taking if the Zuffa wants them. Only Marlon Sandro and Eddie Alvarez of Bellator may be locked away.
|
Top 25 Fighters |
||
|
Weight Class |
Under Zuffa Banner |
% |
|
HW |
24 |
96% |
|
LHW |
25 |
100% |
|
MW |
22 |
88% |
|
WW |
24 |
96% |
|
LW |
20 |
80% |
|
FW |
13 |
52% |
|
BW |
17 |
68% |
|
|
Total |
82% |
Of those in the top 25 not currently under the Zuffa banner, again almost all are based in Japan where they are there for the taking if the Zuffa wants them. Only Joe Warren, Jay Hieron, Ben Askren, Hector Lombard and Cole Konrad of Bellator may be locked away.
To look at this another way, Zuffa now probably has a high a percentage (or even higher) of the top players in its sport under contract than the NFL does at a given point in time (considering top level college players they don't yet have). For better or worse, it seems yesterday was the day that people who say "I train UFC" became correct.
There are 8 Comments. Load Now.
Shortcuts to mastering the comment thread. Use wisely.
C - Next Comment
X - Mark as Read
R - Reply
Z - Mark Read & Next
Shift + C - Previous
Shift + A - Mark All Read
Comment Settings
Live comment alert: Hide it!
Comments for this post are closed.