The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Miocic sixth in ESPN’s power rankings
Stipe Miocic might be “the baddest man on the planet” as the defending UFC heavyweight champion. But he is only No. 6 in the ESPN MMA power rankings.
Miocic, 38, isn’t even the top-ranked heavyweight in the power rankings released Nov. 24. Jon Jones, ranked fourth overall, is the highest ranked heavyweight.
Jones was a light heavyweight until moving up a weight class in August. He hasn’t fought as a heavyweight and hasn’t fought since winning a unanimous decision over Dominick Reyes in February.
Jones, 26-1, would undoubtedly like to challenge Miocic for the belt, but first Miocic, a graduate of Eastlake North High School, is expected to fight Francis Ngannou in the spring. Miocic won a unanimous five-round decision over Ngannou on Jan. 20, 2018.
Miocic beat Daniel Cormier on Aug. 15 to defend the belt he won back from Cormier one year earlier on a technical knockout. Cormier knocked out Miocic in the first round on July 7, 2018 in what was Miocic’s fourth title defense.
Miocic has won the cham
pionship fight six times in all, defeating Fabricio Werdum, Alistair Overeem, Junior Dos Santos and Ngannou once each before losing to Cormier and then beating his rival two straight times.
“The win (over Cormier)
cemented his status in the eyes of many as the greatest heavyweight champ in MMA history,” ESPN wrote in its summary of Miocic. “The title of ‘heavyweight champion of the world’ always carries extra cache. And while Miocic doesn’t
seek headlines, his story is one of the most compelling in the UFC as he’s a parttime EMT and firefighter in a Cleveland suburb (Oakwood and Valley View). He’s one of the most popular athletes in Ohio with more than 1.2 million Instagram
followers.”
Sixth seems low for a man with so many belts.
Israel Adesanya, the undefeated (20-0, 9-0 in the UFC) UFC Middleweight champion, is ranked first followed by UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov. Nurmagomedov is 29-0 overall and 13-0 in the UFC.
Conor McGregor is ranked third. He fights as a lightweight. At one time he was the featherweight and lightweight champion.
“He is by far the most popular athlete in UFC history,” ESPN wrote in its summary. “All this, and his last elite win was when he knocked out Eddie Alvarez in the second round on Nov. 12, 2016, to become the first UFC fighter to hold two belts simultaneously. “They think I’m toast, but I’m still the bread,” McGregor likes to say.
Jones is fourth with this in ESPN’s summary: “He’s widely considered the greatest MMA fighter of all time.”
Amanda Nunes is ranked fifth. She owns two belts as the bantamweight and featherweight belts.
“Nunes is considered the greatest women’s fighter in MMA history, and she’s in the conversation for greatest regardless of gender,” the summary reads.
UFC Welterweight champ Kamaru Usman at seven, eight-ranked flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko, ninth-ranked middleweight and welterweight Khamzat Chimaev and UFC flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo round out the top 10.