The UFC rolled out its new ranking system, and it left many scratching their heads, including UFC flyweight Alessandro Costa.
Like many hungry UFC title hopefuls, Costa (16-5 MMA, 4-3 UFC) has long set himself the goal of cracking the top 15 of the official UFC flyweight rankings, but there are two different lists he has to consider, at least for the time being. Earlier this month, the promotion revealed its new divisional rankings – a system created by Meta that uses fighter stats and artificial intelligence. These new lists not only shifted some names around but also made some surprising removals and added some unexpected names.
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In Costa’s division, Kevin Borjas went from unranked to No. 10 in the AI rankings. What makes things more puzzling is that Borjas was on a two-fight losing streak and 1-3 in his past four outings before his win over Andre Lima last month. He also didn’t make weight for the fight, and Costa, who’s unranked and on a three-fight winning streak, owns a recent stoppage win over Borjas.
“The ranking is a bit confusing, this new Meta ranking,” Costa told Hablemos MMA in Spanish. “It’s very confusing. Just being sincere with you, it’s not like my main objective is to get in the rankings because now you can just get in or out of the rankings out of nowhere. Right now it’s very confusing, but I do have like two or three fights I’m eyeing from the top 10 and below. So yeah, I’m sure after this win I can crack the rankings, and then I can get a good fight.”
Costa will be looking to go 4-0 this Saturday at UFC 329, as he takes on veteran Cody Durden (18-10-1 MMA, 7-8-1 UFC) in the first fight of the night.
The UFC has long relied on an independent media panel to create its rankings. This list still remains, but it’s expected to be phased out and replaced by the AI rankings at some point in the future. No specific date for the swap has been made official by the UFC.
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For now, Costa thinks the media rankings map out the top talent of the division better than the new AI rankings.
“One hundred percent the one that was before (was better), just being honest with you,” Costa said. “One hundred percent the one we previously had. I think it made a bit more sense. I feel like it’s a little more just, but let’s see; it is new. They’re also seeing how people react to them. I also think they’ve changed them twice since rolling them out. Let’s see how it all plays out. Maybe they want new names in the rankings, and they did that on purpose.”
Costa is not sweating the rankings and will focus on what he can control: beating Durden at UFC 329. He hopes the new AI rankings eventually find the right recipe. Should Costa get a win on Saturday, he plans to keep busy to further his stance at flyweight.
“In September, the UFC is doing their Noche UFC event, and I’m not discarding the idea of fighting on that card again.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Alessandro Costa unsure of new UFC rankings: ‘It’s very confusing’
