Dana White has had enough of the media-voted P4P ranking and wants Mark Zuckerberg to help him do something about it. Since time eternal, the UFC pound-for-pound rankings have been determined by the media as a way to ensure the public has a say in the rankings. And White has never been shy about his distaste of the process.
And since the rankings didn’t move Jon Jones to #1 even after his win over Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, White has asked Zuckerberg to come up with the AI-generated ranking ASAP.
Jones actually did gain a point and moved to P4P rank no. 2. But that isn’t enough for the UFC President, who has been talking about the Rochester native being the #1 P4P fighter for months now. So, he’s now asked the founder of Facebook to sign an AI deal with the UFC.
“I have to get rid of these clowns!! @zuck Let’s get this AI deal done ASAP!!!!!”
White has also long proposed an AI model that takes care of the rankings based on performances, history, and other such metrics, which he believes the media doesn’t take into consideration. He believes this will be a good way to rule out personal preferences and biases. That is funny because this was Jones’ second fight in four years.
White’s obsession with the P4P rankings started when lightweight champion Islam Makhachev took the top spot. But what really got his goat was the rankings following Pereia vs. Rountree.
White claims media will no longer be in control
Khalil Rountree and light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira put on one of the best performances of the year and the rankings did not reflect that. Rountree was ranked 8 in the division and remained so after the 4-round fight against Poatan.
White was so agitated by this that he revealed that he did not want the media to be in control of the rankings anymore,
“A group of people that are coming to me saying they have the solution to this problem and God I hope they’re right. Coz I’m gonna change it, the media will no longer control the rankings in the UFC.”
Although these changes have not been implemented yet, it only seems like a matter of time before they do. It appears White will only rest once he sees Jon Jones sitting at the top of the P4P rankings. And isn’t that the epitome of unbiased?