Conor McGregor Moves Up In The UFC’s Official Rankings Despite Not Fighting Since November 2016

Conor McGregor’s star is burning so brightly, not even a year-plus of UFC inactivity or a hand truck to a bus window can diminish it. In fact, McGregor is such an omnipresent entity in the world of combat sports, he can even move up in the official UFC rankings seemingly by osmosis.

Take, for example, the rankings that came out today after the most recent UFC show. Not only does Conor McGregor, who is 2-1 in his last three MMA fights and 0-1 in boxing (while being stripped of two titles over the last 18 months), move up in the rankings, undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov moves down.

Khabib is 26-0 and has never lost a round in his life, and yet he has somehow moved down in the rankings. It’s an astonishing reaction to his domination of Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 and goes to show that the vast majority of people who vote on these rankings shouldn’t be.

Here’s where we were after UFC 223, for context (via Bloody Elbow):

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Georges St-Pierre +1
3 Conor McGregor -1
4 Stipe Miocic
5 Daniel Cormier -1
6 Max Holloway
7 TJ Dillashaw
8 Khabib Nurmagomedov +6
9 Tyron Woodley -1
10 Cris Cyborg -1
11 Tony Ferguson -1
12 Amanda Nunes -1
13 Robert Whittaker -1
14 Cody Garbrandt -1
15 Rose Namajunas *NR

Conor dropped a bit the following week, but now Tyron Woodley somehow moves up (he hasn’t fought since August) and due to that, Khabib moves down. It’s truly inexplicable. Why should people who aren’t fighting ever move up unless it’s to fill a void left by a departing or injured fighter? Because Conor McGregor, that’s why.