Dana White recently reached out to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for help with improving the UFC rankings system, possibly using artificial intelligence.
The UFC boss confirmed his conversations with the Meta CEO during an interview Thursday with TNT Sports.
āI could go on and on and on but I wonāt,ā White said. āWe literally had meetings this week to work on it. I actually talked to Mark Zuckerberg, too, about AI, so yeah. Iām totally going to fix the rankings. Weāre going to make a lot of strong moves here coming into 2025.ā
White previously expressed his frustration with the current rankings that are voted on by a UFC-selected group of media outlets, a system that has been in place since 2013.
āI just canāt handle incompetence,ā White said earlier this month. āI just canāt take it anymore. Itās driving me crazy. I canāt let people that I donāt believe know what the fā that theyāre talking about deal with the rankings anymore. I just canāt do it. I have to figure out a solution.ā
According to MMA Junkie, recent complaints have included Max Holloway being ranked below Justin Gaethje, and Renato Moicanoās ranking remaining unchanged after his win against BenoĆ®t Saint Denis in September.
The UFC chose these outlets for the rankings. Danaās problem is he hates criticism so he ostracizes any legit media member who disagrees with him.
Dana White reached out to a friend in a high place to address his latest grievance.
In recent weeks, White has made it no secret that heās not happy with the current UFC rankings system, which is voted on by members of the media (though several of the outlets involved are obscure or appear to have been inactive for years). His aggravation peaked following Khalil Rountreeās valiant loss at UFC 307 to light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, who knocked out Rountree in the fourth round after trailing on the scorecards.
White told TNT Sports that he and his team have gone as far as to reach out to Facebook founder and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for advice.
āWe literally had meetings this week to work on it,ā White said. āI actually talked to Mark Zuckerberg, too, about AI. So Iām totally going to fix the rankings. Weāre going to make a lot of strong moves here coming in to ā25.ā
Itās not clear whether White plans to use AI to completely replace the current rankings panel, or use some mixture of human voting and AI-generated input, to create a new system.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, following Whiteās most recent rankings rant, two fighter evaluations that he was most displeased with were changed in the latest update (h/t Eurosport).ā
White continued to use Rountree and Holloway as his most frustrating examples when it comes to the rankings.
āWeāre working on it right now,ā White said. āWeāve literally been working on it all last week and I will have some answers on that soon, but the rankings system drives me crazy. From the pound-for-pound to each division, thereās huge mistakes.
āFirst of all, Khalil Rountree, letās start there. He fights the fight that he fought, if you look at Alex Pereiraās destroyed everybody that heās faced. Going into the fourth round, Khalil was ahead on the scorecards and then he gets beat and he stays at No. 8. Iām not saying he should be in the top 3 or whatever, but he should definitely move up, for me. He might not be 2 or 3, but heās definitely not 8.ā
āThen you look at Max Holloway,ā White added. āIt just changed this last Tuesday, but he knocked outāIf you really think about it, he beat Justin Gaethje twice that night. He beat him on the scorecards and he knocked him out with one second left. How is he ranked 13 or something [at lightweight]? How is he ranked that low when he beat Gaethje?ā
Zuckerberg, one of the wealthiest and most powerful figures in the world, is an avid fan of combat sports, having attended several UFC events as a guest of Whiteās. He has also participated in amateur grappling competitions.
Put someone gay in the top!