You can have it the way you like – UFC introduced a few changes to the current pound-for-pound list – or Islam Makhachev forced the UFC to make the alterations. Weeks after he took over the mantle as the best MMA fighter in the world, Ilia Topuria has been sidestepped by his biggest rival. For long a second-ranked pound-for-pounder, Makhachev moved up a weight division and, without displaying even an ounce of the vagaries brought upon by such a seismic change, dominated Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 .

History was made when the Madison Square Garden card featured two champ-champ attempts. The conclusions, however, varied. Zhang Weili failed to disrupt Valentina Shevchenko’s momentum. Islam Makhachev succeeded. And until Topuria does anything drastic, the pound-for-pound formation,

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