![\"\"](\"https:\/\/platform.mmafighting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/109\/2025\/09\/Screenshot-2025-09-03-at-12.08.29%E2%80%AFPM.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100\")
<\/a><\/p>\nLuke Rockhold. What happened to this massively talented man in his career?<\/p>\n
Once upon a time, Rockhold was one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet. After he beat the soul out of Chris Weidman to win the UFC middleweight title, most smart people envisioned either a long reign for Rockhold or a back-and-forth rivalry with Weidman that would define the division for a generation. Instead, it all came crumbling down almost immediately, and now he\u2019s (maybe?) retired from combat sports.<\/p>\n
Rockhold famously got knocked out by Michael Bisping in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, and then lost three of his next four UFC fights, leaving the sport. From there, he tried his hand at BKFC, failing spectacularly against Mike Perry, before getting a win in Karate Combat over Joe Schilling. Now, he\u2019s been brutally knocked out again in the most stereotypical Rockhold fashion: a dude winging a hard left hand at him.<\/p>\n
For those of us who thought Rockhold was the Next Great Middleweight, his ignominious fall has been wild to watch. I mean, this dude absolutely dummied great fighters like Lyoto Machida and Chris Weidman, but then it all fell apart the first time someone threw a left hook at him. But that sort of speaks to an unsung aspect of MMA: the structure of the sport means that fighters can climb the mountain while still having huge holes that have yet to be exploited.<\/p>\n
Rockhold is immensely talented (I maintain that he may be the best fighter I\u2019ve ever seen once he\u2019s on top of someone), and that talent carried him to a UFC title. But he also doesn\u2019t have a great chin, and more importantly, he never developed the tools to hide this weakness. Maybe it\u2019s hubris, maybe it\u2019s just a pure inability to learn, but Rockhold\u2019s chin, and specifically his penchant for getting blasted by left hooks, is a massive failing, and in his entire career, he\u2019s done almost nothing to mitigate it. And that\u2019s how someone so talented can fall so quickly. Because in other sports, a fatal flaw like that usually gets exposed earlier, but as MMA is still pretty nascent, a guy like Rockhold can make it to the top before it becomes a problem.<\/p>\n
It is yet another reason why I put so much stock in title defenses as a measure of greatness. Because we\u2019ve seen plenty of impressive runs up a division happen, and plenty of those fighters flame out like a bottle rocket, but the ones who can stay at the top year after year, that\u2019s special.<\/p>\n
Why do bookmakers see Valentina as almost even with Weili? She is definitely bigger, and Zhang has been taken down even by Rose. I don\u2019t think Valentina would be at a disadvantage in striking either, so I\u2019d expect her to be around -200. What am I missing?<\/p>\n In case you missed it, the UFC 322 title fight pitting flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko vs. former strawweight champion Zhang Weili had opening odds drop, and the bout is a near pick\u2019em<\/a>.<\/p>\n Personally, I\u2019m with e-gnat here. I expected Shevchenko to open up as a small but clear favorite over Zhang. After all, Shevchenko is arguably the greatest female fighter of all time, and she\u2019s defending against a woman moving up in weight. But the fact that the odds are this way speaks to how great a matchup this one is.<\/p>\n First off, I\u2019m not sure we\u2019ve ever had a matchup of the top two pound-for-pound women on the planet. The only other one that might have been so was Amanda Nunes vs. Cris Cyborg, but I\u2019m not even sure that was, given that women\u2019s featherweight has never been a great division. So we are making history with this matchup. Moreover, these are the two premier women\u2019s divisions in the sport at this moment in time, as opposed to one pseudo-fake division like featherweight.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not just that these are the current best pound-for-pound fighters in the world; it\u2019s that they\u2019re the historic GOATs of their divisions. Shevchenko is the unanimous best flyweight ever, and while there are arguments for others above Zhang at strawweight, she\u2019s probably taken that top spot now. This is historic matchmaking, with all-time GOAT implications.<\/p>\n As for why the odds are this way, I think it\u2019s all momentum. Both women are on the older side for MMA (Shevchenko is 37 and Zhang is 36), but while Shevchenko has shown some of that age recently (the trilogy with Alexa Grasso), Zhang has aged like wine. Zhang\u2019s best performances have been her most recent ones, and that momentum has oddsmakers believing that she\u2019s peaking while Shevchenko is trying to hold on for as long as possible.<\/p>\n All that being said, I think I like Shevchenko in this one. The last time a physical beast and former strawweight champion moved up to challenge Shevchenko, she obliterated Jessica Andrade in possibly the most dominant performance of her career. Even an aging Shevchenko still should have physical advantages over Zhang that I think favor her.<\/p>\n If you have a son who\u2019s, say, 12 years old, which would you want him to grow up to be: a UFC fighter ranked in the top 5 or a golfer who\u2019s #100 on the PGA money list?<\/p>\n Dude. What are you talking about?<\/p>\n The No. 100 golfer on the PGA money list in 2025 is Patrick Fishburn. He played 23 PGA events this year and earned $1,275,844. That does not include any money from sponsorships. There are maybe 20 UFC fighters who will earn more than that in 2025, and they will do so while suffering serious brain injury and dramatically affecting their quality of life in later years. Hell, there are Top 5 fighters right now who won\u2019t make that in their entire career.<\/p>\n There is almost zero scenario where the correct choice is not PGA golfer. If they are a PGA pro, that\u2019s better than being almost any UFC fighter, including many champions.<\/p>\n Ask Demetrious Johnson which he would have preferred, and I bet you Mighty Mouse would say professional golfer.<\/p>\n Who\u2019s the true pound for pound best fighter? I\u2019m not talking about the UFC criteria, I\u2019m talking about if you could scale every UFC champ up to be at the heavyweight limit while maintaining their skill set, who\u2019d win the 8-man (and 3-woman?) tournament and how would it play out?<\/p>\n You know what? I like this question, so I mathed it out. Is the premise flawed? Sure. We can\u2019t scale fighters up, and it\u2019s hard to say what skills might translate. But let\u2019s do so anyway.<\/p>\n To figure it out, I made an eight-man bracket, randomly generating the draw. Below are the matchups and how they play out.<\/p>\n Jack Della Maddalena vs. Ilia Topuria<\/p>\n A terrific little scrap between two guys with some of the best boxing in MMA. That being said, Topuria appears to be the better of the two boxers and also has more natural pop, relative to his size. Add in that Topuria is also a very talented grappler, and \u201cEl Matador\u201d advances to the semifinals.<\/p>\n Tom Aspinall vs. Khamzat Chimaev<\/p>\n The most difficult of the opening round matchups to predict. Aspinall is wicked quick for heavyweight and hits like a truck. Chimaev is incredibly athletic and a grappling wizard. It\u2019s a real styles make fights matchup, but one where both champions somehow have questions about themselves still to be answered. I\u2019ll favor Chimaev because he\u2019s a great athlete in a division with good ones, whereas Aspinall is currently one of the only good heavyweight athletes, so he simply might be upended by meeting someone else who can physically move like he does.<\/p>\n Magomed Ankalaev vs. Alexander Volkanovski<\/p>\n Another tough matchup because Volkanovski is, frankly, old. Volk fans don\u2019t want to hear it, but it\u2019s true. And while that should make his win over Diego Lopes that much more impressive, it concerns me against well-rounded fighters like Ankalaev. Still, I guess I\u2019ll side with Volk here as he has a more refined game.<\/p>\n Alexandre Pantoja vs. Merab Dvalishvili<\/p>\n This might be a matchup we get one day, and then we\u2019d know for sure, but I have to favor Merab. His cardio is a cheat code, and while Pantoja is awesome, Merab probably Merab\u2019s him.<\/p>\n Another matchup pitting striking vs. grappling, and a total coin flip for me. Because Topuria is a capable grappler in his own right, I\u2019ll guess he can stymie Chimaev\u2019s wrestling and win on the feet.<\/p>\n Volkanovski vs. Dvalishvili<\/p>\n Volkanovski is a horrible matchup for Dvalishvili as he\u2019s a superior technician in most phases, has great cardio, and is an elite tactician. Merab can\u2019t CrossFit him.<\/p>\n We saw this happen. Clear winner here. Ilia Topuria is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.<\/p>\n That being said, if Islam Makhachev were in the bracket, he might not be. That matchup is sensational as they are somewhat mirrors of each other. I might slightly favor Makhachev, but man, it\u2019s close.<\/p>\n As for the women, you can\u2019t do a bracket with three people, so I\u2019ll save you the suspense: Zhang Weili is the best woman on the planet. She checks all the boxes of a great fighter \u2014 incredible athlete, well-rounded, technically skilled, great tactician \u2014 and though Shevchenko has beaten better competition, Zhang has probably done it with more aplomb. If you want to go with Shevchenko here, that\u2019s not wrong, but Zhang has looked flawless lately, while Shevchenko has not.<\/p>\n Thanks for reading and thanks to everyone who sent in tweets (Xs?)! Do you have any burning questions about things at least somewhat related to combat sports? Then you\u2019re in luck because you can send your tweets to me, @JedKMeshew<\/a>, and I will answer all the good ones! It doesn\u2019t matter if they\u2019re topical or insane, just so long as they are good. Thanks again, and see y\u2019all next week.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n