Stat of the Day: Weak Champions

When we exclude Flyweight (a division that the UFC only semi-recently adopted), we are at a period now where the rating of a #2 fighter is equal to or greater than 85% of the rating of the #1 fighter in 3 men’s divisions since Fight Matrix came online.  We saw this briefly for a 1-week period back in July 2010, but we are currently in the midst of a period that has essentially lasted since mid-June 2014, excluding a short break from mid-August to mid-September where we had some shuffling.

• Welterweight: [#2] Rory MacDonald’s rating is 94.8% of [#1] Johny Hendricks’s
• Lightweight: [#2] Rafael dos Anjos’s rating is 86.5% of [#1] Anthony Pettis’s
• Bantamweight: [#2] Renan Barao’s rating is 86.5% of [#1] T.J. Dillashaw’s

Depending on the outcome, or non-outcome (another Aldo injury) of Aldo/Mendes, the Edgar/Swanson winner could increase this count to 4. Either way, the 3 above will probably hold in the list for quite a bit.

The real question is… is this good, or bad?