The fact that ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor is currently ranked at No.9 on the UFC’s official featherweight rankings hasn’t pleased everyone, not least Dennis Siver who know finds himself placed one position below him.
“Some guys I don’t agree with have made it to the top ten lately,” Siver tells German site groundandpound.de. “Conor McGregor for example. He ranks one spot above me now, even though him and his last opponent didn’t even have a spot in the top ten before. It is not my job to judge on those things, the UFC decides and they decide based on your performance. His last fight was okay.
There’s no doubt that McGregor’s one-man hype machine act has aided his meteoric rise up the rankings, but in fairness he has shown that he can back his words up with actions, stringing together a three-fight winning streak in the division against respectable opponents like Marcus Brimage, Max Holloway and most recently former TUF champion Diego Brandao.
A case could be made that McGregor should have to fight a top 10 fighter before breaking into that category himself, but Siver’s perhaps not the ideal person to make that case given his recent record.
Siver is clinging to the No.10 spot for now, but he’s only 2-1 (+1nc) in the featherweight division himself at the moment and after a TKO loss to Cub Swanson in July of last year he then had a win over Manny Gamburyan turned to a no-contest at the turn of the year after he tested positive for hCG.
With that in mind he too could perhaps consider himself fortunate to still be included in the top 10, and it doesn’t seem too much of a stretch to suggest that McGregor is at this moment in time closer to a title shot than he is.
In fact, looking further down the list is not easy to pick someone who is more deserving of the No.9 spot than McGregor, since Jeremy Stephens (No.11) own three-fight unbeaten stretch was just brought to an end by Cub Swanson, Clay Guida (No.12) has lost two of his last three fights, as has Darren Elkins (No.12).
Whether you are a believer in McGregor or not, the good news is that his next fight against the No.5 ranked Dustin Poirier presents a serious challenge and should go a long to establishing exactly how good the Irishman really is.
As for Siver, his drug suspension ends in October and he’ll immediately go on to face up and coming Scottish fighter Robert Whiteford at UFC Fight Night 53 which he hopes will be a stepping stone to get a bigger fight next time out.
“If I win in spectacular fashion, I am sure they will give me a big name from the top five right away,” He says. “If it ends in a boring decision on the other hand, everything could take a lot more time.”
