Jake Hadley questions why he isn't in UFC rankings before Cody Durden fight

05 August 2023 , 09:00

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Jake Hadley questions why he isn't in UFC rankings before Cody Durden fight

Jake Hadley believes he should already be in the UFC flyweight rankings but is certain a win against Cody Duden will earn him a spot.

Hadley, 27, makes his UFC return tonight against Durden at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. The Brummie believes his wins against Carlos Candelario last November and Malcolm Garden in March should have already earned him a spot in the top-15 at 125lb. His opponent Durden is also unranked at the weight class despite being on a three-fight winning streak.

"I don't understand why me or Durden aren't already ranked. A lot of these guys aren't active enough to be ranked, Sumudaerji's best win is against Malcolm Garden and he's fought once a year for the last four or five years. Why is he ranked? He isn’t active enough to be ranked in my opinion. You can't just sit on the sidelines to be ranked," Hadley told Mirror Fighting .

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“It’s the same with Tagir [Ulanbekov], he averages one fight a year and pulls out of more fights than anyone else. Should these guys really be ranked? No disrespect to Alex Perez because I like him as well, but he’s had one fight in the last three years. You should be competing at least twice a year to be a ranked fighter.

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“Durden is on a three-fight win streak with some impressive wins and finishes in there as well. To be honest I feel like I'm fighting good opponents, I can't tell you the criteria for a ranking. I don't know how it goes, maybe it's because flyweight is a newer division than the rest and that's got something to do with it."

Jake Hadley feels he should already be in the UFC rankings

Hadley showed he isn't just a jiu-jitsu fighter in his most recent bout against Gordon as he knocked the Canadian out with strikes in 61-seconds to earn himself a $50,000 performance bonus. 'White Kong' doesn't see any areas that Durden can threaten him in as he is predicting another stoppage win on the night.

"I feel like he's going to try and take me down and I could easily submit him off of that. If I get on top of him the fight will be over, I'll cave his head in and choke him out. There aren't many dangers with him. He's got probably a puncher's chance for the first minute and that's it," Hadley added.

Harry Davies