Hot Takes

Joshua Van is going to hold the flyweight belt for years. Nobody at 125 can keep up with him.

Interim belts should be scrapped. Either you are the champion or you aren't.

Jon Jones at heavyweight was never really tested. Two fights isn't a heavyweight career.

The prelims are better than the main card more often than not. The UFC puts its best fights on too early.

Khabib's perfect record is partly timing. He fought the right guys at the right time.

Conor is never fighting in the UFC again. The comeback is a marketing campaign.

Robert Whittaker is the best middleweight of his era who couldn't solve Adesanya.

Nate Diaz beating Conor was the best thing that ever happened to Conor's career.

The smaller cage at the Apex changes fights more than anyone admits.

Islam Makhachev's résumé is already better than Khabib's. Say it.

Wrestling is the most boring road to a belt and also the most effective one. Deal with it.

Belal Muhammad's title run proved you don't need a highlight reel to become champion.

Georges St-Pierre in his prime beats Islam Makhachev at welterweight. Five rounds, clear decision.

Women's strawweight was the best women's division ever and the UFC stopped selling it.

Judge a fighter by who they beat in their prime, not by their final record.

Anderson Silva's middleweight run is still the most dominant stretch the UFC has ever seen.

Israel Adesanya was a great champion who stayed about two years too long.

Winning a belt by disqualification should come with an automatic rematch. Nobody wants a champion by DQ.

Fighters who miss weight should lose their whole purse, not 20 percent.

The Octagon should be bigger. More room means more striking and fewer cage-grinding decisions.