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#2. Khamzat Chimaev – UFC welterweight
When Khamzat Chimaev signed with the UFC in mid-2020 as a late replacement for Dusko Todorovic, few fans raised their eyebrows.
But after the Chechnya native destroyed John Phillips, and then beat up Rhys McKee to pick up his second UFC victory just 10 days later, the hype began to grow.
Chimaev promised that he’d “smash” any fighter that the UFC put in front of him. Enamored by his mix of powerful wrestling and explosive grappling, the fans quickly began to compare the newcomer to the great Khabib Nurmagomedov.
When Chimaev then knocked out veteran Gerald Meerschaert in just 17 seconds, making him 3-0 in the UFC after just two months, it seemed like he’d rocket up the rankings in either the welterweight or the middleweight division.
However, while Chimaev remains one of the UFC’s more popular fighters, he still hasn’t broken into the UFC’s rankings.
There’s an obvious reason for this, of course: inactivity. It’s almost been a year now since Chimaev knocked out Meerschaert. And while he was scheduled in a fight with Leon Edwards that, with a win, would’ve launched him up the rankings, a serious case of COVID-19 has kept him out of the octagon.
Chimaev is now scheduled to face off against welterweight contender Li Jingliang at UFC 267 in October. And given that ‘The Leech’ is currently ranked at No.12, it’s likely that with a win, the the Russian-born Swede will move onto the ladder, perhaps even into the top 10.
For now at least, Khamzat Chimaev might be gaining huge popularity, but he remains unranked by the UFC.
#1. Nate Diaz – UFC welterweight
Unlike his brother Nick, Nate Diaz has at least broken his long stretches of inactivity in recent years. After staying away from the UFC for the best part of three years following his 2016 loss to Conor McGregor, he returned in 2019 to defeat Anthony Pettis in a welterweight bout.
But since then, Diaz has lost his next two visits to the octagon, falling to Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards. Those losses have ensured that the fighter from Stockton, California, remains outside of the UFC 170-pound rankings.
Like his brother, though, the fact that Diaz is unranked by the UFC has not affected his popularity at all. In fact, he remains one of the UFC’s top-drawing fighters when it comes to pay-per-view numbers, and whenever he’s booked on an event, interest levels increase.
The UFC’s treatment of him is a massive indicator of that, too. His most recent bout with Leon Edwards was made into a five-round clash, becoming the first fight to be scheduled as such without being for a UFC title or serving as the headliner for an event.
It seems that no matter how many fights Diaz loses, nor how long he sits on the shelf for until the UFC are willing to agree to his demands, his popularity with the fans will never wane.
In that sense, Nate Diaz has become one of the few fighters in UFC history to essentially transcend the promotion’s ranking system.
