UFC Matchmaking After Paramount Deal Has Not Been Looking Good So Far

We’ve already spent three months watching UFC events under their historic $7.7 billion Paramount+ CBS partnership, and nine major events have already wrapped. In most cases, fans have responded positively, but it could’ve been much better if the promotion had focused on a very crucial aspect of the game—the matchmaking. 

Though the UFC has a team of expert matchmakers who have been putting together exciting showdowns, they seem to be losing their edge in recent months. Reason? They aren’t simply putting the best against the best. 

UFC isn’t matchmaking the best fighters

For the most part, fans are describing the Paramount+ era as entertainment first, meritocracy second. But while that casual-friendly approach does bring eyes to the sport, it doesn’t necessarily keep them. For instance, the UFC kicked off its new broadcasting partnership this year with UFC 324, headlined by Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett’s 25-minute war for the interim title, which was an awesome start.

However, although the fight was fun, it wasn’t right from a matchmaking standpoint. Before facing a legend like ‘The Highlight’, the Liverpudlian hadn’t fought a single opponent from the top 5 of the lightweight rankings, and Paddy Pimblett’s last three opponents had a combined 13-fight losing streak. So when fight night arrived, that experience gap was quickly noticeable, as a 37-year-old Gaethje dropped him multiple times during the fight.

If Gaethje had instead fought the actual number one contender, Arman Tsarukyan, who was ready to compete in January, the fight would’ve been much more competitive, and the winner would’ve been a proven challenge for Ilia Topuria. Currently, ‘El Matador’ is a sizable favorite to beat the Arizona slugger at UFC White House. Now, imagine if ‘The Highlight’ had faced Topuria after beating Arman instead of Paddy, would he still be a +400 underdog? 

That likely wouldn’t be the case, considering the Armenian is arguably the best challenge for the Georgian-Spaniard in the lightweight division. But the point is, this is where matchmaking can make people care about the sport, and it’s not that they failed to do so only in the 155 lbs division. Also, the condition in the featherweight division hasn’t been great either.   

The UFC booked a rematch between Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes at UFC 325, where ‘The Great’ once again delivered a masterclass against an opponent he had already beaten before. After that fight, Movsar Evloev moved to the forefront of the title picture by beating Lerone Murphy at UFC London. However, Jean Silva could still steal the undefeated Russian’s opportunity by securing another premature title shot, especially after ‘Lord’ earned a win over Arnold Allen, whom Lopes knocked out at UFC Noche last year.

UFC CEO DANA WHITE with post event media during the UFC 304 event at Co-op Etihad Campus, SportCity, Manchester, England on the 27 July 2024. Copyright: xAndyxRowlandx PMI-6350-0002

That said, if things weren’t already confusing enough, they snubbed Nassourdine Imavov, who is on a five-fight winning streak, from a title shot against Khamzat Chimaev and instead awarded Sean Strickland the opportunity at UFC 328 after ‘Tarzan’ knocked out Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston in February.

Again, the buildup between Strickland and Chimaev will be fun, but the actual fight is one many fans believe could turn into another one-sided domination, especially after ‘Borz’ soundly beat Dricus du Plessis, who himself defeated ‘Tarzan’ twice. At this point, if you think the questionable matchmaking is over, they made another bizarre one, with #6-ranked middleweight Brendan Allen risking his position against the unranked Edmen Shahbazyan instead of facing Du Plessis in a grudge match.

Now, that’s a brief overview of what has happened with the marquee matchups during the three-month run of the Paramount+ era. So, the inevitable question becomes: What is the solution? Well, the UFC already has some existing examples from last year.   

How can Dana White fix the matchmaking?   

As you’ve probably guessed by now, the solution to this matchmaking problem would be putting the best against the best, and that’s true. But it’s definitely not as straightforward as it sounds, because it might take a little more time to properly build up those fights.

Last year, UFC fans were massively hyped for UFC 319 between Khamzat Chimaev and Dricus du Plessis. Even though the two didn’t have personal bad blood, everyone wanted to see how the fight would play out, and the live press conference numbers reflected that, with over 100K viewers tuning in on YouTube. How significant is that? It actually topped the live numbers of arguably the biggest UFC star, Ilia Topuria, ahead of his return against Charles Oliveira at UFC 317.

However, the actual fight turned out to be underwhelming, as Chimaev dominated DDP for 25 minutes straight. And that’s the risk when the best fight the best; one skill gap can completely change the outcome. But this is where a good example like Merab Dvalishvili comes in. Initially, fans weren’t thrilled about the Georgian’s fighting style, until his championship run and relentless gas tank made it exciting for the audience.

So, Dana White needs to be patient, as some of these clashes might not turn out to be classics. However, when expectations are met, the fighters can truly deliver, as Merab Dvalishvili and Petr Yan did at UFC 323 last year. This is also where the UFC CEO’s role as a promoter becomes a game-changer.

Hopefully, UFC will fix the matchmaking and push for Islam Makhachev vs Ian Garry or Michael Morales next, and then bring Kamaru Usman into the mix. That said, do you actually see that happening? Let us know in the comments section below.

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