Paddy Pimblett was surprised when Islam Makhachev recently vacated the UFC lightweight title. Especially because Jon Jones is still the champion at heavyweight.
Makhachev is the No. 1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC right now, thanks to a dominant reign as lightweight champion. However, he recently dropped his lightweight belt with plans to move up to welterweight in pursuit of a new title. There’s been some suggestion that the UFC pressured the Russian to relinquish his lightweight title if he intended to change divisions.
That’s all well and good, except that the UFC has been pretty inconsistent as to when fighters relinquish their titles. Jon Jones, for example, has held the “undisputed” heavyweight title since early 2023, and has only defended it once since, against a fading Stipe Miocic. All the while interim champ Tom Aspinall has been campaigning for a fight with the undisputed champ.
According to Pimblett, if the UFC pushed Makhachev to drop the lightweight title, they need to be just as heavy-handed with Jones.
“I didn’t think they should make Islam vacate,” Pimblett told TNT Sports. “If you’re making Islam vacate, Jones needs to be stripped.”
