Arnold Allen feels that his spot in the UFC rankings has no real meaning after agreeing to fight Aaron Pico before his latest win.

Allen has managed to get as high as number four in the featherweight rankings during his career. He is currently the holder of the number six or seven spots depending on whether you use the new Meta AI ratings or the old school media ones.

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He was due to take on Pico last week at UFC 333, but an injury forced him out of the fight and it remains unclear when he will return. Instead, the former Bellator star continued his ascent through the division with a first round knockout of Losene Keita.

Arnold Allen bemoans UFC rankings after being matched down again

When Arnold Allen defeated Melquizael Costa in May it marked his first victory since the summer of 2024. He ended up at number six or seven in the featherweight rankings, and expected to begin another ascent towards the top names.

So he was disappointed when the call came for UFC 333 and the promotion suggested Aaron Pico as his next opponent. He has no doubt of the American’s pedigree, but at the time he was ranked below Costa and barely scraping into the top 15 at all.

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The fight didn’t end up happening, but it still irked Allen, who told Talksport: “I was a bit like, ‘Come on?’ After fighting Melky, who was a surging contender, I was like, ‘Right, you fight the contender you win, now send me up there!’

“No, it was actually, ‘We’re going to give you a guy who’s ranked below what Melky was and is maybe a tougher fight for me. But everyone’s good in the UFC, the rankings don’t really mean s—. It’s more about exciting fights, the sports side of the rankings is not so important.”