An MMA Christmas List: 2014 Edition

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Tristen Critchfield, news editor: A few days before the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s last major pay-per-view card of 2014, it happened again.

During an appearance on CBS Radio’s “The Jim Rome Show,” UFC President Dana White proclaimed Anthony Pettis, who was set to defend his lightweight crown against Gilbert Melendez at UFC 181, to be the best fighter in the world.

“Honestly, I think Pettis is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, if the kid can stay healthy,” White said. “This kid is able to do things to people that other people can’t do. The famous run-off-the-cage kick ... he bounces off the cage and hits people with knees.”

That sentiment is perfectly fine -- Pettis, after all, is a supremely talented athlete -- if White would just stick to it. Over the course of the past year, the UFC boss has jumped from pound-for-pound bandwagon to pound-for-pound bandwagon. How did he go about determining the latest object of his affection? Usually, it was as simple as being the next champion to compete. Ever since Chris Weidman made Anderson Silva look mortal in two bouts in 2013 and Georges St. Pierre took an indefinite leave of absence, White has had a wandering eye for top talent.

The likes of Renan Barao, Jose Aldo and Jon Jones have all taken their turns at the figurative mountaintop -- and that goes without mentioning the time White called women’s bantamweight queen Ronda Rousey “the greatest athlete I have ever worked with, on every level.” While that’s not quite the same as pound-for-pound best, the implication remains the same.

So what, exactly, does all this have to do with my MMA Christmas? For my money, Jones is the undisputed pound-for-pound king until defeated, but I don’t necessarily need White and the rest of UFC brass to agree with me. I just want to be given a little more credit. Not every MMA follower is a Xyience-swilling, bedazzled T-shirt-wearing acolyte who gets the chills each time a glowering Joe Rogan comes on the TV calling a mid-carder-turned-headliner a destroyer, killer or monster.

Look, I get it. The UFC needs to sell pay-per-views, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the next thing is always the best thing. This guy and those of his ilk might buy it, but there are plenty of us who possess a more discerning eye.

So in 2015, please don’t try to tell me T.J. Dillashaw is the reigning pound-for-pound king the week before his rematch with Barao. When in doubt, honesty and consistency is the best policy. Future Reebok sponsorship dollars may depend on it.

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