Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) has nurtured a habit of putting together riveting battles between its mixed martial arts (MMA) combatants, which evoke an array of emotions inside and outside of the cage.
But, because of its eagerness to give the average fan an engaging storyline -- or a volatile clash of styles -- UFC has completely undercut its own rankings system, leading to multiple fighters occupying spots that they may not deserve.
It's happened quite often, even as recently as this year with Bethe Correia and UFC using her backstory of defeating Ronda Rousey training partners to build a UFC 190 women's Bantamweight title main event around. Interim Featherweight champion and rambunctious personality Conor McGregor is another example of a fighter taking advantage of every microphone put before him to obtain bigger bouts.
Both Correia and McGregor were arguably thrust into the spotlight -- without any marquee wins under their belts (Dustin Poirier perhaps the lone exception) -- prior to his dismissal of Chad Mendes in July.
For all intents and purposes, they were the perfect antagonists for Rousey and Jose Aldo. They made for great theater.
But then there's the likes of fan favorites Mark Hunt and Matt Brown, who have been awarded elite status at one time or another off of sheer entertainment value. Sure, they've gained their share of knockout wins and put together lengthy win streaks, but a Top 5 ranking may not be so suitable.
"Super Samoan" and "The Immortal" have achieved above average records competing under the ZUFFA umbrella, but have been turned back by the elite in their respective divisions.
Together, the duo of Hunt and Brown possess an 0-5-(1) record against foes in the Top 10 of the Heavyweight and Welterweight divisions, respectively. Hunt's win over Roy Nelson in Sept. 2014 was not counted as part of the tally because Nelson was arguably on the fence of the Top 10 at that time.
Each of Hunt's three losses were particularly devastating knockouts handed down by Junior dos Santos, Fabricio Werdum and Stipe Miocic. None were quite competitive outside of his interim 265-pound title tussle versus "Vai Cavalo" in Nov. 2014, where he dropped the Brazilian in round one.
Brown, on the other hand, lost to current and ex-champion Robbie Lawler and Johny Hendricks between 2014-15, bringing his seven-fight win streak to a crashing end. His encounter with "Ruthless" was a close call, however, and he deserves every bit of credit for pushing the American Top Team (ATT) slugger to the brink over 25 minutes.
The only way to justify UFC's current Top 10 rankings is to acknowledge the lack of depth in each division, specifically at Welterweight, where Elevation Fight Team's Brown sits at No. 5.
Brown's opponents collectively boasted a 187-54-3-(1) record prior to facing him, which is a winning percentage of .763. Hendricks' and Lawler's winning percentage prior to their engagements with Brown were .736.
Not too shabby.
The one thing that the duo hold over Brown? Wins over opponents in the Top 5, let alone the Top 10.
In addition to defeating each other, they've notched wins over the likes of Rory MacDonald, Jake Ellenberger, Carlos Condit and more.
All of those aforementioned men were ranked inside the Top 10 of the 170-pound class at one point in time. None of Brown's victories have come against fighters close to the Top 15. So why is it that he bears elite status?
Because he ran up a seven-fight win streak over less-than-stellar competition? It could be, but so have fighters like teammate Neil Magny and Tony Ferguson, yet they haven't broke into the Top 5 yet of the Welterweight and Lightweight divisions.
A perfect example of progression through UFC's ranking system would be Yoel Romero. After debuting as a Middleweight in April 2013, "Soldier of God" beat down Clifford Starks and Ronny Markes, before passing more steep tests in the form of Derek Brunson and Brad Tavares in 2014.
Then, for the right to lay claim to a position in the Middleweight Top 10, the Cuban wrecking ball faced former Strikeforce title challenger Tim Kennedy, who he clobbered (albeit without controversy).
Romero then went on to take out former 205-pound kingpin Lyoto Machida via some staunch elbows to enter Top 5 territory.
When taking a close look at the depleted 170-pound division, it's not looking good outside of the Top 5. Demian Maia has been dispatched by MacDonald, Dong Hyun Kim has lost to Maia and No. 2-ranked Tyron Woodley, while Stephen Thompson has only defeated the downward-heading "Juggernaut."
As it turns out, the Ohio native Brown was injured and had to withdraw from his UFC Fight Night 78 main event opposite The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 17 winner Kelvin Gastelum in Monterrey, Mexico, little more than one week ago.
Should he have defeated the No. 15-ranked Gastelum, had the fight gone on, it still would give little merit to his No. 5 ranking.
For Brown to establish credibility as a legitimate contender in the Welterweight division, it's going to have to come with a win over a Top 10-ranked opponent.
But because of the shortage of worthy fighters -- combined with lackluster matchmaking -- there are none. Maia, who owns wins over Kim and ex-UFC Welterweight title contender Jon Fitch, seems to be the only credible name who might take over Brown in the Top 5.
What it boils down to is Brown -- a fighter in the Top 5 -- receiving opponents who aren't even ranked in the Top 10.
That's the main problem. Let's give this gentleman a test. What happened to earning status as one of the best at your craft?
Nowadays, it all seems manufactured.