With Jon Jones dramatically abdicating his UFC Light Heavyweight belt, where does that leave the division? And how do Ryan Bader and Vadim Nemkov, fighting tonight in Bellator 244, figure into it?
Our take reflects the rules of our Rating System: Bader vs. Nemkov is potentially a title fight, or at least an interim title fight, but not at this moment.
Here's our current top 5 in the Light Heavyweight division:
| July Rank |
Aug Rank |
Fighter | WC | Rating | Rated Record | Org | July results; •August schedule |
| 1 | 1 | Jon Jones | LH | 82.44 | 20-1-0 | UFC |  |
| 2 | 2 | Ryan Bader | LH | 50.09 | 21-5-0 | Bell | •8/21 vs. #4 Vadim Nemkov |
| 3 | 3 | Jan Blachowicz | LH | 36.25 | 20-6-0 | UFC | |
| 4 | 4 | Vadim Nemkov | LH | 29.73 | 6-2-0 | Bell | •8/21 vs. #2 Ryan Bader |
| 5 | 5 | Phil Davis | LH | 27.07 | 16-5-0 | Bell |
Jones is #1 of course, but Bader is #2, and far ahead of #3 Jan Blachowicz, the highest-ranked contender in the UFC. Nemkov is at #4 followed by Phil Davis, also currently in Bellator. That gives Bellator 3 of the top 5, thought that's pretty much it for the promotion at 205. There's quality there, but not much depth.
With Jones gone the winner of tonight's bout will be the highest-ranked Light Heavyweight. The thing is, Jones isn't leaving our Light Heavyweight rankings any time soon.
We don't remove fighters when they "retire" or give up a belt. We'd only remove Jones when he fights in a different weight class. So Bader or Nemkov won't be our Light Heavyweight title holder until Bones makes his long-expected move to Heavyweight—and only when he actually fights. We don't move a champion until the actual bout occurs, unlike Bader, who we moved in the month prior to his return to Light Heavyweight.
So tonight's fight won't be for the title right away, but the winner might be the title holder at some point this year. If not, then the winner will receive the Interim belt in February if Jones doesn't fight by then. That would mean Jon Jones has been inactive for a year and no longer holds the belt despite being ranked #1; the #2 fighter would be the interim champ.
In other words, the winner between Bader and Nemkov will be either the champion or interim champion on February 8, 2021, unless Jon Jones fights again at Light Heavyweight before that time.
In the UFC, #3 Jan Blachowicz is pitted again Dominick Reyes for the UFC belt, but neither would have the points that tonight's winner will. Reyes is ranked only #17 in our list, and victory would move him up to #3, behind Jones and the Bader-Nemkov winner. Blachowicz holds his #3 position with a win.
Of course, if Jones decides to remain at Light Heavyweight and fight again, he would remain champ. Unless he loses, and in that case the guy who beat him would be the champion. Jones has way too many points for any Bellator fighter to surpass him, so only Jones' inactivity or his move to another weight class leaves an opening.
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