Combate Americas CEO Campbell McLaren has released his list of the top-10 P4P fighters over the age of 40, and he has Tito Ortiz ranked in the No. 1 spot over Daniel Cormier.
McLaren is one of the co-founders of the UFC and one of the most important men in the history of MMA. He later founded Combate Americas in 2011 and is presently the CEO of the company. Ortiz is the biggest free-agent signing in the history of the company.
Combate Americas is scheduled to hold the biggest event in the history of the promotion this Saturday, when the legend Ortiz takes on rival Alberto Del Rio in a 210lbs catchweight main event. The fight takes place at Payne Arena in Hidalgo, Texas, and airs live on pay-per-view. The fight is a big deal in the United States and Latin America.
In the lead-up to the fight, McLaren took to his social media to release his list of the top-10 pound-for-pound fighters over the age of 40, and fans have not taken kindly to his rankings, which feature Ortiz at the top. Check out his top-10 rankings below via McLaren’s Twitter.
Some fighters over 40 are definitely still killers. My P4P list. 1. Tito Ortiz
2. Daniel Cormier
3. Alberto Rodríguez
4. Urijah Faber
5. Demian Maia
6. Yoel Romero
7. Fabricio Werdum
8. Anderson Silva
9. Chael Sonnen
10. Andrei Arlovski— Campbell McLaren (@campbellcombate) December 1, 2019
“Some fighters over 40 are definitely still killers. My P4P list. 1. Tito Ortiz 2. Daniel Cormier 3. Alberto Rodríguez 4. Urijah Faber 5. Demian Maia 6. Yoel Romero 7. Fabricio Werdum 8. Anderson Silva 9. Chael Sonnen 10. Andrei Arlovski”
Although Ortiz is on a nice win streak at the moment and has looked good since turning 40, the fact he is ranked above Cormier, who was the UFC heavyweight champion just a few months ago before losing it to Stipe Miocic, has drawn the ire of fans, who have accused McLaren of blatant promoter talk. That Del Rio is ranked about fighters like Yoel Romero, one of the top-five fighters in the world at 185lbs, also didn’t make fans happy.
Obviously McLaren is just trying to sell this fight between Ortiz and Del Rio, and you have to appreciate the fact he is just trying to promote his own guys and give them some shine before this weekend’s blockbuster card. But when the list is being universally panned and criticized by fans and media, perhaps he went a bit too far with it.
Do you agree with Campbell McLaren’s list of the top-10 P4P fighters over the age of 40? Should Tito Ortiz be ahead of Daniel Cormier?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 12/2/2019.