The light heavyweight division is currently in complete disarray, and Dominick Reyes has some solutions. With recently crowned champion Carlos Ulberg recovering from surgery at the moment as a result of a torn ACL, ‘The Destroyer’ took to X to pitch an interesting, old-school tournament system to determine who gets the next shot at the belt.

“Alex is out—he’s at HW,” he wrote on X. “Jamahal is out too—also at HW. That theoretically puts me at No. 5. While Carlos heals from surgery, a tournament could be Magomed vs. Khalil and Jiri vs. Paulo. That leaves me as the next man up.

“I fight someone around No. 9, or the true No. 7 in Azamat. Ideally, I’m the backup fighter for one of those tournament fights. If we all end up on the same card, that’s what would make the most sense. Just a thought Experiment.”

This mathematical path became available to Dominick Reyes thanks to the promotion’s brand-new “Meta UFC Rankings.” This new ranking system is a data-driven AI system built by Meta that fully replaces the previous media-voted panel. Also, it will be updated every Monday following the most recent event.

However, just a day into its debut, it has already created controversy with some dramatic shifts. One clear example was Alex Pereira debuting at No. 4 in the heavyweight rankings, just one fight into the division, and that, too, was a controversial knockout loss, as well as holding the No.1 spot in the light heavyweight division.

Meanwhile, in the light heavyweight category, Jamahal Hill, who hasn’t won since January 2023, was ranked at No. 5, a spot ahead of Khalil Rountree Jr., despite Rountree defeating Hill last June.

But despite it all, Dominick Reyes realized he’s sitting pretty in the updated hierarchy with the number 7 spot. And, while his tournament-style concept sounds exciting, matchmakers have already poked holes in his bracket.

For starters, Magomed Ankalaev vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. is no longer a hypothetical fight; it has been confirmed as the main event for UFC Abu Dhabi on July 25. Then comes number 10-ranked Bogdan Guskov, who is scheduled to face Jan Błachowicz on August 1 at UFC Belgrade.

That leaves Jiří Procházka and Paulo Costa as the only top dogs left standing. ‘Denisa’ has been quite inactive since losing the vacant light heavyweight title to Carlos Ulberg at UFC 327, while Costa, who recently knocked out Azamat Murzakanov, has let his fight plans be known.

“I have a bunch of fights, great fights, great matches to do,” he said in a video he shared on his Instagram. “I want to fight as soon as possible. I think August is an amazing date, even July.

“So let’s move on. I can fight middleweight, light heavyweight, even heavyweight, Ok.”

Volkan Oezdemir is also sitting without a booked fight, meaning a makeshift bracket may still materialize, even though the UFC hasn’t used a true tournament system since Royce Gracie’s wild, multi-fight-night era back in the 1990s.

It is also worth noting that while a grand prix on a single event sounds like an MMA fan’s fantasy, the reality is that if Dana White actually listened to Dominick Reyes and booked it, the fans would probably protest ‘The Devastator’ being anywhere near it.

Why fight fans would want no part of Dominick Reyes in his own tournament experiment

The tournament idea is great on paper, but Dominick Reyes is currently missing momentum and fan hype. Sure, he technically went back in the win column at UFC 327 in Miami by defeating Johnny Walker by decision, but the bout was such a snooze fest that it made the entire commentary booth hate their jobs.

During the broadcast, the lack of action was so brutal that Jon Anik couldn’t hold back but let his thoughts be known.

“Not much to commentate here,” the UFC commentator said midway through the final round.

Joe Rogan did not hold back either, totally destroying the fight on the live mic.

“It’s just so cautious, so cautious,” Rogan added. “This fight sucks… a lot of calf kicks.”

So, while Dominick Reyes did walk away with a split decision win, it did nothing to make fans want to see him in a high-stakes title eliminator.

‘The Devastator’ may see himself as the logical backup fighter or the perfect dance partner for an unbooked killer like Volkan Oezdemir or Azamat Murzakanov, but until he brings some actual destruction back into the Octagon, his tournament masterplan will most likely be limited to the depths of MMA Twitter.