As sentiments mount about the UFC’s dwindling heavyweight ranks, a recent victor at PFL Dubai has posited that his promotion has a deeper roster in that weight category. The combatant in question is Pouya Rahmani, who secured a submission win over Karl Williams to improve upon his spotless professional MMA record.
Also a prolific grappler, Rahmani secured a win in a prior grappling contest against Hamdy Abdelwahab at ADXC 5 in August 2024, with the latter being somewhat recently cut from the UFC. When asked for his thoughts on Abdelwahab no longer being a contracted UFC athlete, Rahmani said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“To be honest, I fight with Hamdy. I finish him by submission in 2 minutes. So and also now Hamdy is out of UFC. Another person, now he’s in UFC, Denzel Freeman. I did grappling with him also. I beat him in ADXC. So, I beat ADXC champion also in grappling. Yeah, but to be honest, I’m not very close and I don’t think about all of these things, you know.”
“I’m very focused on my career, my training, and I don’t get into these things, to see, oh, what happened or why this guy is out? Because I’m so busy with what I do, you know. Now, I just come from training. I’m so tired, you know, and you can’t see my face. Yeah, but as I told you from beginning, as I see from my eyes, from my experience, this UFC fighter, you see them, they are not that level of grappling at all.”
“They just knows little bit, you know, no one of them on that level of grappling. Yeah, if you talk about, for example, Khamzat Chimaev, yes. On his division, he destroy everyone because he’s very good grappler. If you talk about Islam Makhachev, yes. But other people on the other division and especially heavyweight no one is there, brother, good grappler.”
“So a lot of them also the event I used to fight grappling, they invite them. They ask them for fight with me because they are looking for opponent for me, no one of them accept, you know. The top five of UFC, some of them they are grappler and no one of them accept to fight with me. I don’t want to mention their name but yeah they are not that level of grappling. What people see and what I see is much different because I am on this game and what I feel I can do to them is much different, you know.”
Pouya Rahmani: “heavyweight division in PFL is much better than UFC right now”
When touching on the mounting sentiment among MMA fans that the heavyweight division in PFL stands up well to the UFC’s weight class in terms of depth, Rahmani stated [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“In my opinion, also heavyweight division in PFL is much better than UFC right now.”
When further expounding upon this viewpoint that PFL’s heavyweights are a cut above the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s, Rahmani quipped [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“100%. Because in PFL, you can mention some name you know. But in UFC who you wants to mention? If you put top two on one side. After top two, who you can mention as a elite fighter who you can trust the guy who can win you know? There is no one just top champion, rank number one, rank number two, and then after that no one.”
“But in PFL you have a lot of different name you can mention. You can say oh this guy is good, that guy is good, you know. That guy is good striker. That guy is good grappler, that guy is good wrestler, you know. So there is a lot of good fighter in right now in PFL in heavyweight. And I’m happy to be here to beat these guys, you know. When you beat good guys is more delicious than when you beat some s**t guys, you know.”