Rizvan Kuniev already has his next two fights mapped out in his head. Beat Alexander Volkov this Saturday in Abu Dhabi at UFC 333, then go get Alex Pereira.

What's got Kuniev fired up is where Pereira sits in the Meta UFC Rankings, an AI driven system that has the light heavyweight star slotted at number three in the heavyweight division despite a 0-1 record there, a TKO loss to Ciryl Gane. That same system has Kuniev at number five, and he called the whole thing "very strange."

Our own tracker tells a different story. Kuniev actually sits at number seven in the heavyweight rankings, while Pereira's real home remains light heavyweight, where he's ranked number three. Pereira rates 1571 on our Elo across ten bouts, just ahead of Kuniev's 1550 over four, so the gap isn't as wide as the Meta list suggests either way.

Kuniev arrives off back to back finishes, including a third round knee that put away Tyrell Fortune on July 25, with MMA Fighting noting he also has a win over Jailton Almeida on his recent resume. He takes on Volkov, ranked number two at heavyweight and sporting a 1573 Elo, at UFC 333 on October 24. Kuniev is priced at plus 105 with Volkov the favorite at minus 118, and our model gives Kuniev a 40 percent shot.