A prominent MMA figure sees larger names in the UFC than Alex Pereira and Sean O'Malley.
The two former champions are long seen as one of the leading stars in an era in which the UFC came under fire because he had the kind of big-to-worrying that it once had.
O'Malley has been tipped in the past to take over the cloak that has been left by the inactive Conor McGregor, but it is Pereira's fast turnout to two -division UFC Glory that apparently made the biggest splash.
According to a renowned coach, neither of them takes the number one or two place when it comes to the top stars on the largest stage in MMA.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Javier Mendez mentions Jon Jones and Islam Makhachev as the two biggest stars of the UFC
Coach Javier Mendez knows a few things about MMA stars, after he has trained a multitude of them on the American Kickboxing Academy.
And during a recent episode of the Javier and MO show, Mendez suggested that he is still training one of the top two stars in the UFC.
Mendez pointed to dominant lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and controversial heavyweight title holder Jones as the biggest stars of the UFC about people like Pereira and O'Malley.
“I don't say (o'malley's) a superstar … I'm just saying he is a star,” said Mendez. “Not as big as levels of other boys.
“Nobody thinks that (O'Malley is bigger than Makhachev). In my opinion, the two biggest stars – and I don't think I am wrong – is Jon Jones and Islam. They are the biggest stars at the moment.
“I don't think anyone will be able to (dispute) that. Those two are superstars,” Mendez added. “The other I think is a superstar is Alex Pereira. I think Khamzat Chimaev is about to be superstar.”
The second consecutive loss of Sean O'Malley has no influence on his star, Coach claims
In the case of O'Malley, some have suggested that his star row took a hit at the beginning of June on UFC 316.
'Sugar' suffered a second consecutive defeat against Merab Dvalishvili, which significantly blocked his plans to return to the Bantam weight throne for a second title line.
But after that setback of the entry, the O'Malley coach insisted that his hunter went beyond the point at which losses influence his star level.
“Look at Nate Diaz, how big a star he is. How much losses does he have?” Tim Welch said on his YouTube channel. “Jorge Masvidal, how much losses does he have? They are still just F – Huge Trekings. Huge stars.”
Pereira will hope that he is in a similar position after his title loss to Magomed Ankalaev on UFC 313 last March.
Just like O'Malley, 'Patan' is expected to be an immediate chance of revenge in his return to action later this year.