Arnold Allen believes his UFC ranking essentially means nothing after being offered to fight Aaron Pico.Allen was scheduled to fight surging featherweight contender Pico at UFC 333 last weekend but pulled out due to an injury.Pico was viewed as the biggest prospect in MMA at one point and made his UFC debut in August 2025GettyThe American was meant to face Allen at UFC 333 but ended up fighting and knocking out Losene Keita insteadGettyPico instead fought the highly rated Losene Keita, scoring a first-round knockout on the Abu Dhabi card.UFC 333 also witnessed the champion of Allen’s division, Alexander Volkanovski, cement his featherweight legacy with an early stoppage of the previously undefeated Movsar Evloev.They were two huge results for the future of the 145lbs division, with a whole host of options available to legendary Australian Volkanovski for his next fight.Speaking to talkSPORT.com, Allen discussed the state of the UFC featherweight division, shedding light on his cancelled fight with Pico and why that means his No.6 ranking means nothing.Allen expected better than Pico fight offer“I was a bit like, ‘Come on?'” Allen said of his reaction when he was first offered Pico.Allen bounced back from a close points loss to Jean Silva at UFC 324 in January by defeating Melquizael Costa last time out in the main event of a Las Vegas Fight Night card.“After fighting Melky, who was a surging contender, I was like, ‘Right, you fight the contender you win, now send me up there!'” Allen continued.“No, it was actually, ‘We’re going to give you a guy who’s ranked below what Melky was and is maybe a tougher fight for me.“But everyone’s good in the UFC, the rankings don’t really mean s***.“It’s more about exciting fights, the sports side of the rankings is not so important.”Allen is the UFC’s No. 6-ranked featherweight and is 12-3 in the promotionGettyAllen talks injury amid UFC 333 absenceAsked about his current injury status, Allen said he had some unresolved ‘little issues’ from his win over Costa that meant he didn’t want to compete this month.“From doing combat sports I’ve got a lot of knocks and niggles, but don’t want someone to attack me where it’s vulnerable,” the 32-year-old added.“Rehab is going in the right direction. I’m getting there slowly and just have to be patient.”Allen said he was told his next fight would be next year when he turned down the opportunity to fight Pico.With his number one aim to become UFC champion before retiring, ‘Almighty’ would ideally fight someone ranked above him to edge closer to that goal.However, it’s likely the Englishman will have to face someone lower, such as Pico, who is ranked No.10, to cement his status as top six UFC featherweight.UFC Meta RankingsThe UFC ranking system is ever-evolving and is now more different than ever.Right up until the summer of 2026, the UFC used its official rankings based on media votes.However, as of June 22, 2026, the UFC began transitioning away from the traditional media panel to new AI-based rankings in partnership with Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta.The new rankings will be automatically calculated and updated every Monday following official events.And talkSPORT.com have made it easy for MMA fans to stay up to date with the new system through a full and regularly updated UFC Meta Rankings list, including stars from the heavyweight and lightweight divisions.Allen believes the UFC originally matched him up against Pico because the promotion wants to have as many American champions as possible.“With Pico, the UFC want that guy [to do well], they want an American baby face,” he said.“He’s got all the big brand sponsors, they love him. They’re an American company, they’re very proud to be American.“They want Americans to be champions, that’s the game, he’s getting all these opportunities, but it is what it is.”Allen has lost just three times in 15 UFC fights, with his defeats coming to Silva, Evloev, and the icon that is Max Holloway.Should Allen have beaten Holloway in 2023, he would’ve doubtless been on the brink of his first championship bout.After defeating Costa, he is now arguably one or two big statement wins away from getting back in the same position.It’s unlikely that comes against the current champion, who has teased an imminent retirement if he is offered a super-fight against lightweight king Justin Gaethje next.talkSPORT's UFC pound-for-pound rankingstalkSPORT.com has collectively voted on the best fighters to form a regularly updated UFC pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings system for the rest of 2026 and beyond.Our P4P list will be updated regularly based on performances in the Octagon — with wins, records, title wins and defences, calibre of opponents, methods of victory and much more all determining who makes it.UFC champions Islam Makhachev, Joshua Van and Sean Strickland feature – but big stars such as Alex Pereira and Tom Aspinall miss out.