Ranking in fighting games

It's a little bit worrying when I join a COD lobby and it's full of high ranking players but on 1 vs 1 fighting games the rank doesn't matter to much to me.

To me it adds a factor of being alittle scared that you might get destroyed by the other person but at the same time if they're actually better then you it's an experience to make you grow better. To see how they play and learn from that to make you better.
I tend to wait until the actual match starts to see if they are as good as their stats.

There will be always some better than you dear son. get used to it. Sooner or later. Sooner the better.

Does it affect you to see a higher rank than you? Do you automatically assume they're a good fighter because of the rank? Ive had people tell me I thought you'd be better because you have a high rank or I thought you'd be worse cause of a low rank?
My response is always the same...Rank doesn't equal skill in most games and just represents more of how often you play the game....especially in games where the rank doesn't decrease due to a loss.

I agree with what you're saying here. For me, it depends on the game / ranking system. Some are more skill based (different tiers based on win / lose), and others are just a progression (1 - 100).

Seeing a higher rank in a competitive game with a skill based ranking system would probably intimidate me a bit; however, I try to not let it get to me because I might be better (or lucky). For the progression ones, I ultimately understand that playing longer
does not necessarily correlate to being better at a game.

Usally when i see a higher rank than me i know im gonna get beat most of the time