In 2017 World Cup, both ML and Dima faced Timo. Timo beat ML and Dima beat Timo. Timo has beaten ML 4 times out of 17 encounters and Dima has never beaten ML out of 14 encounters. The match result between A/B and A/C has nothing to do with the result of A/C, really.
People who have in-depth analyses on the new ranking system complain because the ratio between loser/winner too high in the new system, much higher than tennis. Therefore players who have never reached SF and F can get higher ranking than players who have won all but played fewer tournaments. It also does not have the incentives for lower ranked players boosting ranking by causing upsets. As a result, DN will play qualification in the future and a lot of young promising players will not be able to play senior events.
ML will not be #1 in Jan 2018 under old ranking system, either! The old ranking points consist of rating points (never expire) and bonus points (expire in 12 months, the ratio being winner 9/runner up 8/3rd 7/SF 6/QF 5/R16 4/R32 3/R64 2/R128 1). ML has more rating points than FZD and Dima but he barely gained rating points beating other players and lost a lot when getting beaten. For example, in 2017 World Cup, ML gained 6 rating points in total by beating Omar Assar, Koki Niwa and Simon Gauzy and lost 32 rating points losing to Timo (He got 42 bonus points for being 3rd place). ML did not play as many tournaments as FZD and Dima did in 2017, that's why under old ranking system, in Jan 2018, ML would be #2 and FZD #1 and Dima #3. The old ranking system has already taken care of the attendance issue and the bonus points ratio is more reasonable than the new system (winner/QF=9/5 under old system and 10/7 under new system). It is not easy to maintain rating points for higher ranked players under old system and it is easy for the lower ranked player to gain points. Again in 2017 World Cup, Timo gained 64 rating points beating ML; he gained 48 bonus points for being runner-up. The bonus points for World Cup winner is 56, beating ML gave Timo more points than winning a World Cup, can you image that in the new system?