Why the UFC Should Overhaul Their Weight Divisions
Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
If you’re a serious fan of MMA you would have heard the calls for a 165lb division—in between lightweight and welterweight—for some time.
It’s certainly a good idea: since the acquisition of the WEC, a nice round figure of 10lbs separates all weight divisions until you get to lightweight, when the jump to welterweight becomes 15lbs.
For those based in the UK that’s more than a stone.
Boxing had this problem for years, and this was when fighters had to weigh in on the day. Even all-time great middleweights such as Dick Tiger struggled to squeeze themselves inside the 160lb middleweight limit, with the jump to light heavyweight (175lbs in boxing) too big a leap. Of course, Dick Tiger did eventually make the move up, winning the world title against similarly sized Jose Torres, but had a gargantuan Bob Foster taking his head off in his third defence.
Dick Tiger’s weights for his four title fights at light heavyweight: 167, 167, 167 3/4s, and 168.
If only there had been a super middleweight division like the one created in 1984.
Today’s MMA landscapes finds itself in a similar quandary: lightweight is arguably the most talent stacked talent pool in the whole sport, and welterweight isn’t half bad either. Yet those finding it hard to continue with the arduous cut to 155lbs find themselves at a disadvantage if they move up to 170lbs and find themselves in the cage with hulking wrestle-boxers cutting from 190lbs.
Yet, I would argue that mixed martial arts—and in particular the Ultimate Fighting Championship, who I will be using for the benefits of this exercise— has a bigger problem than the possible inauguration of a new weight-class at 165lbs.
First off is the question: what do you do with welterweight? If the jump from 155lbs to 170lbs is much too big, then a jump from 165lbs to 170lbs is completely redundant. And of course, carrying on in the same vein as the lightweight-to-welterweight problem is that welterweights moving up to middleweight (185lbs) can find themselves in with huge lumps that could still end up cutting weight if they moved up to light heavyweight.
Sure, some guys haven’t had much of an issue transitioning: take for example Kelvin Gastelum, who whilst seemingly blessed with the perfect frame and style to be an excellent welterweight either lacked the discipline or the ability to consistently make that weight and trudged on up to middleweight, where his undeniable ability made him a contender there anyway.
Then look at Johny Hendricks, a beast of a welterweight who struggled to make the weight and who looked utterly out of his depth up at 185lbs, a lumpy little man with T-Rex arms who lacked the physicality to impose any of his physical game.
But as alluded to earlier the UFC has an even bigger problem.
In short, the 205lb light heavyweight division is bad and the champion is not.
For years, fans have clamoured for Jon ‘Bones’ Jones, inarguably the greatest light heavyweight champion in history, to pursue the heavyweight title. Jones, for whatever reason, has decided to keep hold of his title and therefore hold the division hostage. Yet, the division he’s holding hostage is not deep at all. Since Jones wiped out the remnants of a solid 205lb era in his first few years of serious competition, it’s arguable that the weight-class has been a complete wasteland, with little in the way of quality new contenders coming through, and the difference between a tough cut to 185lbs and a more comfortable move to 205lbs eradicated by the freakishly proportioned champion sat atop the light heavyweight mountain.
If the difference between lightweight, welterweight and middleweight is a big one, the twenty-pound difference between middleweight and light heavyweight is inexplicable. But here’s the thing: former middleweights have performed admirably against Jones. Fighters such as Vitor Belfort, Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos have not been as easily dismissed as more legitimate light heavies such as Alexander Gustafsson and Daniel Cormier have.
Using the last fighter as an example, we have seen that top light heavies can perform just as well against heavyweights as they do against fighters their own size. Whilst they were former heavyweights themselves, the UFC has seen two top light heavyweights move up to the giants division and claim the belt, with Daniel Cormier beating the legendary Stipe Miocic by first round TKO and Randy Couture—who was coming off a loss for the light heavyweight title—beating Tim Sylvia for the belt.
You’re probably wondering what I’m getting at here. Re-read the above and what you might gleam from all this is that I like nice round figures and that ten-pound increments make perfect sense. You might also see that I’m pretty low on the depth at 205lbs and heavyweight.
Well, bear this in mind too: looking at the current top 10 at 205lbs is not only visually offensive, but for the few fighters of any potential there such as Dominick Reyes, Jan Blachowicz and Corey Anderson, it is arguable that they would not be out of their depth at heavyweight. Not only is heavyweight also not deep, any argument that they would be too small is incorrect. Without cutting weight to 205lbs it’s entirely possible that all of these men would cut a solid figure in the cage, weighing at least 215lbs and likely over 220lbs.
Some may say that it would be unfair to force these contenders to move up and strip them of their championship potential down at 205lbs. I would argue that with Jon Jones as champion, they would have as good a chance up at heavyweight as they would down at 205lbs.
And if Jon Jones were to move up and fight Stipe Miocic and win? Well, they’d be in the same position as before.
Would you really pick Derrick Lewis to smash Dominick Reyes? I guess it’s possible, but Reyes’ length, counter-striking ability and patience should do the trick, regardless of him likely being outweighed by 40lbs.
As is true with heavyweight boxing, anyone over 200lbs can stop anyone over 200lbs. With 4oz gloves, shins and submissions thrown into the mix that only becomes more true in mixed martial arts.
But what about the contenders vying to lose an uninspiring fight with Jon Jones that really don’t want to try their hand as heavyweights? Well, let’s go back to the 10lb thing: for this exercise, we’re not abolishing light heavyweight—the graveyard of previously good middleweights, and some quite frankly not all that good middleweights—but moving light heavyweight down to 195lbs.
I’m sure Luke Rockhold, too big for 185 but smashed by Jan Blachowicz—would appreciate a division between middleweight and light-heavy. Same goes for two older gentlemen in Yoel Romero and Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza, the former well into his forties and having missed out on two opportunities to win UFC gold before even stepping into the cage by missing weight, the latter due to next fight at 205lbs. I’m pretty sure Jon Jones’ last two opponents—Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos—would be happy to try their hand at a newly-minted 195lb weight-class.
So, if the UFC were to bring in 165lbs and 195lbs, whilst moving welterweight to 175lbs and create a heavyweight division with actual depth, how would the promotion look?
Who would move up for comfort, who would move down seeking new opportunities and maybe, just maybe, a chance to win that elusive UFC gold?
Let’s start with the division that would first be affected: Lightweight
Lightweight (155lbs)
Who moves up to 155lbs: I believe that Max Holloway would love a permanent return to 155lbs. Although his performance haven’t really started to dip yet, the UFC featherweight champion looks increasingly rough every time he steps on the scales to defend his belt. If the company were to bring all new divisions in come January 1st, 2020, I would say that whether Holloway is successful or not in his fourth defence against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 245 in December, that he would move up. There is no doubt Holloway would fancy his chances against current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, but he might not have to worry about facing him anyway…
Welterweight (165lbs)
Who moves up to 165lbs: Current UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov seemingly makes the lightweight limit as well as he ever has nowadays, but I’m sure he would like the idea of taking the strain off of his body a little bit. And besides—as we’ll see shortly—he won’t have to worry about the humongous wrestlers at 170lbs anyway. Khabib moving up allows the UFC to make Dustin Poirier vs. Tony Ferguson for the vacant lightweight title, and the Conor McGregor-Max Holloway rematch for the number one contender shot (or knowing the UFC, for a useless ‘interim’ title). Poirier has previously been an advocate for a new weight class between light and welter, but I think he would be happy to stay at 155lbs when he would be getting another title shot and have a chance to right the wrongs of the one-sided loss to Khabib. Lightweight is still extremely strong with Justin Gaethje, Edson Barboza et al. waiting in the wings.
Khabib—being arguably the greatest champion in UFC lightweight history and also a fighter the promotion does not want to piss off—gets a bye, facing whoever is left out of the following fighters moving up and down for the now vacant UFC welterweight title.
Also following Khabib up to the new weight class are Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone who has competed at 170lbs before and shouldn't be draining himself to make 155lbs any longer. Unlikely to be a title contender in the new division, he can at least continue being an excellent action fighter and a solid test for emerging contenders.
Big weight-cutting lightweights such as Paul Felder and Dan Hooker would also be excited at the prospect of a less painful weight cut.
Who moves down to 165lbs: Their are a few obvious contenders to move down from welterweight and become, well, obvious contenders at 165lbs.
Colby Covington is not a particularly big welterweight and while a cut to 155lbs would be tough for him (and likely sap him of the energy that makes him effective in the first place) a cut to 165lbs is easily achievable. Him mouthing off to Khabib is only gonna’ end one way, but would certainly be a springboard to a vacant title fight if the UFC doesn’t choose to go the tournament route. MAGA heel vs. Kadryov’s best bud would be toxic, but Khabib would take no prisoners and we would likely see Colby get smashed into irrelevancy. As a former interim champion up at 170lbs it would make sense for Colby to be pushed into the upper echelons of the division right away, although a mooted bout with full champ Kamaru Unman at UFC 245 in December might make him less appealing as a potentially serious contender anyway.
Former Covington opponent Rafael dos Anjos is the perfect example of a fighter too big for lightweight and not quite big enough for welterweight. It is likely that we have seen the back of his prime forever, but for a fighter as skilled and crafty as dos Anjos a rejuvenation at 165lbs should not be out of the question.
Anthony Pettis, Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal all aren’t interested at cutting to 155lbs anymore it seems like (and in Nate’s case he has appeared interested at fighting at 165lbs against Dustin Poirier). These three add much-needed insanity to the division right off the bat. With Diaz recently battering Pettis and lined up to fight Masvidal for the bragging rights of being the baddest mo’fo in MMA, a fight with Khabib for the winner for the vacant title would be a much easier sell than Colby receiving an instant shot.
Instead, let Colby fight pudgy welterweight and never-gonna-be-a-champ Ben Askren who moves down to 165lbs and still doesn’t look like he’s in great shape. It would be a fight for sore eyes, but ‘eff it.
Kevin Lee has also been a long-time fan of the UFC adding a 165lb division. Unfortunately for him, it isn’t the solution to his woes as Rafael Dos Anjos proved back in May of this year.
There’s 11 fighters right there. A good basis for a new division with a true pound-for-pound elite fighter as the early frontrunner to have gold around his waist and make the division his own.
Up at 175lbs, we don’t need to crown a new champion.
Middleweight (175lbs)
I considered keeping welterweight at 175lbs and instead calling lightweight super lightweight. This isn’t important, but you will see why I really have overhauled all the weight classes shortly.
Who moves up to 175lbs: The new middleweight champ is Kamaru Usman, who carries his title claim from welterweight up five pounds.
Joining him is the former champ Tyron Woodley who I bet would rather move up 5lbs than try and move down, even though he would make for an intriguing fight with Khabib and—judging by his loss to Usman—isn’t going to improve his chances at UFC gold by cutting a few less pounds.
Joining those two wrestlers is, well, the majority of the division: Leon Edwards would continue his search for a title shot five pounds north, and Santiago Ponzinibbio errs on the side of caution and moves up rather than trying to fit his six-foot frame into the lighter weight class. Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, Demian Maia and Robbie Lawler all move up, finishing their careers with easier weight cuts. Vicente Luque cuts a svelte figure at 175lbs, and would make for an interesting matchup for the first of our fighters I would see moving down.
Who moves down to 175lbs: Depending on the outcome of his title fight with Robert Whittaker at UFC 243, Israel Adesanya might be the new UFC middleweight champ (or rather…well, we’ll see shortly) or might be caught between a rock and a hard place. A slender figure up against the middleweights he has faced (even former welterweight Kelvin Gastelum) it might well be that Adesanya would be perfectly suited to 175lbs or it may be that he isn’t big enough for 185lbs and can’t quite make 175lbs. Adesanya has previously fought near to 175lbs, but it’s been a good few years.
The aforementioned Kelvin Gastelum missed weight more than once during his welterweight tenure: worrying for his prospects at 175lbs he also would’ve missed weight there on one occasion! He decides to stay at 185lbs as some of the behemoths there choose to move up instead.
Light Heavyweight (185lbs)
This is all a bit confusing isn’t it? Well, don’t worry: much as older MMA fans got used to the differences between Pride middleweight and UFC middleweight (and even older fans remember when weight divisions weren't even a thing) us modern MMA fans will get used to the names being shuffled about and the new fans? They won’t even have to make the transition.
Who moves up to 185lbs: Nothing to see here, as the move from 170 to 175lbs gives many welterweight contenders a new lease of life.
Who moves down to 185lbs: Nothing to see here, as the smaller light heavies/former middleweights have a new division to call home. Robert Whittaker will spend his time fighting those that chose to stay at 185lbs. He is probably the champion who suffers most in the short term, as many of his immediately interesting contenders may choose to move up and give their bodies a rest. At least with the divisions only having ten pounds between them now he will find fighters more willing to move up and down between divisions and as always, new contenders will emerge anyways.
Cruiserweight (195lbs)
The newly-minted cruiserweight division will feature hulking middleweights and less hulking light heavyweights. And as they’re only a pound off of the heavyweight division and (for the most part) have a proven ability to make the cut to 185lbs, they have the ability to cruise between both weight classes: perfect for short notice fights in either division.
Who moves up to 195lbs: Paulo Costa is a humongous middleweight so you would have to think he would fancy his chances. After his FOTY contender with Yoel Romero—who has struggled to make the championship limit down at 185 more than once, you would love to see them face off for the new 195lb title. If you’re unaware of how great that fight was, be sure to check out Danny Martin’s incredible analysis of the fight right here on The Fight Site.
Who moves down to 195lbs: Luke Rockhold and Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza are our next contenders to move into the new division. Both elite middleweights, Souza is finally making the move up to 205lbs, which in this writers opinion he might well be a bit small for. Rockhold was a massive middleweight, but lost what made him potent in the move up, his rangy kicking game no match for a stout light heavyweight like Blachowicz, who just clobbered him. Chris Weidman—who has lost to both of these men as well as Yoel Romero—saw how small he was against Dominick Reyes (fight due to take place October 18th on ESPN) and tries one last time to reclaim UFC gold down at 195lbs. He doesn’t struggle as much to make weight and is fighting guys his own size.
Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos also move down in an attempt to stay relevant, and Volkan Oezdemir squeezes himself into 195lbs, knowing he was dwarfed by Dominick Reyes up at 205lbs and stands no chance up at heavyweight.
And heavyweight gets a serious talent injection as pretty much anyone not mentioned here and the man currently ranked number one in the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings Jon Jones moves up. In order to boost Jones’ ego and keep him happy he’s given an honorary belt that proclaims him ‘205lb Champion for All-Times’, and he’s given a decent payday to entice him to fight either Stipe Miocic, or the winner of the Miocic-Cormier rubber match.
What do you The Fight Site faithful, think?
Should the UFC bring in a 165lb division, and should they move around the rest of the divisions to accommodate it? What would you call the new division? Would you do away with 205lbs, or leave everything else as it is? Perhaps the division between lightweight and welterweight could be called cruiserweight as fighters would be able to easily hop between 155, 165 and 170 (or 175 if you prefer, I know I certainly would)
Or has this all been a completely pointless exercise as you think the UFC should keep the divisions as they are anyway?
Just so you guys know, this has been a pointless exercise. But sound off in the comments or hit us up at @fightsitedotcom and @pulgasboxeo on twitter.