The HW division isn't weak

VanMMA

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So I'm seeing this sentence being said a lot and I must say I disagree.

Firstly, the fact that the top guys are in their mid-to-late 30s is a testament to how great they are. Miocic, Reem, Dos Santos, Cain, Werdum are all great fighters. Pretty soon they'll get old and young guys like Ngannou, Blaydes will overtake them. Is normal.

Secondly, I'm tired of people using the Black Beast and Big Country as proof that the division sucks. No it does not. It only shows us what we already know. That sometimes but not always, 'crude' fighters can go far into the sport on sheer toughness and guts. In boxing there was Marciano, at LW there is Gaethje. These guys all have/had a degree of skill to put that toughness to good use.

So relax guys, HW isn't weak.
 
Ik werdum Overeem and Cain are still some of the best in the ufc regardless of weightclass
 
Do they even lift?

They're huge, if true.
 
Agree very much!

People disrespect the HWs largely because they confuse natural speed and agility due to being smaller with skill and think HWs are less skilled because they look less fluid and can't use as many flashy moves. That's not lack of skill, that's a difference in athleticism and aesthetics. "Looking better" is not the same as being better as we've often seen proven within the same weight class.

#AestheticsAreOVERRATED
 
While I do agree that the HW division isn't as weak as it used to be, the skill level required to get into the top 15 doesn't seem to be all that high. I mean, you got guys like:

Arlovski: Love him, but all he's got is a right hand nowadays.
Browne: Way too sloppy with his attack and gives up easily.
Oleynyk: Killer on the ground, but he's just another brawler striking wise.
Tim Johnson: He's good at pushing guys towards the fence and keeping them there, and he does have power, but his skills are quite limited. I wonder how good his takedowns are too, since he didn't manage to have much success if at all against Volkov with his takedowns.
Marcin Tybura: I don't think he's looked that good since debuting in the UFC, outside of his fight with Pesta. Pretty good top control, but his gas tank is lacking, and his striking is... Peculiar.
Volkov: Good on the feet, but he's been prone to getting laid on by better wrestlers, not to mention that his defence sometimes lets him down too.

The good thing is that most of those are young for HW standards, and there's some other good prospects on the come-up, but you can't really fault people for thinking that HW is weak when part of their top 15 get involved in sloppy fights more often than not.
 
Sorry, but the division is weak as fuck. It's always been like that and it will always be like that.
 
It's weak AF. Knock out Travis Browne, Title shot repeat.
 
They just want to create this illusion that's it's so weak to try to make Fedor into this God. Because if the UFC HW division is actually strong, wich it is, fedor isnt the "GOAT" anymore. Sad.
 
In general, MMA heavyweights are not on the top end of the athletic spectrum. If you're in America and you're child is big and a decent athlete they are probably going into football.
 
its horribly weak. imagine a brock lesnar in a nother division.
 
I agree its not nearly as weak a some make it seem. They are truly lacking young up and comers in that division though
 
The HW division is by far the strongest division. Every LHW and MW are HW's. They cut to avoid the division. You can't blame the HW's for that.

Jon Jones could fight there. He doesn't. Cormier could fight there. He doesn't. Gustafsson could fight there. He doesn't. Rumble could fight there. He doesn't.
 
I agree its not nearly as weak a some make it seem. They are truly lacking young up and comers in that division though
It's because most young guys want to make the cut to 205. It gets harder as they get older.
 
So I'm seeing this sentence being said a lot and I must say I disagree.

Firstly, the fact that the top guys are in their mid-to-late 30s is a testament to how great they are. Miocic, Reem, Dos Santos, Cain, Werdum are all great fighters. Pretty soon they'll get old and young guys like Ngannou, Blaydes will overtake them. Is normal.

Secondly, I'm tired of people using the Black Beast and Big Country as proof that the division sucks. No it does not. It only shows us what we already know. That sometimes but not always, 'crude' fighters can go far into the sport on sheer toughness and guts. In boxing there was Marciano, at LW there is Gaethje. These guys all have/had a degree of skill to put that toughness to good use.

So relax guys, HW isn't weak.

It's weaker than Flyweight depth wise but i don't really consider either "weak" just thin with a lack of prospects filling up the division. HW without a doubt needs to fill it.
 
When dozens of 40 year olds are capable of competing at the supposed elite level in any sport, that sport (or division) isn't very developed.
Even "sports" like darts, curling, etc guys retire as elite professionals in their 30s.

I mean Mark Hunt was supposed to retired way back in 2010... It's 2017 and he's considered one of the top fighters in the division. And please don't say silly things like Hunt is better now at the age of 43. That's just stupidity.
 
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Its always been, and will always be weak compared to 145-215.
 
It is absolute dog shit compared to what we had from about 2007-2011. Not saying that it is weak now, because I don't think it is, but that we were beyond spoiled back then when you took the entire MMA heavyweight landscape into account, not just the UFC's. It's an average division, and it'll get better.

Peaks and valleys gentlemen, peaks and valleys.
 
5-6 good fighters and the drop off after that is massive. The heavyweight fight from last weekend illustrates it perfectly. The top 40-50 at lightweight could fight their way into contention with a few wins, the top 40-50 at heavyweight could be in hospital after one too many burgers.

It's no different to flyweight in that most humans just aren't at that extreme end of the size spectrum. So you end up with freakish types like Bigfoot Silva who has an illness that makes him so big. It will never be a strong division.
 
Large 6'4''+ 220+ athletes aren't going to risk getting punched in the face for peanuts when they can make more money in other sports or WWE
 
So I'm seeing this sentence being said a lot and I must say I disagree.

Firstly, the fact that the top guys are in their mid-to-late 30s is a testament to how great they are. Miocic, Reem, Dos Santos, Cain, Werdum are all great fighters. Pretty soon they'll get old and young guys like Ngannou, Blaydes will overtake them. Is normal.

Secondly, I'm tired of people using the Black Beast and Big Country as proof that the division sucks. No it does not. It only shows us what we already know. That sometimes but not always, 'crude' fighters can go far into the sport on sheer toughness and guts. In boxing there was Marciano, at LW there is Gaethje. These guys all have/had a degree of skill to put that toughness to good use.

So relax guys, HW isn't weak.
I think the main reason it appears weak is
So I'm seeing this sentence being said a lot and I must say I disagree.

Firstly, the fact that the top guys are in their mid-to-late 30s is a testament to how great they are. Miocic, Reem, Dos Santos, Cain, Werdum are all great fighters. Pretty soon they'll get old and young guys like Ngannou, Blaydes will overtake them. Is normal.

Secondly, I'm tired of people using the Black Beast and Big Country as proof that the division sucks. No it does not. It only shows us what we already know. That sometimes but not always, 'crude' fighters can go far into the sport on sheer toughness and guts. In boxing there was Marciano, at LW there is Gaethje. These guys all have/had a degree of skill to put that toughness to good use.

So relax guys, HW isn't weak.
To me it seems like every HW bout features a fat guy, an over-the-hill guy, and/or a guy who does not impress.
 
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