Light heavyweight is stacked

[youllneverwalkalone]

Seems like yesterday that the 205 division was the land of the dinosaurs with no real competition for Jones (other than himself) and DC.

The top 15 now looks pretty strong and compelling with lot of new (except Glover, Gus and Shogun) contenders and fresh challenges for Bones.

Not saying it is among the best divisions yet, but I would say 205 is on par with 185, which would be crazy to think about even a year ago.

Do you agree and where do you see the division going?

 

[Fuzzybabyducks]

It comes and goes . I remember before it wasn’t stacked it was stacked ... rampage, chuck, forrest, rashad showgun, machida.. felt like no one could hang onto the title

 

[RVCA]

205 being a dead division is nonsensical talk spouted by Jones haters. Now that top 185ers like Rockhold and Weidman are getting dusted by dudes that aren't even as good as Thiago Santos, people are starting to open their eyes.

Smith and Santos were badly hampered at 185 due to terrible weight cuts. They would starch all middleweights at their natural weight class.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

It comes and goes . I remember before it wasn’t stacked it was stacked ... rampage, chuck, forrest, rashad showgun, machida.. felt like no one could hang onto the title

It's all relative to the champion sometimes. Jones would beat all of those guys in his prime, which might have made the division look weak.

I also think DC and maybe Rumble beat most of those guys in their primes too.

 

[hedidhisownstunts]

na... it's still the weakest division in the ufc.

 

[youllneverwalkalone]

It comes and goes . I remember before it wasn’t stacked it was stacked ... rampage, chuck, forrest, rashad showgun, machida.. felt like no one could hang onto the title

Exactly, I feel like we are approaching a new wave. We will probably see that peak of the wave if/when Bones gets dethroned.

 

[loisestrad]

Having a seemingly unbeatable champ always makes the division "weak" in some peoples eyes. It's what the haters cling to: The champ is only unbeatable cuz the division is weak.

 

[youllneverwalkalone]

na... it's still the weakest division in the ufc.

Weidman, Rockhold and Cannonier would strongly disagree with that.

I agree with you it's still behind many of the male divisions, but at the moment I rank it higher than HW and FlW, and on par with MW.

 

[Doctor Lenovo]

I think it has always been stacked. The problem is that too many fans base the "stackedness" of a division based on how many interesting personalities that the division has.

When you think about it, since Jon Jones has been the champ of LHW, all the other fighters could beat each other on any given night. And most of these fighters are skilled enough to beat anybody fighter from the MW division, and some could even beat fighters in the HW division e.g. Daniel Cormier.

Jon Jones has been the only constant in that division. Daniel Cormier was Jon Jones' gatekeeper, and he stopped many fighters from reaching Jon Jones.

Jon Jones has easily beaten wrestlers, strikers, BJJ masters, MMA masters and everything in between. This is how you know he is a true GOAT candidate. He is so dominant that the fans get bored and start calling tough competition "cans" just because they are not popular with the mainstream media. LOL

 

[Evangelion]

205 being a dead division is nonsensical talk spouted by Jones haters. Now that top 185ers like Rockhold and Weidman are getting dusted by dudes that aren't even as good as Thiago Santos, people are starting to open their eyes.

Smith and Santos were badly hampered at 185 due to terrible weight cuts. They would starch all middleweights at their natural weight class.

Nah Izzy clowns both guys

 

[Fuzzybabyducks]

It's all relative to the champion sometimes. Jones would beat all of those guys in his prime, which might have made the division look weak.

I also think DC and maybe Rumble beat most of those guys in their primes too.

I don’t know about rumble but DC and Jon’s probably would of ran the division even then . Yes it is relative to champion I agree. A division looks more stacked when the title is getting passed around like a hot potato. Jon’s beat a lot of those guys .

 

[Evangelion]

Weidman, Rockhold and Cannonier would strongly disagree with that.

I agree with you it's still behind many of the male divisions, but at the moment I rank it higher than HW and FlW, and on par with MW.

HW and fly are always the weakest. Bw, FW, lw and ww the strongest and mw and lhw in between the 2 groups. It's been like that for ages.

 

[youllneverwalkalone]

205 being a dead division is nonsensical talk spouted by Jones haters. Now that top 185ers like Rockhold and Weidman are getting dusted by dudes that aren't even as good as Thiago Santos, people are starting to open their eyes.

Having a seemingly unbeatable champ always makes the division "weak" in some peoples eyes. It's what the haters cling to: The champ is only unbeatable cuz the division is weak.

I am not a hater at all, but still think the division was very weak for a long time. Here I am talking also about the period 2016-2018 (so also large streches in which DC had the belt).

 

[Natural Order]

Every division in the UFC is stacked top to bottom with the best fighters on the planet.

 

[Fesaine]

HW and fly are always the weakest. Bw, FW, lw and ww the strongest and mw and lhw in between the 2 groups. It's been like that for ages.

Current flw is weak but the top flyweights like Cejudo, Benavides, and DJ are some of the best fighters in mma.

 

[youllneverwalkalone]

HW and fly are always the weakest. Bw, FW, lw and ww the strongest and mw and lhw in between the 2 groups. It's been like that for ages.

HW was much better than LHW until not so long ago.

 

[RVCA]

I am not a hater at all, but still think the division was very weak for a long time. Here I am talking also about the period 2016-2018 (so also large streches in which DC had the belt).

Disagree

The top 7 were:

1. Jones
2. DC
3. Rumble
4. Gus
5. Glover
6. Bader
7. Davis

By no stretch of the imagination is that a weak division.

 

[youllneverwalkalone]

Disagree

The top 7 were:

1. Jones
2. DC
3. Rumble
4. Gus
5. Glover
6. Bader
7. Davis

By no stretch of the imagination is that a weak division.

The top 3 is insane, the rest not so much.

Also, when is this ranking from exactly? Bader and Davis haven't even been with the company in a very long time.

 

[Hotei]

205 being a dead division is nonsensical talk spouted by Jones haters. Now that top 185ers like Rockhold and Weidman are getting dusted by dudes that aren't even as good as Thiago Santos, people are starting to open their eyes.

Smith and Santos were badly hampered at 185 due to terrible weight cuts. They would starch all middleweights at their natural weight class.

What?
The 205 has been dead in the water for years.

 

[Towerworld]

na... it's still the weakest division in the ufc.

Way stronger than HW: Jones, Reyes, Santos, Walker, Rakic and Blankowicz would brutally murder HW Dinosaurs like JDS, Overeem, Lewis, blaydes and Volkov.
The only good Heavies are Ngannou, Stipe and DC(Who is likely retiring this year).