5 foot 9.5 at LHW, too short?

Hi everyone, on the 17 of May I have my 3rd professional MMA fight. I have a wrestling background and cut from 230 to make the 205 LW division. I won Jeff Joslins Canadian submission grappling tourney last year in the advanced division,

and throughout my submission grappling and wrestling careers have always liked fighting taller opponents, finding them much easier to take down, and those lanky limbs are easier to twist up compared to than short compact ones.. Im not talking ankle biting height being an advantage but rather a 5,9'-5,11' guy having an advantage over a 6'4'+ guy. I won my first two fights but they were admittedly against opponents who couldnt punch their way out of a wet paper bag. Nevertheless my next opponent is not only a great wrestler, but also comes from a long pedigree of kick boxing and Muay Thai I certainly have my work cut out for me and he wont be easy to take down Im just concerned that now with strikes.

What do you guys think? Are there any decent fighters at LHW or even HW that are around 5-101/2
thanks for the replies.

I am fairly muscular but deffinatly not muscle bound, as I can do the splits.

Yah Monson and Igor are good inspirations

 

Igor / Monson

 

Couldnt you get a shorter picture?

 

Here is somone you can compare my height to.

 

Where are you fightin?? It sucks not being able to fight here in ONtario unless its on a reserve.

 

If you were a cruiser weight boxer you would be giving up some height to almost every guy your weight that is active in the pros right now. There are some exceptions. Darnell Wilson is 5'10.

However, if you were born to be a badass, short ain't gonna kill ya. Tyson is 5'11" and at 220 was fighting guys much, MUCH taller. Rocky Marciano was 5'11" 185lb. Archie Moore (141 career KOs) at 5'11" 185lb, Sam Langford (a great unknown boxer) was 5'7 at 185 and went 200-47-46 before going blind, and Sam MacVea 5'10 at 215.

Without knowing your body fat percentage or at least looking at a picture its hard to tell. I suspect most boxing coaches would tell you to cut unless you are like 6% bodyfat and a hell of an infighter.

Granted boxing is much different than MMA but the principles of cutting weight are much the same.

What's your reach?

 

Monson fights heavy at like 5 foot 9. Filho used to fight at 205 and he's only 5 foot 8, Arona and Wanderlei are both only 5'11". You'd be better off at 185, but if you weigh 230 and are already in fighting shape then I doubt you'll ever be fighting lower than 205. 230 is a big 205'er as is, so if you're solid at that weight and grappling's your thing then you're probably fine. The most important thing is fighting at the weight where you can perform to the best of your abilities and be comfortable fighting at, doesn't matter if most people are taller at that weight.

 

I am 230 at 5'7". Solid muscle. LOL No, seriously not all muscle but I am only 19%body fat

 

Ideally you wouldn't want to be in that weight class. Of course that's not the say it's not possible to be successful there, just a lot harder.

 

I'm jealous, I can not 'do the splits'

 

edit nvm

 

Anyone get those pics to work?

 

pics don't work...

 

For your benefit, you should probably look to dropping to MW after this fight.

 

Mark Hunt is another shorty, only 5'10 and fights at HW and SHW. I guess it all depends on your striking style.

As a smaller LHW you'll obviously want to get to the inside more if you're planning on doing damage with your hands.

Good luck for your fight!!

 

I dont think that will happen, im around 9-10% bodyfat now at around 210. I think I would loose too much strength and be fatigued if I had to loose another 20.

 

As long as your still athletic and can perform at your best, it shouldn't be a problem.
Shit I'm 5'7.5 and wish i was that big.

GOOD LUCK!

 

thanks for all the input guys,
Kevin Randleman is about 5-9, 5-10 and he has taken out some top HW, so there a little inspiration for me too.

 

I don't even know why you want to be that big. I'm 5'9 175lbs lean, if I put on another 10-20 lbs, no way that can be good for my joints. Not to mention all that extra oxygen to use those muscles.

 

Pete Brown from Team Tompkins is about 5'9 and he started mma training at 200lbs and about 10-12% bf. He now fights -155lbs. Shredded. I think he walks around now at around 165-170lbs iirc.

Not that I think you're too short to do good at lhw.