Can we take a sec to appreciate how screwed up the HW division is?

[PlasticFishBowl]

It’s a notoriously thin division, with only a very few truly talented fighters in it. It’s arguably the only male division where the majority of ranked fighters are old and/or not even actually very good and stand no chance to compete with the top guys.

Yet, despite that, the UFC has still been able to score things up to the point where we have 3 people with a legit claim to being the “true” HW champ.

1.) There is no lineal champ because the UFC cheaped out on Francis.

2.) The current champ is a disputed champ but refuses to unify against the interim champ.

So there it is. A division with like 6 guys who can actually fight. Yet we have a lineal champ, a disputed champ, and an interim champ. None of them will ever fight each other either; so there will be no answer to the questions.

Instead Francis will kill bums in PFL.

Jon will beat a 59 year old and then retire.

Tom will sit out a year and then be promoted to undisputed while everyone says “he didn’t really win the belt.”

Bravo UFC. You really handled your flagship division well.

 

[DarthChen731]

Getting a lot of use out of this gif today

 

[Luthien]

King of the Castle

 

[cws80us]

1. UFC did not cheap out on Francis. It was reported that he was offered one of the largest contracts in UFC history. He walked away because he wanted to box. Things have worked out well for him. Looks unlikely that he'll ever actually compete in PFL at this point.
2. In what way is Jon Jones disputed as UFC HW champ? Also he hasn't refused to unify the belts. He's currently injured and Aspinal didn't become interim until after he was injured. So that's an asinine statement.

Otherwise, good post!

 

[El Fernas]

To be fair, Jones won the belt and while a gimmick fight, he was scheduled to defend it against Stipe and had to pullout due to injury and thats the reason an interim belt was created, we kind of know he wont fight Aspinall but as of right now he cant fight and that belt wouldnt exist if Jones doesnt get injured.

 

[RockyLockridge]

Instead Francis will kill bums in PFL.

lol francis isn't fighting in pfl Ever

 

[Psychojoe86]

Heavyweight division has
Aspinall
Pavlovic
Almeida
Gane
Blaydes

Not to mention other threats like volkov and tuivasa

It’s just the title picture is screwed up due to politics. Without that BS we could have a few years worth of epic title fights

 

[El Fernas]

lol francis isn't fighting in pfl Ever

The boxing stint might expire, or will expire eventually, he was promised a big purse fighting in PFL, why wouldnt he? I mean, Canelo is rich AF and still fights, Floyd, rich AF and still fights, the same guys he is boxing are rich AF and still fighting, as long as he gets paid he will crush any can PFL can bring, possible its not up to him but to them to actually give him a fight.

 

[DjolexMTL]

Heavyweight division has
Aspinall
Pavlovic
Almeida
Gane
Blaydes

Not to mention other threats like volkov and tuivasa

It’s just the title picture is screwed up due to politics. Without that BS we could have a few years worth of epic title fights

Yeah Tuivasa is such a threat

 

[moosaev]

I just pretend that Tom Aspinall is the champ. Every other fight is a sideshow. Whoever beats Aspinall will be the next champ. Jones should not even be dignified with any more fan attention.

 

[Striker Fox]

Heavyweight division has
Aspinall
Pavlovic
Almeida
Gane
Blaydes

Not to mention other threats like volkov and tuivasa

People are only able to still list Gane as a legit contender because of his wise decision to openly avoid guys who can wrestle, unless it's for a title.

 

[RockyLockridge]

The boxing stint might expire, or will expire eventually, he was promised a big purse fighting in PFL, why wouldnt he? I mean, Canelo is rich AF and still fights, Floyd, rich AF and still fights, the same guys he is boxing are rich AF and still fighting, as long as he gets paid he will crush any can PFL can bring, possible its not up to him but to them to actually give him a fight.

I guess he could crush some cans for a nice check

 

[Neck&Neck]

HW division should just rid of all rankings, wins and loses
only count blood loss, KOs and Submissions

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

If you actually break it down and think about it, all of these divisions are super thin. There are only, maybe, 2-3 guys in the division, including the champion, that are actual champion material. Some have more, some have less. The rest are complete non champ, non ranking, non top five material, and their presence would not be felt/missed if they were in an other org, beating up their roster. MMA feels like it is the absolute thinnest right now, in terms of pure competition, pure concentration of the highest level of fighters.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Its a bunch of guys that refuse to cut a single pound

Its kind of expected that HW will always be pretty shit outside some outlier talents

 

[Arm Barbarian]

King of the Castle

More like King of the Pico Palace

 

[El Fernas]

I guess he could crush some cans for a nice check

They went as far as promising 2 million for the opponent, they will find someone willing to for that kind of money.

 

[RockyLockridge]

They went as far as promising 2 million for the opponent, they will find someone willing to for that kind of money.

The real question is will the PFL actually pay some can 2 million dollars. defries? Bader? Maybe but anyone else?

Not likely.

 

[Hdfi]

Just focus on Aspinal. The others are retired from real MMA competition.

 

[Levi_]

I hear that the HW division always or mostly has sucked, when that is not entirely true. You had the early era with Fedor, Nog, CC, etc. then you had the UFC generation that had Cain, Stipe, Werdum, JDS, etc.

We have had some good HW divisions in the past. It has devolved more recently along with LHW.