Could these fighters move divs weight and size wise.

Just touched on this in another thread.

But could the following fighters successfully drop and move divs and be a force?

Roy Nelson I really like this guy but feel he is pushing crap uphill in his current div and is actually more of a hinderence in the div then a help he is currently in a sorta gatekeeper position but IMO like Mir is a very very dangerous gatekeeper who can dispose of legit contenders on any given night meaning alot of times he can cripple the div. + I think he is a natural LHW and would be a real force and contender in the LHW div. can he make the cut? Is it just a simple mind over matter thing? I have spoken to people that know Roy very well and have inside knowledge on his training regime and they say he works very hard and actually has amazing cardio so IMO I reckon he could do it.

Machida I would love to see drop to MW he would shake the foundations of that div and would be a huge chance at the belt. Could he do it? Looking at his shape and frame I would say yes I don't think it would effect him at all. And the weight loss would be pretty easy to make.

Rashad He has pretty much done what he was gonna do in the LHW div at this point and lie machida I want to see him go to the MW div again I see him adding massive depth to the div and would be another legit contender for the belt.

Rory Macdonald I love this kid but having already stated emphatically that he has no intention of fighting Gsp him staying in the div makes little sense and IMO he is a natural MW (same sort of build as Bisping IMO) I reckon once he finishes his business with Condit he will migrate. I see hi being able to do this quite easily and again will add massive depth to the div and add in another contender.

Silva as asked for an extra 2 fights on top of the 8 offered by the ufc. So the move for those three to the div makes sense.

Any other fighters you guys could see moving divs? Ad making a positive impact?

 

i have been saying this also. macdonald should fill out some more and definatley go to mw.

there is no point at him staying at ww since he wont fight georges

 

Could see Rashad moving down someday and destroying alot of guys at middleweight, but then again he's very stocky and that might not be possible.

 

they are all succesful and established fighters I don't see them willing to take the discomfort of moving down in weight

 

Yup and a fighter of his ability and caliber would hinder the divs natural progression and development if he stayed with no intention of fighting for the belt vs George.

I reckon tho he wants to avenge his loss v Condit then he will move up. Does Tristar have any contenders in MW at the moment?

 

Well that depends on whether they are willing to stay in a div in which they will most likely never be champion.

 

ive always wanted to see machida at mw, hes the perfect size for mw now that he walks around at 200-205. IMHO he would still be fast at 185, i just wish he did it 2 years ago or right after he lost to jones

 

Machida, Rashad, and Shogun are all smaller than most of the MW division.

 

Yeah I am really Intrested to know if that kind of weight change would be possible for someone like Rashad who does carry alot of weight in his legs.

I think machida could do it fairly easily.

I see you're point ufcfightman but like the other poster mentioned most of the guys I mentioned had their chances if they want to progress I think dropping down would be the natural course of action to take. My question is could they do it. And still be successful.

 

I don't see Nelson beating Jones, but at LHW - aka, in great shape - he would be a force to be reckoned with. Great BJJ and if JDS can't knock him out, I don't see anyone in LHW (besides maybe Silva + the matrix) knocking him out.

Would be a scary dude.

 

Pretty much. All of them could move divs TS, comes down to each fighters agenda. Machida would be a great MW, but doesn't want to fight Anderson, nelson's love of shakes and burgers etc.

 

i agree they have just hung around at lhw bc they have done really well for their size, i mean sonnen is huge compared to machida

 

Yes this true one wonders if they are receiving the right career advise from those around them. Really makes you wonder.....

 

When Chael takes every belt in the UFC, it won't matter what division those guys are in. Chael will destroy them all.

 

Anderson Silva
Vitor Belfort
Frankie Edgar
BJ Penn
Nate Diaz
Ross Pearson
Rich Franklin
Lyoto Machida
Rashad Evans
Urijah Faber
Nick Diaz
Dan Henderson
Jake Shields
Daniel Cormier
Anthony Johnson

 

Wait you are actually serious?

Rashad should be slightly more than 220 pounds when he enters the cage. I remember a video showing him weighing 213 just before the final cut on the day of weigh-in.

As for Rua:

http://www.espn.co.uk/ufc/sport/story/118015.htm

 

Possibly he was referring to height girth??

 

Pretty crap for them of course when Bones is champ of your division and Silva is champ of the one below....

 

I would envision a mw version of Rashad being a very real threat to Anderson.