How was 265 lbs decided as the limit for HW in MMA/UFC?

[markantony20]

They saw a picture of Derrick Lewis, or the fat guy from UFC 1.

RIP he recently passed away.

 

[GIBLERTBAPTISTA]

Tim Sylvias dietician probably had a say in the matter

 

[kingmob6]

Not sure, but I can't imagine anything over 265lb moving well in an mma match.

you haven't seen pride then

 

[AmonTobin]

you haven't seen pride then

I have. I can't say I remember how much anybody weighed. Which champs weighed more than 265lbs? Could steroids have anything to do with it?

 

[NoSmilez]

I think it is part of turning UFC into sport. There is a super heavyweight class that existed in America. UFC didn't choose to adopt that weight class when they bought the WEC. They had that particular weight class. I actually don't mind it because it lets us have the freakshow fights. Those guys are fun to watch but they might not be competitive vs regular HWs. You can't really get that big+lean without some pharmaceutical help.

 

[kingmob6]

I have. I can't say I remember how much anybody weighed. Which champs weighed more than 265lbs? Could steroids have anything to do with it?

you don't have to go far out of UFC for that, Brock easily weighted 285 lbs, and had to cut down to fit in. Tim Sylvia out of the ring weighted 300.

Bobb Sapp was 330lbs.

Alexander Lungu was like 350

Butterbean fought at 400 lbs

Semmy Schilt 300lbs

Mark Hunt was around 290 in pride

Hong Mai Choi was like 350.

These were just huge men, steroids didn't make them bigger, but certainly gave them extra strength and stamina, but so did everyone else.

 

[GiganticMeat]

Just to add onto that going and looking at the prime old K-1 Grand Prix champions with the notable exception of Semmy all the other champions have come under 265lbs(at least according to Wikipedia so idk how reliable that is.)

And those guys were ripped and athletic as hell.

Yeah. We just had a big thread on this subject. The people who could compete at above 280~ pounds (small weight cut to 265) are incredibly few. I've been thinking about it though and even raising it to 285 would have a similar effect. They could uncap it, that was the general consensus, but that might not be so simple. SHW is 100% unnecessary though, so who knows. Maybe it's inevitable.

 

[AmonTobin]

you don't have to go far out of UFC for that, Brock easily weighted 285 lbs, and had to cut down to fit in. Tim Sylvia out of the ring weighted 300.

Bobb Sapp was 330lbs.

Alexander Lungu was like 350

Butterbean fought at 400 lbs

Semmy Schilt 300lbs

Mark Hunt was around 290 in pride

Hong Mai Choi was like 350.

These were just huge men, steroids didn't make them bigger, but certainly gave them extra strength and stamina, but so did everyone else.

Semmy Schilt I'll give you that one. Bob Sapp wasn't a contender. I think him and Choi were more circus fighters, weren't they? Brock, Tim Sylvia, Mark Hunt could make 265 in UFC. Butterbean can't do MMA. Is Lungu a kickboxer or a MMartist?

 

[kingmob6]

Semmy Schilt I'll give you that one. Bob Sapp wasn't a contender. I think him and Choi were more circus fighters, weren't they? Mark Hunt could make 265 in UFC. Butterbean can't do MMA. Is Lungu a kickboxer or a MMartist?

Choi was actually pretty good, he got sick and then his career went down the hill. Butterbean won a few mma fights, he was 15-10 in mma https://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Eric-Esch-9394.
Lungu had a lot of mma fights, 22-5 or something like that.
You don't have to be contender, the point is that larger than 265lb men can compete in mma.
Many UFC hws cut down to 265. They are larger naturally and you can easily let them compete at their natural weight.

 

[GiganticMeat]

Semmy Schilt I'll give you that one. Bob Sapp wasn't a contender. I think him and Choi were more circus fighters, weren't they? Brock, Tim Sylvia, Mark Hunt could make 265 in UFC. Butterbean can't do MMA. Is Lungu a kickboxer or a MMartist?

Quick replies, but answered it well. Butterbean I believe tried MMA but somewhat predictably, that body type was very easy to topple over and keep down. Gigantism fighters are a can of worms and sometimes can't compete without special clearance or certain aids. Bob Sapp too... Who knows his natural weight.

 

[AmonTobin]

Choi was actually pretty good, he got sick and then his career went down the hill. Butterbean won a few mma fights, he was 15-10 in mma https://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Eric-Esch-9394.
Lungu had a lot of mma fights, 22-5 or something like that.

Fair enough. There are some giants out there but I think the division would be shallow and the quality of mma would suffer. And the only interesting matches (David vs Goliath) would not be sanctioned for healthy and safety reasons. Edit: Butterbean looks like a mainly 1 round fighter win or lose. That's no bueno.

 

[Luthien]

It was introduced so us 6'5 340 lb Sherdoggers wouldn't be able to compete and dominate.

 

[Dim1]

Removing the cap would be perfect. You would see a number of current HW run down to LHW. They could also do 205 (LHW), 225 (CW), HW (225+)

 

[supermurph]

You have to take a time machine back to 99 / 2000 when MMA / NHB still had a stigma attached to it in the USA. Promotions and promoters in the US all agreed they wanted weight classes and rules to be set under a state governing body to legitimize and sanction the sport which was still referred to as human cockfighting / street fighting / circus brawls by some politicians and media outlets at the time.

I don't think they wanted a ridiculous weight differential to appear at HW because that would have brought back visions of the early UFCs which was an image they were trying to get away from for sanctioning purposes. So they went with 206 - 265. This covered the vast majority of the HW's fighting stateside. Those same rules and weight classes haven't changed much sans the addition of weight classes for the smaller guys and the changing of some fouls.

But I think your point has merit now as people have grown on average. Maybe it's something they can look at since they seem to be open to amending the rules as of late.

 

[ricains_cretins]

Roided Meatheads make great HW brawlers though, and people love Chris Barnett.

That being said, historically "super HW's" (above 265 Ibs or so) have been pretty mediocre. So I don't know why 265 Ibs is agreed upon by commissions and most orgs but it doesn't bring down the quality of HW's in terms of having the best in the sport.

I mean the answer to your question OP might be as simple as thinking there needs to be a weight limit like all the other divisions for HW to be a legitimate weight class.

So, according to you, HW boxing is not a legitimate weight class ?

 

[Carrotman23]

So, according to you, HW boxing is not a legitimate weight class ?

Obviously not dunce, I get the analogy, just throwing it out there as a possibility of why the 265 Ib cap was made. Its probably an optics thing and an attempt to keep some kind of athletic standard at HW.

But again Super HW's usually don't do very well in MMA. And even in boxing a much smaller guy just beat one of the biggest boxers of this era.

 

[ThaiSexPills]

To keep Mark Hunt types of the cheeseburgers.

 

[World eater]

And even in boxing a much smaller guy just beat one of the biggest boxers of this era.

True, but the big guy was a reigning champion. The limit should be removed and the UFC should just avoid signing slobs who can’t compete at the top level.

 

[Left Hook Lacy]

Schilt is the one I also thought of. I also think Struve was never able to put on size because of the weight limit?

 

[cmw43]

I played football with lots of guys who would weighed more than 265 pounds where also in good shape. It's doable. Im simply amazed at the fatasses with zero gas tanks that the ufc brings in

Football is a very stop start sport though.

There's not many 300lb guys who can go for 25 minutes of grappling.