I'm not sure hydration test would work but even then, you're never gonna have a guy intentionally going in to a fight weighing 171lbs against an opponent weighing 185 lbs. That would be giving way too much of an advantage.
I dont agree that a 15 pound spread between 171 and 185 Is "close together." I think if your hydration test proposal works, even then those ranges need to be smaller or else we'll just have a similar problem; we'd have guys with 170lb frames either packing on too much muscle or cutting too much body mass to be at the top end or their weight class. Instead of dehydrating to ensure they are at the top, they'd be changing their bodies over the long term. Put simply, we would never see anyone weigh in at 171-180 pounds, say, so why bother having the ranges that big?
And more importantly, I would say, we as fans lose out on seeing athletes performing at their ideal weights. Human bodies come in a wide range of sizes/weights. It's silly to shoe horn them all into such wide categories.
150, 160, 170, 180, 195, 210, 265.
Or something similar. Close enough to what we've got, but a few more weight classes where they are needed most.
Well hydration metabolic testing is science and cant be cheated. Fighters who fail hydration test are given X hours to rehydrate and then pass, failure to pass day of and day before means DQ and no salary.
You cant cheat this system Ben Askren talked about it on Joe Rogan. He was thinking how he could cheat it and he cant when he was with ONE. You could test 2 days before like ONE championship does, then also test day before and day of. In ONE if you pass 2 days before and day of you dont need to weigh in day of.
UFC could make it more elite by the same but also a weigh in day of.
Also HW and LHW already have large gaps Machida and many others weighed 205lbs to 215lbs to 220lbs. Then you had the massive LHW like DC, and Rampage coming in at 230 to 235lbs. But then Jones was 217lbs to 225lbs. Soooo it just weakens the sport and makes it ultimate baby not ultimate fighting if you have a weight class every 10lbs or 5lbs.
It seems you acknowledge that the 5lbs means less at higher weight classes which is why you are okay with a 55lb weight difference between LHW and HW and a 15lb difference between MW and LHW. But here is my point
Yes few would come in at 171lbs if not none would, most would be coming in at WW at 180 to 185lb max limit. With some in the high 170s but that is the point is a range exists. In ONE if you eliminate the weight cutting this also allows healthier more optimal fighters, weight cutting is proven to harm performance and be useless and it can be stopped.
Your 10lb gaps if you eliminate weight cutting of 150lb to 160lb also is plagued by the same issue.
Who will weigh in at 151lbs or 152lbs? Wont most weigh in at 158lbs and 159lbs? Etc?
Also we saw the most dominant WW, MWs ever were not the heaviest and neither were the best LHW.
At FW and BW it does seem the largest are the best but that seems to be inevitable given how much more each 1lb really matters at that low of a weight.
At HW the best HW have been middle tier and the arguable HW GOATS were 235lb to 245lbs.
Your 210lb limit range of 195lb to 210lb is a 15lb flucutation range. Not much different from WW to MW.
I think you just like the idea of more weight classes for some odd reason and you really want to cater to wvery small pound difference.
At HW you have guys who dominate who fight at the low 240s to high 240s. Then you have some elite guys as well who are 260lbs to 270lbs. Then gatekeepers who are 280lbs or even 290lbs and then the weaklings who are 235lbs etc or 230lbs who should be at LHW
