Is the heavyweight divison f*cked?

[fries in the bag]

Aspinall:
- many think he was losing the first 4:30 minutes against Gane, whereas Jones submitted Gane in 2 minutes.
- also controversial eye poke left many unsatisfied and questioning his mental fortitude and lack of warrior spirit.

Gane:
- submitted in 2 minutes by Jones.
- can't keep fingers closed.

Volkov:
- couldn't defend a single takedown by Almeida.
- lost to Aspinall and Gane (controversial) already, so title fight is not expected.

Almeida:
- no urgency to hurt the opponent, loves playing twister and letting the clock run out.
- shit-eating grin showed that he thinks lay n pray is enough to win fights at the top level --- clearly wrong.

Jones:
- 1 more fight and then retirement.

Pereira:
- low chance of beating Jones, or even Aspinall.
- close to retirement, maybe 1-3 mma fights left before he goes to boxing.

Ngannou:
- banned by Dana the red tomato for wanting better pay.
- will likely never compete against a top mma guy ever again, besides cans in PFL.

 

[Fedorgasm]

Yeah pretty much.

If Tom can beat Gane in the rematch I think it saves the division temporarily. But who's he going to fight?

Maybe Poatan. That would be fun. But it definitely loses some shine if Poatan loses to Jones first.

 

[Travis Alexander]

Considering Ngannou can never come back and the state of HW in worldwide mma is sparse. They should acquire and start manufacturing the next generation of stars like Gable Stevenson. Start bringing him up to inject some intrigue into what should be the most coveted division

 

[Fedorgasm]

I think some LHW guys would do better at HW.

Rakic, for instance. Doesn't look like he's going anywhere at LHW, but I bet he could be a top 3 HW

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

In a weird way Tom/Gane 1 going like it did, as bad as it has been in the short term, probably bought the division a little more time in terms of anyone giving a shit about it. It was the biggest fight realistically available in the division right now. If Tom had won he would have had nobody to defend against, if Gane had won Tom would have been derailed. The NC means we get an intriguing rematch that will be significantly bigger than the first fight, and a few extra months for a new contender to emerge for whoever wins.

 

[Thy]

i mean hasn't it already been for awhile? nothin really to make of it. Not much going on in that division and the one fight we were lookin for ended short with an eyepoke and now nothin gonna happen for awhile again.

 

[Alpha_T83]

I think heavyweight will be fine. It's better for the division if Aspinall beats Gane, but even if Gane wins in the rematch, Gable Steveson is coming and I believe he can live up to the hype.

This is just a weird time, because both of the top heavyweights left the UFC HW division without fighting top contenders or defending their belts (Ngannou/Jones). Any time that happens, the division will look weak for a few years.

 

[fendertach]

Gable Stevenson is the heir to the Jones HW crown. An Olympic gold medalist, 103-3 career wrestling record, knockout power, and he's being trained by Jones ( the most accomplished fighter in MMA history). HW is in such a pathetic state right now I guarantee he's getting fast tracked and will fight for the title in 2027.

 

[Ginja_Ninja]

Move to same day weigh-ins

More than 50% of the LHW div would now be HW. It would be a brand new division, not to mention much safer for fighters across the board.

Weight cutting killed the modern HW

 

[chimpoehurricane]

Aspinall:
- many think he was losing the first 4:30 minutes against Gane, whereas Jones submitted Gane in 2 minutes.
- also controversial eye poke left many unsatisfied and questioning his mental fortitude and lack of warrior spirit.

Gane:
- submitted in 2 minutes by Jones.
- can't keep fingers closed.

Volkov:
- couldn't defend a single takedown by Almeida.
- lost to Aspinall and Gane (controversial) already, so title fight is not expected.

Almeida:
- no urgency to hurt the opponent, loves playing twister and letting the clock run out.
- shit-eating grin showed that he thinks lay n pray is enough to win fights at the top level --- clearly wrong.

Jones:
- 1 more fight and then retirement.

Pereira:
- low chance of beating Jones, or even Aspinall.
- close to retirement, maybe 1-3 mma fights left before he goes to boxing.

Ngannou:
- banned by Dana the red tomato for wanting better pay.
- will likely never compete against a top mma guy ever again, besides cans in PFL.

Jones got gifted a title shot after ducking Francis. He then wins vs a guy who had 0 TDD. He proceeds to cosplay HW CHAMP only to duck Tom.

Jon is and has always been a HW who spent his career fighting past prime smaller fighters who aged out while on gear.

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

UFC’s HW has been the drizzling shits for years, which makes it hilarious seeing people complaining about it being held up or screwed up.

 

[bng]

cant see if its fucked or not, sry

 

[joy2day]

will fight for the title in 2027.

Yeah, not sure that is the best idea. Being a great wrestler has proven over and over again to not equal success in MMA; it still takes them a long time (like anyone else) to develop the other skills to be competitive. Maybe he will take to the sport quickly though, you never know. Always skeptical of that though because many have failed to come in and dominate soon in this sport.

 

[b00tysweat]

Jones got gifted a title shot after ducking Francis. He then wins vs a guy who had 0 TDD. He proceeds to cosplay HW CHAMP only to duck Tom.

Jon is and has always been a HW who spent his career fighting past prime smaller fighters who aged out while on gear.

Jon Derangement Syndrome

 

[jeff7b9]

Yes.


But Gable Steveson beat up some fat Uber driver last night in DBX so the future is looking bright

 

[MMAJunkie]

Aspinall:
- many think he was losing the first 4:30 minutes against Gane, whereas Jones submitted Gane in 2 minutes.
- also controversial eye poke left many unsatisfied and questioning his mental fortitude and lack of warrior spirit.

Gane:
- submitted in 2 minutes by Jones.
- can't keep fingers closed.

Volkov:
- couldn't defend a single takedown by Almeida.
- lost to Aspinall and Gane (controversial) already, so title fight is not expected.

Almeida:
- no urgency to hurt the opponent, loves playing twister and letting the clock run out.
- shit-eating grin showed that he thinks lay n pray is enough to win fights at the top level --- clearly wrong.

Jones:
- 1 more fight and then retirement.

Pereira:
- low chance of beating Jones, or even Aspinall.
- close to retirement, maybe 1-3 mma fights left before he goes to boxing.

Ngannou:
- banned by Dana the red tomato for wanting better pay.
- will likely never compete against a top mma guy ever again, besides cans in PFL.

No
The UFC has 6 new HWs
The division will change within a year.

 

[Greyscale]

Heavyweight division has always been the most shallow. It's the only reason we had blobs in top 10

 

[Fedorgasm]

In a weird way Tom/Gane 1 going like it did, as bad as it has been in the short term, probably bought the division a little more time in terms of anyone giving a shit about it. It was the biggest fight realistically available in the division right now. If Tom had won he would have had nobody to defend against, if Gane had won Tom would have been derailed. The NC means we get an intriguing rematch that will be significantly bigger than the first fight, and a few extra months for a new contender to emerge for whoever wins.

True. I think jailton really screwed himself. They were clearly setting him up for the next title shot but he blew it. And you can't really give it to volkov because he won in the least impressive fashion.

So yeah the Tom/Cyril rematch buys the entire division a little time.

Not enough time for gable to come save the division though.

 

[Kezta]

Reduce the HW weight limit at 240lbs and remove the LHW weight class.

 

[jeskola]

Aspinall:
- many think he was losing the first 4:30 minutes against Gane, whereas Jones submitted Gane in 2 minutes.
- also controversial eye poke left many unsatisfied and questioning his mental fortitude and lack of warrior spirit.

Gane:
- submitted in 2 minutes by Jones.
- can't keep fingers closed.

Volkov:
- couldn't defend a single takedown by Almeida.
- lost to Aspinall and Gane (controversial) already, so title fight is not expected.

Almeida:
- no urgency to hurt the opponent, loves playing twister and letting the clock run out.
- shit-eating grin showed that he thinks lay n pray is enough to win fights at the top level --- clearly wrong.

Jones:
- 1 more fight and then retirement.

Pereira:
- low chance of beating Jones, or even Aspinall.
- close to retirement, maybe 1-3 mma fights left before he goes to boxing.

Ngannou:
- banned by Dana the red tomato for wanting better pay.
- will likely never compete against a top mma guy ever again, besides cans in PFL.

I would be surprised if we see Jones or Nguannou fight in MMA again.

Pereira already said he is looking for one MMA superfight and then wants to go to boxing. Not sure where 1-3 comes from.

On the other hand...

Aspinall isn't going anywhere and the UFC just signed like 4 HW from regional orgs. Lets hope they do something. Also its been fun to watch Valter Walker.