Kharitonov just made me think...

[kikikhan]

ricco and monson would make the HW division look worse than it allready is. Kharitonov wont fight for the ufc,thats not the ufcs fault. Nor is it the ufcs fault that there isnt aloto of talent out there for them to sign.

It is, they are just to cheap to lure them in.

They signed Punk 2 years ago and he still hasn't fought...

Why aren't they trying to sign great boxers, kickboxers, wrestlers, judokas and others into MMA anymore?

I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to lure these guys into training MMA and having them compete for good money.

Pride did it and MMA training is waaaaaay more available now. It should be easy for olympians to learn MMA good enough to compete.

 

[kikikhan]

Rings had some great fighters. The rules were pretty weird, though.

I thought so too, but the rules really highlighted grappling skills of MMA fighters.

 

[PrinceOfPain]

The fact that a guy like Potts got a shot over almost any unsigned HW in Europe/America illustrates how little the UFC cares about the division.

 

[PrinceOfPain]

Nor is it the ufcs fault that there isnt aloto of talent out there for them to sign.

Rubbish.
If their bar for talent is so low that they'd sign Ruan Potts, then there is a lot of talent out there for them to pursue.

 

[kikikhan]

The fact that a guy like Potts got a shot over almost any unsigned HW in Europe/America illustrates how little the UFC cares about the division.

Just look how they make the prospects eliminate other prospects instead of giving them a crack at the top guys. No wonder that the top 10 is recycling all the time and barely having any young guys fighting the oldies.

 

[Mike01010101a]

More money and less training in boxing. Heavyweight is a dying division.

Yes, this is the harsh truth.

 

[PrinceOfPain]

Just look how they make the prospects eliminate other prospects instead of giving them a crack at the top guys. No wonder that the top 10 is recycling all the time and barely having any young guys fighting the oldies.

The state of the division makes me sad. And I can only imagine it is going to get worse.
The UFC's restrictive contracts, and their habit of holding on to older HWs, means that the worldwide scene is being seeded with less established talent against which upcoming talent can be tested.
Even where prospects and names are meeting, the UFC seems more inclined to sign old fighters that go on a run of beating nobodies, rather than signing the prospects that beat established guys.

They don't need to be signing undefeated guys on long streaks, necessarily, just some young blood (that isn't worthless) to make the division exciting again.

 

[FrontNakedChoke]

They aren't "rycycling" anyone... Arlovski for example, has put together a great comeback.

 

[barehanded]

Best heavyweights out of UFC are mostly under the contract and they can't just sign them whenever they want. Recently they signed one of the best heavyweights from M-1, Damian Grabowski. But nobody cares about it.

And Kharitonov is not getting the chance to fight the best guys even in M-1. Would like to see him fighting Tybura and Smodlarev. Not sure what are they waiting for, he's not getting any younger.

 

[Blackened]

I absolutely agree. Most likely there are better heavyweights out there, perhaps people that could be better if they devoted to MMA full time. The problem lies in the fact that how many people are like Shane Carwin? Wouldn't quit their real job to take a gamble at fighting full time. I sure as fuck wouldn't chase my dream for 2.5K sponsorshit, no retirement, 8k a fight, and working my ass off traveling getting beat up. I'd rather be working for some company and train as a hobby and not have permanent brain damage/mobility problems when I'm 40.

That said, there will always be people that will do it... and I'm sure there are people out there. Look at Weidman, for example. He was probably top 5 level in skill when he was unranked.

 

[Boxer46]

Why don't we, the fight fans, use Kharitonov and other proven HWs to "scout" or assess new HWs?

Why are most of MMA fans so damn focused on the fighters fighting in the UFC that they are willing to ignore guys who beat legends outside of the UFC?

I think we need to focus more on the good side of great and proven journey men like Kharitonov, Monson, Ricco... instead of complaining about them not being in the UFC and acting like they are not good anymore, just because they are not in the UFC.

I'm looking at the UFC HW division and I refuse to believe that the top guys are really the clear top guys at HW right now. I mean, they are mostly old as f*ck and everybody looks very beatable to me. The UFC is counting too much on the power of their company and the starpower of their old HWs to develope new top HWs. They keep recycling while there must be young guys outside of the UFC who could break into top guys, given the chance.

I think that an unknown russian HW could KO a bunch of top UFC HWs.

This is how I feel about the UFC HWs today.

You can't possibly believe that recycling top HWs is the optimal way to have the strongest HW division.

Having young prospects eliminating themselves is stupid. They should each get a crack at top old HWs instead and bring some new life into division.

Hey, go away! lol We need more TUF manlet edition!

No seriously, we should develop more HW, Another HW ONLY TUF would be great.