Let's be honest here - the HW division sucks

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

It has been for a very long time. Same with HW in boxing.

HW boxing is pretty damn good right now. Leagues ahead of HW MMA. Anthony Joshua could probably go train MMA for a few years and win the UFC title.

 

[GrewUpSlapBoxin]

225-230lbs. There seems to be a natural cutoff point for athleticism there.

260lbs lean.

 

[michi972]

Stipe- excellent boxing and wrestling, good atheticism, chin and cardio etc.
Werdum- highest level of bjj, very good muay thai
Cain - I don't count
Overeem- physically strong, very technical striker with KO power, good wrestling, solid grappling, weak chin
Ngannou - huge guy, fast and has KO power, excellent striking, good td, decent grappling
Top 5 is really solid, AA is very good fighter, but has no chin
Heavyweight is specific, but it's all about top 5.

 

[JiuJitsuHarry]

Need to get some of those dominant Russian Sambo heavyweights who fight in over in Russia and Bulgaria. People like Vitaly Minakov would be Top 5 no problem.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

I've always thought that they could filter out all of the sloppiness by reducing to weight limit to around 225-230lbs. There seems to be a natural cutoff point for athleticism there. .

Every single American football, rugby and basketball team is loaded with guys far bigger than that who are still more athletic than most current UFC HWs. Even hockey and some other combat sports like wrestling and boxing seem to get a larger share of athletic 230+lb'ers than MMA.

 

[aldeniro78]

Buncha fat, out of shape queens

 

[lalaland]

Just get rid of LHW. There aren't enough +220lbs fighters for 2 divisions, but you could have one decent division with Stipe, JBJ, Cain, DC, Reem, Werdum, JDS, Francis and Gus.

 

[KeepItRealist]

HW boxing is pretty damn good right now. Leagues ahead of HW MMA. Anthony Joshua could probably go train MMA for a few years and win the UFC title.

Anthony Joshua would have the same career as Fraudley Harrison if he had not come along when he did. Wlad is beyond shot and he still had problems with him. The fact that Anthony Joshua is champion and considered the top fighter in this HW era is the proof.

I'm assuming you are just joking with that UFC title stuff.

 

[PerpetualWB]

Are you surprised by this? Look at a fucking bell curve. Then factor in that giants with athletic ability are valued in sports that make decent money. Boom. There's your answer. Lots of normal sized, athletic people available. Hence, stacked divisions at LW and WW.

I agree with this but I'm surprised there isn't some more fresh talent at HW. Money in MMA sucks, but this is nothing new. If anything, the money has gotten a bit better. So how come these ancient fighters are still at the top at HW? You'd think there'd at least be as much developing talent as there was a decade to go. Are we going to see top LHW move up to HW as they get older and slower, and maybe that will be a consistent trend over time? Something's got to give though, right?

 

[lalaland]

HW was stacked 10 years ago.

Stacked with guys smaller than the current top 3 LHW's.

 

[TeenageMutantLesnarTurtle]

Anthony Joshua would have the same career as Fraudley Harrison if he had not come along when he did. Wlad is beyond shot and he still had problems with him. The fact that Anthony Joshua is champion and considered the top fighter in this HW era is the proof.

Wlad may be past his prime but he looked incredible for his age in that fight, and is one of the greatest HWs of all time.

Also, Wlad was the first major test that AJ faced. Theres now the likes of Fury, Wilder, Ortiz and Parker waiting in the wings for him to defend against, with Usyk talking about moving up to HW to face him one day too. Other than Ortiz and Wlad those guys (including AJ) are actually in their physical primes too. Other than Ngannou all Stipe has to face is washed up guys and poor younger prospects like Lewis.

I'm assuming you are just joking with that UFC title stuff.

I was being slightly hyperbolic but tbh I wouldnt rule out a guy like AJ being a solid contender in MMA if he made the switch now. Hes 27 years old, he could move to a top MMA gym and build himself up for 5 years before entering the UFC and he'd still be considered young for the division. Its really not that far fetched to imagine a 32 year old, 6'6 world class boxer being a handful in the UFC after 5 years of MMA specific training and experience is it?

 

[tenniswhiz]

We had no idea how spoiled we were in the Fedor-BigNog-CroCop era... now we know.

I agree.

The naysayers were out in full force giving Werdum credit for improving since Pride days.
Nonsense. His standup is marginally better and his cardio is terrible. Virtually the same guy who lost to prime versions of Arlovski, Big Nog, and Sergei.

 

[Fight Professor]

All that says is Struve is even worse than Hunt and Lewis.

 

[ncboy]

I don't think it's a stretch to say that Conor would be top 10 in the hw division.

He has never really fought a WW. The UFC going to have a LW put on 50 lbs of fat so Conor's can "fight HW" ?

 

[gspieler]

Stacked with guys smaller than the current top 3 LHW's.

I'd say there's a good amount size variation...
Fedor
Nog
Cro Cop
Arlovski
Hunt
Sylvia
Sergei
Aleks
Randy
Barnett
Gonzaga
Werdum
Reem
Herring
Kongo
Etc

Prospects:
JDS
Cain
Carwin
Brock
Rothwell
Nelson
Barry