ManofSteel
Orange Belt
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2012
- Messages
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Alright, so I have noticed a consistent trend by casual fans in MMA and other combat sports to favour larger fighters. People seem to prefer larger men fighting, maybe it's their higher KO power, their size or just their debatable status as the "baddest men on the planet." For a long time in boxing, Mike Tyson was the heavyweight king that caused a new wave of popularity for the sport.
In contrast to the world of boxing in the 1990's, I would argue that our heavyweights are one of the weakest, most shallow of the UFC's 9 divisions (excluding the women). They do have more finishes than other divisions, but they also have many disappointing performances, primarily because of cardio shortcomings. Lightweights on the other hand are the among the best performing and traditionally the most developed of all the weight classes (yes featherweight is developing nicely too and welterweight as well, but over the long run), yet their champions are NEVER ppv draws.
My point? I would actually alter the name of the weight classes to appeal to casual fans. Few people seem to realize (of the casual community) that most "average" men (statistically the average American male is 5'10 and roughly 170-180 lbs) would actually compete at Lightweight, giving into account weight cutting. Now with additional mass building and proper nutrition and training, they may be able to compete at welterweight, but I believe the perception of lightweight and below of being "shrimps" and so forth comes from their names. Featherweight sounds TINY, despite the fact that Aldo is not a small man in terms of frame. Anyways here are my suggestions for changes.
265 = Heavyweight
205 = Cruiserweight
185 = Light Heavyweight
170 = Middleweight
155 = Welterweight
145 = Lightweight
135 = Featherweight
125 = Bantamweight
I believe marketing the classes in this way will appeal far better to casual fans and in my opinion, make more sense in terms of meaning.
Discuss. Insanity? What say you?
In contrast to the world of boxing in the 1990's, I would argue that our heavyweights are one of the weakest, most shallow of the UFC's 9 divisions (excluding the women). They do have more finishes than other divisions, but they also have many disappointing performances, primarily because of cardio shortcomings. Lightweights on the other hand are the among the best performing and traditionally the most developed of all the weight classes (yes featherweight is developing nicely too and welterweight as well, but over the long run), yet their champions are NEVER ppv draws.
My point? I would actually alter the name of the weight classes to appeal to casual fans. Few people seem to realize (of the casual community) that most "average" men (statistically the average American male is 5'10 and roughly 170-180 lbs) would actually compete at Lightweight, giving into account weight cutting. Now with additional mass building and proper nutrition and training, they may be able to compete at welterweight, but I believe the perception of lightweight and below of being "shrimps" and so forth comes from their names. Featherweight sounds TINY, despite the fact that Aldo is not a small man in terms of frame. Anyways here are my suggestions for changes.
265 = Heavyweight
205 = Cruiserweight
185 = Light Heavyweight
170 = Middleweight
155 = Welterweight
145 = Lightweight
135 = Featherweight
125 = Bantamweight
I believe marketing the classes in this way will appeal far better to casual fans and in my opinion, make more sense in terms of meaning.
Discuss. Insanity? What say you?
