Hot Take Should LHW and HW just be combined?

[Doctor Grudge]

i was rooting for randy so bad there, but it kind of proves my point. despite being such a beginner brock was out muscling randy and putting him against the fence for most of the first. the tides started to turn near the end of the round but it made no difference. apparently, all that big dumb ape needed was to throw a random haymaker and it was enough to finish. followed by his best impression of donkey kong with that ground and pound.

these days they're all well rounded and the size difference would make it be even worse.

i dont think lesnar muscled randy around much at all, if anything he had a lot of problems imposing his wrestling.

if randy had been in his prime he probably would have beat lesnar. he lost by a slow ass punch from brock.

 

[Fire Belly]

Most athletic guys who would fit the HW division are gonna be off making real money in other sports.

Fuck the UFC's cheapskate policies for fighter pay. It's led to a roster full of bums.

 

[orca]

lol no
you really believe guys like gane and tom are only 255 lbs?

these fighters train and diet down to that size because they feel the best at that weight

have you seen miocic vs baldonado?

jon jones at 238 lbs is fat and slow

there are guys like gane or stipe that are naturally big

 

[Thesnake101]

UFC could actually give a fuck about Hw (and LHW) and spend some of that Paramount money on recruiting the best fighters they can find from all over the world.

UFC invests in HW or it stays stale with B level athletes outside the rankings.

Are we talking about crossover athletes or are there some mythical unsigned HW fighters all over the world that don't suck? Malykhin seemed that way until he fought Kane in a shitty fight, and he's 38 now and 5'11, on top of missing all of 2025. Kane is similarly 6'0 only and not the type of guy they'd want fighting non-cans given he's not finished anyone since fighting Gazzaev.

Nemkov is good although not a big guy either, but defo a missed opportunity. Popov sucks and nearly lost to Romanov, Goltsov sucks, Ferreira sucks, Moldavsky is boring against anyone not named Delija, Bilostenniy could have potential, the ACA guys are largely mid and go to decision most of the time when not fighting cans.

There's some LFA guys with some promise I suppose, but much like Gable they'll wind up in the UFC eventually to see if they're actually good or embarrassments like the guy Hokit gave the middle finger to, that dude was an LFA champ and PFL vet.

They have definitely dropped the ball with some signings of high-profile guys like Nemkov but HW largely sucks inside and outside the UFC.

 

[Ibm]

Most MW's are even HW now a days. I suppose it wouldnt be a bad idea. Jiri is BIG! and Alex also Big. both guys can confortabl eat their regular meals and theyd be walking around well at HW.

 

[dubhlinn]

uh.....no

how is there 4 pages of responses on this? smh.

 

[cmw43]

I don't think the divisions should be combined but get rid of the 265 weight limit and just look at the regionals and sign HW's looking to get into the UFC. Between the USA, Brazil and Europe it shouldn't be too hard to find some new faces at HW one would think.

There's basically no decent athlete in shape who can't make 265lbs who would want to fight in UFC.

You need the 265lbs limit to stop guys like Mark Hunt and Tai Tuivasa coming in even more out of shape over 300lbs.

 

[spinup]

IIRC the 205 and 265 division cannot be merged into because many athletic commissions have rules for the maximum weight discrepancy.

Kinda but no

Maybe a cruiser weight division could be added at like 225-240 and anyone larger than that could be heavyweight

It would force the smaller Heavuweights to make a decision, get in shape and move down a class which would make the CW Class entertaining with in shape guys, while then HW 240 and up would be big ass dudes-also take the 265 cap off of heavyweight there’s no reason to it other than a SHW class

It might ruin the division….but this division is already ruined.

The roster is already paper thin, adding a division is only making that worse.

 

[michi972]

No.

Jiri considered MW.

Forcing someone up is not the way.

UFC invests in HW or it stays stale with B level athletes outside the rankings.

LHW aren't HWs. Some can move up. Others can't. They all prefer not to or they already would done it.

Basically this makes HW above 185. Pretty stupid. So HW is bad and therefore you kill 205.

Prime Cro Cop was 225, most lhws probably weight this much or more.
With that said I agree with you though. I was surorised that Jiri cut do little, he doesn't look smakowe than test lhws at all

 

[VinceArch]

There's basically no decent athlete in shape who can't make 265lbs who would want to fight in UFC.

You need the 265lbs limit to stop guys like Mark Hunt and Tai Tuivasa coming in even more out of shape over 300lbs.

Or just not sign them at all. But I think there are athletes of bigger size that are out there, it's just a matter of do they enjoy combat sports and would the UFC lighten up on the purse strings? Both questions are long shots so I suppose it is a moot point.

 

[Oscar Madison]

Folks need to stop believing that HW should look like the other weight divisions.

It's an entirely different experience.

 

[jeff7b9]

Are we talking about crossover athletes or are there some mythical unsigned HW fighters all over the world that don't suck? Malykhin seemed that way until he fought Kane in a shitty fight, and he's 38 now and 5'11, on top of missing all of 2025. Kane is similarly 6'0 only and not the type of guy they'd want fighting non-cans given he's not finished anyone since fighting Gazzaev.

Nemkov is good although not a big guy either, but defo a missed opportunity. Popov sucks and nearly lost to Romanov, Goltsov sucks, Ferreira sucks, Moldavsky is boring against anyone not named Delija, Bilostenniy could have potential, the ACA guys are largely mid and go to decision most of the time when not fighting cans.

There's some LFA guys with some promise I suppose, but much like Gable they'll wind up in the UFC eventually to see if they're actually good or embarrassments like the guy Hokit gave the middle finger to, that dude was an LFA champ and PFL vet.

They have definitely dropped the ball with some signings of high-profile guys like Nemkov but HW largely sucks inside and outside the UFC.

They aren't going to be big famous well known names while fighting in small regional orgs

A mildly competant company would scout them and give prospects a shot... then they sink or swim. It's a puddle currently.

 

[Söze Aldo]

Prime Cro Cop was 225, most lhws probably weight this much or more.
With that said I agree with you though. I was surorised that Jiri cut do little, he doesn't look smakowe than test lhws at all

The GOAT HW Fedor fought in the 230s, and if he cut back on the borscht a bit he could easily have been in the 220s range.

The idea that HW MMA fighters have to be 250+ is based on the short period when a lot of guys were juiced and you had freaks like Brock and Ubereem.

Right now, 90 percent of the HW's above 250 are not super athletes. They are just slobs.

 

[fzoid4454]

Most lhws are legitimately HW-sized guys who just cut water weight. The number of fighters who are over 200 lbs in cage shape is now so limited that it barely makes sense to maintain separate LHW and HW divisions.

Imagine if guys like Pereira and Jiri were fighting at heavyweight.

If anything, the sport would make more sense with a buffer class between 185 and 205, and then a single heavyweight division for anyone above 200 lbs.

No. Nothing stops a guy who can make 205 from moving up if they want to. But the difference across the board is too much. Guys who can't make 185 any more shouldn't have to fight guys who cut down to 265.

 

[CdaMMA]

Too much of a size difference between some of the fighters

 

[Söze Aldo]

No. Nothing stops a guy who can make 205 from moving up if they want to. But the difference across the board is too much. Guys who can't make 185 any more shouldn't have to fight guys who cut down to 265.

I'd actually love to see a fight between Dricus and Tai Tuivasa. I'd honestly give the edge to Dricuss.

The only guys who have to cut to 265 now, are obese fighters who can barely last a round without their CPAP machine. As I said, we don't have Brocks or Ubereems anymore.

 

[TITS]

Yes.

Jiri cuts to LHW.

Forcing someone up can be the way.

UFC hasn't invested in HW division at all, it is staler than a D- product, rankings mean nothing.

LHWs all cut to get to 205, therefore they are HWs. They cut because they perceive an advantage, while getting shadow realmed by Poatan.

Basically, this makes for a better product, more competitive division, amongst weak shallow talent discrepancies.

Good. Kill 205, Kill 265 weight limit, it is now the 225 league.

No.

 

[fzoid4454]

I'd actually love to see a fight between Dricus and Tai Tuivasa. I'd honestly give the edge to Dricuss.

The only guys who have to cut to 265 now, are obese fighters who can barely last a round without their CPAP machine. As I said, we don't have Brocks or Ubereems anymore.

Those guys were both steroided to hell, so maybe there's a point there.

 

[RockyLockridge]

interesting take but will never happen, even if the talent is so low enough to warrant that.

LHW and HW talent pool has dwindled in the modern era. perhaps combining, making limit at 225, will not only weed out the uber more disgusting than mine beer gut fatties, but can make a stronger league/product.

Poatan already contemplating moving up, Kamzhat saying he could do HW, cutting it off at 225 could work.

there's no reason why you need to be 265, and 75 of those pounds are in your massive, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol med taking, with skinny chicken legs, fat motherfucking gut alone.

there's no more talent at HW, they could all cut, i'm for it.

would never happen though.

yeah you know never thought of it that way but lowering the HW limit to 240 or something like that may actually force fighters to be athletic enough to fight.

 

[Rubios]

Hum. That would negate legit 265 guys like Ngannou to compete.
He weighted about 275 vs AJ.

Well, the current best HW in a shallow division (Aspinall, Volkov, Gane, Pavlovich) are big dudes, not fatties.