State of the LHW division: Bad or Terrible?

Answer: Terrible.

The LHW division right now is the worst it's been for YEARS. You almost have to go back to the 90s to find a worse period.

Think about it this way:
-Glover already fought for the title and lost. He then lost to a Phil Davis, who (1)isn't even in the UFC anymore (2)wasn't even very good.
-But Glover still won tonight, and is a consensus top 10. The guy he beat, OSP is also a consensus top 10.
-OSP beat up Shogun.
-Shogun, after beating Nogueira, is borderline top 15.
-And these guys are supposed to be some of the more interesting ones in this division??

LHW has nothing outside of the top 5 or so, and even then the current top 5

 

It's pretty bad right now. The fact that OSP was number 5 coming into his fight tonight says a lot and Manuwa at 7?!

 

Sad to say that I agree. The light heavyweight division used to be my favorite...it's as though it has switched places with the middleweight division of a few years ago in terms of quality.

 

Jon Jones will be back very soon

/thread

 

After OSP's performance tonight he's surely next in line for a title shot.

 

OSP looked shockingly out of his depth in this fight.

He has getting ragdolled by Glover every time they grappled, showed no ability to control the distance against a much slower fighter, and demonstrated nothing in terms of striking beyond raw power and reflexes, which is embarrassing in the 6th ranked fighter in the UFC.

LHW is a really problematic division right now.

It doesn't help that no one respects poor Cormier through no fault of his own.

 

Looking forward to see how Daniel Spohn does.

 

OSP has been training technique for a decade.

 

Its terrible, has been for a couple of years now.

 

LW and WW are my favs right now [in mma]

 

I would agree. LHW division is very weak outside the top few.

I was very surprised to see Glover a slight underdog tonight as I thought OSP was overrated. I mentioned to someone before the fight that if I was in Vegas I would put a ton of $ on Glover. He had a scare early but otherwise it was easy $.

 

Real talk

 

I dont think so, first the division is very solid with lots of contenders, pretty much most of the top 5 guys in the division can be champs on any given night. And you have some solid guys outside the top 8 to 15, wont be champs but interesting match ups. Its not the strongest division but its not the weakest either.

Help me understand here how Shogun is borderline top 15 when he's ranked #8 on the UFC rankings and #8 on mmaweekly?? And Cormier, Gus, Rashad, all fought for the title and lost as well, whats your point???

 

And I have to say that it doesn't really show.

 

LHW is terrible but your points are weak.... and Phil Davis isn't quite as shitty as you make him seem

 

Gotta agree with this.

Shogun looked the best he has in years in the Lil Nog rematch.



As weight class goes up, you got Heavy and Light Heavy where almost anyone can wreck anyone on any given, especially with all the power hitters you have.

Definitely still interested in both divisions.



I think it's a matter of match making. Bader vs. Rashad is random as Hel and makes no sense.

Gus getting the TS makes just about as much (no) sense.

Rumble vs. Manuwa is actually a pretty solid match.

Glover performed well, Shogun looked solid, and I gotta say, you've got a pretty good division, save for Joey Silva.

 

Nah, it's been shite for years.

- Shogun gets title shot off a 2-fight win streak from crap win over 44yo semi-retired Coleman and KO of Chuck.

- Rampage gets title shot off 2-fight win streak.

- Lyoto gets title shot off a 1-2 streak where the one win was over 48yo Randy.

- Vitor gets title shot after not fighting at LHW for 5 years, at which point he had dropped to MW off a 4-5 run.

- Chael gets title shot after not fighting at LHW for 7 years, at which point he had dropped to MW off a 3-5 run.

- Gus gets title shot off a 1st round KO loss.


Every division has a blip every few years, but for 205 a shithouse contender is not a blip every few years, it's a regular part of the game. The division's been half a joke for at least half a decade.

I mean, there are only 33 or so guys in the division for fuck's sake. If you're in the top half you're almost guaranteed to be Top 15.

 

Would have never guessed I'd say this, but its terrible.

 

Its even worse than HW. MMA just isn't attracting many high level fighters or any real athletes.

 

That doesn't change that OSP was 5, Manuwa 7, etc

Don't know why people confuse the two issues

And yeah it is depressing, especially from a guy that always liked LHW. The old warhorses are way past their prime and the new blood ultra-thin in terms of depth.