The future of LHW and Heavyweight.

[Sampsonsimpson]

 

[NicholasJBasile]

Ed Ruth could be a contender down the line, but I think he's aiming to compete at 185 lbs.
Other possibilities:
-Arona comes out of retirement
-Hendo moves up in weight
-Couture comes out of retirement

 

[Deleted member 501827]

UFC is dying?

 

[GodwinsLaw]

We are going to see Looking For a Fight Dagestan where Dana and the gang try to recruit Khabib's bear.

 

[CarlC]

This is exactly how I see it happening
Also Rockhold and Weidman are tailor-made for LHW they're both humongous for 185 and it's going to be harder to make that cut now that they're approaching their mid 30s

Also, OSP has a legit chance at being a top 5 HW.

Agreed, Rockhold would murder the top 10 of LHW. Also, if Silva is going to continue I would rather see him in LHW, despite everything he looked pretty comfortable aginst DC

 

[Rum]

LHW and HW have always been shallow-as-fuck beyond the best three or four guys.

To be Top 10 in those divisions you only need to be in the top ~30% at that weight class in the UFC.

To be Top 10 in the deep-as-fuck divisions like FW, LW, WW, you need to be Top ~10%.

 

[vigneshm1995]

He's the future of Bellator's mid card

 

[Braincellocide]

In his defense, I think he started this trolling around UFC 123(give or take a few events) when Punk was originally supposed to make his debut. It was never meant to go on this long.

Oh I see. Well, soon he'll snap out of his troll mode once PMS Punk loses her first fight.

 

[moreorless87]

With all of the debacle stemming from Jon Jones' positive test, it really got me thinking about how the division will pan out. First thing to note is that the average age of a Top 10 Light Heavyweight is 34.1, and the only guy in his twenties is Krylov. Jones will probably be gone for 2+ years, DC is going to retire before that. Rumble says he wants to retire by 35 and he is 32. Glover is getting older. Gustafsson has an uncertain future. Bader is Bader and I doubt he can beat the other guys above him. Shogun is at the end. Rashad is at the end. Manuwa is getting older. Lil Nog is at the end. Krylov is young, but I don't know how he will do against the elite. Corey Anderson will never win a title. Latifi will never win a title, Pat Cummins is on the verge of being cut. The division is in deep trouble. I say if things keep going the way they are going, we should make merge it with Heavyweight, as that division is in a similar position.

You can look at Heavyweight and see the same thing.

Stipe is the champ and is a newer guy, so he breaks the pattern, but if you look at the rest of the division...

Werdum is 39, and has had a long career and damage.
Cain is 34, but has had the injuries of someone who is 44.
Reem is 36 and has a lot of milage despite looking great.
Junior is 32 and actually still has some longevity, but still had some serious wars.
Rothwell is 34, but has a shit load of mileage.
Andrei is is 37 with a shit ton of damage and milage
Travis Browne is 34 and could go either way, but he has not looked all that great as of late.
Hunt is 42 and probably is done with the UFC.
Barnett is 38 and hasn't looked great in the UFC.
Derrick Lewis is a good fighter, but reckless and not technically proficient on the ground.
Nelson is 40 and probably near the end.
Struve can't get over the hill to title contention
Bigfoot is done.
Ruslan and Ngannou are new guys with a lot of potential, however we need to see more of them.

Between these 2 divisions, there is hardly 30-40 elite level guys, and most of them are older. Most lighter divisions even have elite guys in the Top 20/30 of their respective divisions. Why are we okay with watered down, stagnant divisions? I guess its because they have always been there and people have a natural attraction to "THE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE WORLD" despite its shallowness. Most Light heavyweights weigh 220-240 anyways, they are really just ducking the bigger framed men. Many of the 205ers could be extremely competitive at Heavyweight.

What can we do to boost these divisions? I know that new blood will come, but very soon both divisions could be in serious trouble competitively.

The reason we don't see this commented on more IMHO is that it would mean fans having to acknowledge that the UFC "everything happening today is the best thing ever!" hype is often nonsense.

The big issue for me is that the draw of MMA is simply not as wide as it was 10-15+ years ago, back then I think you had elite guys from a much wider range of backgrounds moving into MMA as well as a much more diverse geographical makeup. The UFC inherited a previously strong talent base when it bought out or forced its rivals out of business but when its come to investing in new talent its IMHO been poor, with no rival orgs the focus hasn't been on taking risks its been to maximising profits running MMA as a cash cow.

Really you look further down and whilst its strong right now MW's future doesn't exactly look that bright either does it? lots of old guys at the top of the division.

Hopefully if the deal goes though the new owners will realise that they need to be much more proactive in bringing in new talent rather than just depending on hyping the odd McGregor, Rousey or Lesnar that falls into their laps to the moon.