News UFC Heavyweight Championship (By the Numbers)

Paolo Delutis

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So, after this weekends HW clash between Greg Hardy and Marcin Tybura alot of people have been coming up with crazy reasons as to why Hardy lost and some even saying Tybura isnt very good and alot of talk about weight..

It got me thinking what is the Ideal weight and Height of UFC HW champion, ive always believed it to be between 230lbs and 245lbs and a height of 6'2 or above

Well Id the research sherbros and its all here

There have been 21(22*) undisputed HW Champions in the modern age of the division starting with Mark coleman i will now list all the champions in order of succession and there Height and weight at the time they won their titles.

Mark coleman. 6'1 245 lbs
Maurice smith. 6'2. 220 lbs
Randy couture. 6'1. 220 lbs
Bas rutten. 6'1. 203 lbs ( HW -200+lbs)
Kevin randleman. 5'10 212 lbs
Randy couture. 6'1. 222 lbs
Josh barnett. 6'3. 243 lbs
Ricco rodriguez. 6'4. 243 lbs
Tim sylvia. 6'8. 252 lbs
Frank mir. 6'3. 253 lbs
Andrei arlovski. 6'3. 238 lbs
Tim sylvia. 6'8. 253 lbs
Randy Couture. 6'1. 222.5 lbs
Brock lesnar. 6'3. 265 lbs
Cain velaquez. 6'1. 244 lbs
Junior dos santos. 6'4. 239 lbs
Cain velaquez. 6'1. 240 lbs
Fabrico werdum. 6'4. 236 lbs
Stipe miocic. 6'4. 241 lbs
Daniel cormier. 5'11. 246lbs
Stipe miocic. 6'4. 233 lbs
*Francis Ngannou. 6'4. 263lbs
** Jon. Jones. 6'4. 248 Lbs

Lightest champion - Bas rutten (203 lbs)
Heaviest Champion - Brock lesnar ( 265 lbs only champion ever at the Heavyweight limit)

Most frequent occuring height amongst champions = 6 foot 1 inches

Average weight of HW champions = 236lbs

Champions within projected weight zone ( 230-245lbs) = 10 ( looks like i was right here)

Champions under the projected weight zone = 6
Champions above the projected weight zone= 5 ( 6*)

Ideal champion weight within projected zone

230lbs to 235 lbs = 1 Champion
235lbs to 240lbs = 3 champions
240lbs to 245lbs = 6 champions

Therefore the Ideal weight for a HW champion will fall between 240lbs and 245lbs

Ideal height based weight shows 6 foot 1 inches to 6 foot 4 inches, height seems to play less of a factor at HW something i found interesting during my studies...





TL/DR

Based on past champions the ideal Hw championship height and weight is as follows

Height - Anywhere in the 6 '1 range to 6'4 range
Weight- 240lbs to 245lbs



Thank you i hope all enjoyed this...



***Edit/UPDATE***

As we all saw Francis Ngannou has become the new HW champion...

With that , very little changes to the thread however he becomes the Second heaviest champion is UFC history only him and Brock Lesnar have been champions near the 265lbs limit.

The average weight of champions has changed as well from 236lbs to 238lbs..



***EDIT /UPDATE 2***

Jon Jones is the reigning HW champion even though he is injured and he did so at 248lbs.


With this update the average weight comes back down to ..237lbs..No real change.
 
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Ideal fighter would be heavier then that. If all the HW sized athletes pursued the UFC over other sports it would be apparent. Power is such a valuable commodity in MMA. Much moreso than in boxing.

But there are a lot more guys in the 240-245 range so the talent pool is deeper there then natural 260 or 270lbs guys.
 
Ideal fighter would be heavier then that. If all the HW sized athletes pursued the UFC over other sports it would be apparent. Power is such a valuable commodity in MMA. Much moreso than in boxing.


This is inherently wrong based on the data...not only has there only be 1 champion at 265lbs...theres been more champions below 230lbs then above 245lbs...this is also true for Hw boxing...

Size isnt the answer to everything it seems
 
I don't get why 245 isn't the official weight limit. Let those 265 fat asses go to bellator.

I think the limit is good, this data just proves being that heavy isnt conducive to being champion which is evident everytime we see 265+lbs whales collide...its numbers backing up pictures /images...
 
Good work man, thanks for sharing.

It stands to reason that at a certain point, for the majority of humans, the strength/power advantages that come along with size are generally outweighed by the cardio/speed disadvantages. It seems exceptionally rare that a human over 250lbs can possess the cardio required to consistently win MMA fights at the highest level. It's just too much mass. There certainly are anomalies (Tyson Fury is a good example), but for the vast majority of humans, that rule seems to apply. The ideal size for a MMA HW does seem to be around the 240lb range. Greg Hardy has obvious cardio issues and would almost certainly benefit from dropping some weight.
 
This is inherently wrong based on the data...not only has there only be 1 champion at 265lbs...theres been more champions below 230lbs then above 245lbs...this is also true for Hw boxing...

Size isnt the answer to everything it seems
The data merely shows there is a larger talent pool in the 240lbs range. It has little to no bearing on ideal weight/height for HW. If you could build a HW in a lab you wouldn't make him 245lbs would you? Strength and power means a LOT more in MMA than in HW boxing. Maybe I misunderstand your hypothesis.
 
Good work man, thanks for sharing.

It stands to reason that at a certain point, for the majority of humans, the strength/power advantages that come along with size are generally outweighed by the cardio/speed disadvantages. It seems exceptionally rare that a human over 250lbs can possess the cardio required to consistently win MMA fights at the highest level. It's just too much mass. There certainly are anomalies (Tyson Fury is a good example), but for the vast majority of humans, that rule seems to apply. The ideal size for a MMA HW does seem to be around the 240lb range. Greg Hardy has obvious cardio issues and would almost certainly benefit from dropping some weight.


Also another kinda cool point 240 to 245lbs range is exactly where Jon Jones aims to be coming up at for HW...perhap jackson Winks did the same homework i did???

Food for thought
 
So, after this weekends HW clash between Greg Hardy and Marcin Tybura alot of people have been coming up with crazy reasons as to why Hardy lost and some even saying Tybura isnt very good and alot of talk about weight..

It got me thinking what is the Ideal weight and Height of UFC HW champion, ive always believed it to be between 230lbs and 245lbs and a height of 6'2 or above

Well Id the research sherbros and its all here

There have been 21 undisputed HW Champions in the modern age of the division starting with Mark coleman i will now list all the champions in order of succession and there Height and weight at the time they won their titles.

Mark coleman. 6'1 245 lbs
Maurice smith. 6'2. 220 lbs
Randy couture. 6'1. 220 lbs
Bas rutten. 6'1. 203 lbs ( HW -200+lbs)
Kevin randleman. 5'10 212 lbs
Randy couture. 6'1. 222 lbs
Josh barnett. 6'3. 243 lbs
Ricco rodriguez. 6'4. 243 lbs
Tim sylvia. 6'8. 252 lbs
Frank mir. 6'3. 253 lbs
Andrei arlovski. 6'3. 238 lbs
Tim sylvia. 6'8. 253 lbs
Randy Couture. 6'1. 222.5 lbs
Brock lesnar. 6'3. 265 lbs
Cain velaquez. 6'1. 244 lbs
Junior dos santos. 6'4. 239 lbs
Cain velaquez. 6'1. 240 lbs
Fabrico werdum. 6'4. 236 lbs
Stipe miocic. 6'4. 241 lbs
Daniel cormier. 5'11. 246lbs
Stipe miocic. 6'4. 233 lbs


Lightest champion - Bas rutten (203 lbs)
Heaviest Champion - Brock lesnar ( 265 lbs only champion ever at the Heavyweight limit)

Most frequent occuring height amongst champions = 6 foot 1 inches

Average weight of HW champions = 236lbs

Champions within projected weight zone ( 230-245lbs) = 10 ( looks like i was right here)

Champions under the projected weight zone = 6
Champions above the projected weight zone= 5

Ideal champion weight within projected zone

230lbs to 235 lbs = 1 Champion
235lbs to 240lbs = 3 champions
240lbs to 245lbs = 6 champions

Therefore the Ideal weight for a HW champion will fall between 240lbs and 245lbs

Ideal height based weight shows 6 foot 1 inches to 6 foot 4 inches, height seems to play less of a factor at HW something i found interesting during my studies...





TL/DR

Based on past champions the ideal Hw championship height and weight is as follows

Height - Anywhere in the 6 '1 range to 6'4 range
Weight- 240lbs to 245lbs



Thank you i hope all enjoyed this...


Well done.
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The data merely shows there is a larger talent pool in the 240lbs range. It has little to no bearing on ideal weight/height for HW. If you could build a HW in a lab you wouldn't make him 245lbs would you? Strength and power means a LOT more in MMA than in HW boxing. Maybe I misunderstand your hypothesis.


I think you have it backwards...boxing would require more power then MMA as they can only punch...MMA. You can win by using leverage in submissions or positions not strength or by simply outlasting your opponent a key factor in the HW division the more mass and bigger you get the more tired you are...because your not just punching...your doing so much more...fitness or being physically fit is likely the key factor to being champion at HW and this research shows that...theres more to consider in MMA then boxing and strength isnt required for all of them (jiujitsu)
 
The interesting question to me is whether it really is “better” to be smaller or whether there just are just so few guys who can weight 265+ without being overweight or unnecessarily muscular.

For example, not long ago most people would probably have said that the ideal height to be a wing player in the NBA is 6’7” or 6’8”, and the data would back that up. Then someone like Giannis comes along, and you realize that it’s really just incredibly rare for a person to be at the extreme edges of the bell curve in more than one attribute. Giannis happens to be 99.999th percentile height AND 99.999th percentile athleticism/coordination. It wasn’t necessarily “better” not to be 7’0”, it was just probable that the best guy wouldn’t be. (I know it’s not entirely that simple, as there is a negative correlation between height and athleticism once you hit a certain point that typically outweighs the incremental advantage of heights beyond a certain point).

So that’s the question: to what extent was Cain able to beat Brock “because” he was smaller, and to what extent was it simply more likely that the best fighter from the far larger group of men in the 230-240 range would be better than the best fighter from the far smaller group of men in the 265+ range? It’s an interesting thought experiment, and the only way to ever really know for sure would be to clone a guy except make him 15% larger.
 
Ideal fighter would be heavier then that. If all the HW sized athletes pursued the UFC over other sports it would be apparent. Power is such a valuable commodity in MMA. Much moreso than in boxing.

But there are a lot more guys in the 240-245 range so the talent pool is deeper there then natural 260 or 270lbs guys.

Do you think there is any tipping point though? At which the incremental gains in power are outweighed by the incrementsl loss in speed/agility/etc.?

If you think about it, small children are basically incapable of knocking one another out. Their chins are weaker, obviously, but the power falls off even more from a grown up’s. I suspect that something similar happens at the other side of the spectrum. For example, how much harder can you possibly hit than Fedor? And to the extent that you can by being larger, are your chin/liver/calves going to be equally improved? It seems like that’s unlikely. I don’t know though, thinking this through on the fly
 
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