Why do the heavier weight classes never seem to have any prospects?

[GSPrush1]

With the lighter weight classes, espeically Lightweight, there always seems to be new, young, and exiting up and coming prospects. But with Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight there never seems to be any prospects on the horizon. So my question is, why do the heavier weight classes never seem to have any new contenders but the lighter weight classes do?

 

[My Spot]

They have a lot more options outside of mma than the smaller fighters.

 

[Actualized174]

Go to other sports.

 

[manu1433]

With the lighter weight classes, espeically Lightweight, there always seems to be new, young, and exiting up and coming prospects. But with Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight there never seems to be any prospects on the horizon. So my question is, why do the heavier weight classes never seem to have any new contenders but the lighter weight classes do?

There are more average/small human beings walking around the earth than big gigantic monsters

 

[Zombie3030]

probably a lot tougher to rack up 4-5 wins for a title shot when every single person in the division has enough power to put the lights out at any time.

 

[Great Angus]

Less large men that are athletic compared to the average weights. The ones who are large and athletic opt towards better sports careers with higher salaries.

 

[DSM]

Jon Jones

 

[felmmando]

Jon Jones

Todd Duffee.

 

[jeremyemilio]

You need to groom HW prospects properly. A KO loss against a past his prime fighter with a name derails him for years, and possibly forever.

Alternately, a well past his prime fighter with a horrible recent record but good name recognition can put himself back into the mix with a single win over a young gun.

That's why young prospects on the rise and older legends on the decline are NEVER supposed to meet. You make these match-ups only AFTER the young prospect has successfully made it to his title shot safely, or lost to another prospect who will, therefore, make it to HIS title shot safely.

Everyone in the prize fighting world has understood this since the beginnings of prize fighting.

Zuffa hasn't been informed.

 

[darky7z]

There are less larger men.

Of those few large men most don't develop into very skillful athletes cause they can usually do well in sports without having to put alot of effort just due to their size.

The ones who are large and relatively skillful usually have other better much more high paid opportunities in other sports.

Bigger guys are better at finishing opponents the smaller guy (hit harder, more strength to pull off submissions) so its harder to gte a good winning streak going.

 

[donfryeismyhero]

probably a lot tougher to rack up 4-5 wins for a title shot when every single person in the division has enough power to put the lights out at any time.

True. Remember Duffman was considered a prospect until the hammerfists of doom came raining down on him.

 

[FlyingHendo]

Because fat guys don't seem to have much talent in a sport that is dominated by real athletes.

 

[BOTTICELLI]

Answer







The Bell Curve

 

[sberg]

With the lighter weight classes, espeically Lightweight, there always seems to be new, young, and exiting up and coming prospects. But with Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight there never seems to be any prospects on the horizon. So my question is, why do the heavier weight classes never seem to have any new contenders but the lighter weight classes do?

You asked the same question like 4 times in the same quote....

 

[GSPrush1]

You asked the same question like 4 times in the same quote....

Lol sorry haha my bad

 

[yuba84]

Nobody wants to get hit that hard.

 

[Gluhov]

They have a lot more options outside of mma than the smaller fighters.

You act like nfl snatches up all the big men. For every athlete that makes it there's thousands that only end up with shitty liberal arts degrees.

 

[moreorless87]

The lack of latter men didn't seem to be an issue in the past when HW and LHW had a lot more prospects.

The big problem IMHO is that the UFC isn't that great at attracting new talent from outside the typical US wrestling/MMA first environment and these environments are naturally weak on big men because US sports that pay much better and are bigger have already drawn them away.

The big issue is that US wrestling doesn't pay, if you can't earn anything in your sport then taking the risk of building yourself up over a number of years for good MMA pay is better. Other sports(various kickboxing types, judo, non US wrestling and now even BJJ) offer much more earning potential than US wrestling with professional fights, state funding or training. In the past a lot of the talent from these sports that went to MMA did so on the fast track ending up in big orgs very quickly.

That's simply not the way the UFC works though, signing up talent from other sports early on good money is a risk, some fighters will be busts. Profits are maximise din the sport term for Zuffa by instead leaving fighters to build themselves up over several years.

Its taken awhile for Zuffa to really feel the negative effects of there short term profit based business tactics as for years they benefited from the talent base developed by other orgs. However that talent base is finally starting to thin out and the higher weightclasses are now feeling the pinch.

 

[7437]

You act like nfl snatches up all the big men. For every athlete that makes it there's thousands that only end up with shitty liberal arts degrees.

This. The idea that the NFL is taking all the large athletes is really stupid, and really common.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

Why do the heavier weight classes never seem to have any prospects?

Big guys have shorter life spans. So a 21 year old HW is already like 35 in flyweight years. If they really want young prospects they are going to have to start recruiting over-sized kids in junior high.