Why does UFC make such a big deal out of weight classes?

[Straightcross]

Back in the DREAM/PRIDE/K1 days much lighter fighters beat opponents who had over 40+ lbs on them

 

[Unfinished Sentenc]

stop living in the past, fighters are getting better

 

[Bronson]

Why does anything evolve?

 

[Gabe]

Its because alot of fighters are scared of bigger guys so they cut as much weight as possible.

 

[MMAViewer]

They used to let gladiators fight animal too.

 

[Shaddows]

Back in the DREAM/PRIDE/K1 days much lighter fighters beat opponents who had over 40+ lbs on them

because they need to Hype Conor and the only excuse they found was the 2 Weight class jump....even though Rogan noted they simply did not cut... but we are ignoring that!

 

[phatron]

Back in the DREAM/PRIDE/K1 days much lighter fighters beat opponents who had over 40+ lbs on them

athletic commisions

ufc did what it took to get mma back on ppv

 

[mudrubble]

Why does anything evolve?

Why does anything matter?

 

[Blayt7hh]

Back in the DREAM/PRIDE/K1 days much lighter fighters beat opponents who had over 40+ lbs on them

Well no, they fought bigger guys but didn't often beat them. Not when it was a top fighter

 

[Mike]

Even back in the day most fighters couldn't win with a huge size disadvantage unless their competition was completely unskilled. The more mma evolves, the more unlikely someone is going to beat a guy one division up. Going up multiple divisions is damn near impossible, unless you're a freak at weight cutting like Rumble.

 

[mudrubble]

They used to let gladiators fight animal too.

Now it's bs. They said Hector Lombard was an "absolute animal" but it was a play on words. Humans are all animals.

Maybe that's what the Romans meant too? Maybe the animals they were fighting were just other humans like in MMA?

 

[HaterSlayer]

Because when skill is equal or similar then weight classes matter. RDA could beat Dada 5000 and Kimbo in the same night, but would get slaughtered by a UFC level heavyweight. In the olden days the skill level was worse.

 

[Humbaba the Terrible]

When a group of lions face off with a group of hyenas over a kill, the group with the lower aggregate weight almost always backs down. Weight matters.

 

[johncola]

Back in the DREAM/PRIDE/K1 days much lighter fighters beat opponents who had over 40+ lbs on them

In what way?

Athletic commissions make the weight classes.

The weight classes are brands. Plus, with more weight classes comes more champions. The problem is that, with more titles, each title has less value. The UFC wants to find the happy middle ground. I think they've already gone past it. Casual fans have already lost track of the number of weight classes.

It's the fans who make a big deal out of weight classes. They treat Middleweights as a different species of human to Welterweights. When, in fact, classes just separate fighters by the amount of pounds they weigh, which creates separation in height and reach too. And weight, height, reach, are just 3 variables in complicated style matchups.

 

[DorianGray]

In all honesty, I would love to see more guys do what conor is doing and bj penn did. I just dislike the way conor and the ufc handle it. To answer your question, I dunno really. Probably has to do with fighters getting better/bigger in each weight class and fighters more worried about winning. Didn't pride reward good fights more than wins in comparison to the ufc? I didnt watch back then

 

[Fatal Catro]

So you're asking why do they have them ?.

 

[IMSAYIN]

Ummmm... Because it's really the only fair thing to do ???

2012... I get a little more astounded, everyday.

Bro, is totally all about " fight Club ". Possibly JCVD, Kumite ?

 

[streetscience]

They used to let gladiators fight animal too.

Ah! the good ole days