Why has the LW division always been this way?

[Epicman1324]

BJ Penn. Frankie Edgar. RDA. Bendo. Pettis. Sean Sherk. All guys who were 155 king at one point. Yet none of them ever surpassed 3 defenses. Why can nobody go on a dominant run at LW? Khabib was doing so, but as of now he retired with 3 defenses. It's similar to the HW title, NOBODY could get past 2 whether it was Randy, Brock, JDS, Cain, Mir, Arlovski, Sylvia, it didn't matter. With heavyweights it makes sense though, as everybody has freak KO power that can win a fight at a moments notice. With LW there isn't that one variable that makes the title change hands so quickly. What is it with 155?

 

[Dream Evil]

Huge talent pool. Most men who walk around in the 180-200 pound range would actually be 155 pound fighters if they were in professional fighter shape.

*does not apply to Sherdoggers

 

[acannxr]

With LW there isn't that one variable that makes the title change hands so quickly. What is it with 155?

Because Lightweight is the most stacked division in the UFC.

 

[genecop]

Speed is that one variable..

 

[Askren’s chin]

Huge amount of talent there and guys that size at the elite level tend to pack a punch and are fast so there is also the punchers chance putting everyone at risk. I’d probably put it down to the huge talent pool mostly though.

 

[Franklin U.]

There is no reason .There has been a steady climb of parity over many years .The are alot of divisions and the 155 division just happens to have that characteristic...... and with khabib gone, I " probably" see the trend continuing.

It is what it is.

The 155 division is also the one overlapping division where talent has become status quo. 135 &145 have become the deepest divisions ( a long with 155) where 170& up has leveled out - outside of champ and maybe a fighter or 2.

So I guess there is a reason but nothing of a specific manner

 

[fortheo]

Because Lightweight is the most stacked division in the UFC.

I wonder what that same graph would look like if it counted only ranked fights. I feel like ranked fighters at LW are the most Inactive.

 

[acannxr]

I wonder what that same graph would look like if it counted only ranked fights. I feel like ranked fighters at LW are the most Inactive.

Just thinking about the time requirements for making that sort of graph would give me nightmares.

 

[Krayt]

Huge talent pool. Most men who walk around in the 180-200 pound range would actually be 155 pound fighters if they were in professional fighter shape.

*does not apply to Sherdoggers

I think BW might be the most talent stacked div worldwide since the average Asian, South American, and African weigh a lot less than the avg American.

It explains why ONE's lighter weight divisions are so good

 

[Beherit]

if ufc didn't shit on khabib just to give conor a title shot, he would ve have at least 5 title defenses, it is not like pettis or alvarez were bad match ups for him ...

 

[Daniel_LaRusso]

205 was once incredibly stacked around the time of Pride ending and before Jones won the belt.

 

[Seiryoku Zenyo]

Gomi.

 

[Castiglione]

LW guys are around 170 to 185 pounds in the cage and average man would be 170 to 190 pounds in fight shape. So it has the biggest talent pool in the current weight divisions but I think nowadays 160 pounds (after weight cutting) would be the best spot for reaching the biggest talent pool there is so that's why a lot of guys jump between LW and WW.

 

[GrantB13]

Lightweight is one of the most stacked divisions so they are all really good and capable of beating each other. There just hadn't been one standout until Khabib that was near unbeatable.

 

[MCS]

A lot of fighters are that size, about 170-190 and cut to 155. Pride Bushido, WEC and UFC LW have featured LW talent for a very long time, so the platform was there.

It just so happens that LW has had lots of top fighters. Amount of total fighters somewhat explains that, but not completely, if you look at MW through the years, for example. There could as well be a bunch of OK LW's, but there were Penn, Gomi, Edgar, Khabib one generational talent after the next. When one declined the other peaked. Generational talent per division goes somewhat by chance.

 

[FreddieRoachsVoice]

- Sherk had a ton of injuries and then got popped for roids so couldn't defend for a year.
- Penn is a wildly inconsistent fighter who would struggle to put together a big win streak because he undertrained/was overconfident. He also went up to 170 for a dream fight and got smashed leading to more time off
- Edgar should have had more defenses IMO but was on the receiving end of some pretty controversial decisions which basically forced him out of the division
- Benson was lucky to defend even once because 3/4 of his title fights he arguably lost
- Pettis is similar to Penn and has always struggled with consistency. Surprised he even won the title
- RDA probably could have been a decent champion until Khabib got healthy but got caught against Alvarez. Not a fluke but don't think that'd happen the same way again
- Conor had no interest in defending and was just looking for money fights
- Khabib is incredibly injury prone and missed out on many fights period let alone title defenses. He also had a long suspension and retired early so IMO he really didn't live up to his massive potential even though he did achieve a lot

The talent pool at 155 is arguably the deepest in the UFC but even still, I feel like a lot of these champions had problems unique to them that prevented them from having longer reigns. The championship turnover at WW after GSP or LHW between 2007/2011 was more directly from the depth of the division where no one really stood head and shoulders above others.

 

[DeeDubb]

If khabib stays retired, I don’t see any dominant champs at 155 for the foreseeable future. Conor, Porier, Gaethje, and Olivera have all been great, but they have also been beaten handily. Probably gonna be a revolving door for at least the next 5 years.

 

[MCS]

But I also think that Khabib is the one to break the LW rule, not part of the timeline. He could defend 10 times when others can't, but chooses to retire.

 

[SakurabasEar]

LW is top shelf. ufc could basically run a promotion just off the lw division alone

 

[PunchKicker]

LW is stacked because most of the bigger men can usually make it pro in other sports that pays much much better. Thats why the bigger divisions get weaker and weaker.