Why is WW always locked up and slow moving?

[ArtardFiesta]

So we dont' have squat rankers like colby or jorge relevant anymore but the division is still locked up by people not fighting.

What is going on in this division. It seems like this might be a WW specific thing as it has become normalized now.

Let's look at the 10 top:
Champ: JDM - next fight against islam in Nov/Dec

#1 Belal - Hasn't fought in 3 months. Coming of a loss. No opponent scheduled. You would think he would want to get going again after the loss.

#2 Sean brady - Hasn't fought in 5 months. No opponent scheduled. I guess he is waiting for a title shot after JDM and Islam fight. He really could have fought Belal in the meantime to avenge his one loss.

#3 Shavkat Rakmonov - Has not fought in 9 months. Injured and out until 2026. He was the number one contender and Belal ducked him. He will need to work himself back on return. No opponent scheduled.

#4 Leon Edwards - On a 2 fight losing streak so you would think he would want to come back. Hasn't fought in 5 months. He just refused a fight with MVP. No opponent scheduled.

#5 Kamuru Usman - Had a big win 2 months ago after not fighting for close to 2 years. Is a big name that 1-3 could use to pad their title shot argument but nothing has been signed. Can easily have him vs Belal or Brady at JDM vs islam for the next contender. No opponent scheduled.

#6 Ian Garry - Hasn't fought in 4 months. Is delusional enough to think he is due a title shot and the number one contender and suggested sitting out until he got a title shot. No opponent scheduled.

#7 Michaal Morales - really talented. Undefeated and just 26 years. Hasn't fought in in 3 months. Is in a real tough spot, because the guys above him will pull rank and refuse to fight him until they are desperate. Has called for Garry and Garry has already refused to fight him saying he see's the fight happening in 2-3 years. No opponent scheduled.

#8 Joaquin Buckley - Was really rising before Usman killed his momentum. You would think he wants to go back at it and pick up, but it has only been 2 months. He is a tough spot as the guys above him except Morales will refuse to fight him and will be very happy for buckley to take the role of gatekeeper previously held by Burns and currently held at lw by guys like Beniel and gamrot. No opponent scheduled.

#9 Colby Covington - Washed up trash fighter. Completely done. He continues to refuse fights. Recently ducked Kevin Holland and MVP. On record as saying he will only fight Paddy, Porier, Oliveira, Volk or Topuria next @ 170. He hasn't fought in 10 months. His last fight he looked for an exit and quit as soon as possible. He laughably also believes he will be inducted into the hall of fame. He might have started all the stalling culture at WW. No opponent scheduled.

#10 Gilbert Burns - Lots of respect for this guy. He has been the only ww putting in the work. He is 39 and done at this point. Hasn't fought in 3 months but he can get a pass. Is it a fight guy now gatekeeping guys from 15 to 11. No opponent scheduled.


Is it fair to say this is the worst and most frustrating division in the ufc right now?

Is there any other division in mens mma where the top 10 in a division have no fights scheduled?

 

[Hymen Crusher]

Well when you put it like that

 

[CasualBot]

So moving

 

[darcandkharg]

I thought it was rumored Brady and Shavkat were gonna fight? Hopefully that comes to fruition at least.

 

[ninja boot]

Those guys want to fight but Dana has to keep the wmma divisions moving and you have to give the fans what they want so they all get the summer, fall and winter off lol

 

[Portland8242]

Hold on just to add a bit of context there:

Sean Brady has been trying his ass off to fight Ian Garry, Belal, Shavkat, etc.. and he's fully acknowledged that he's likely not next for the belt and will have to fight again yet none of them are taking the fight with him.

There's guys who wanna fight, but it takes two to tango and the other contenders are just perfectly happy rank squatting and waiting for their little perfect opponent / or title shot.

As soon as Usman beat Buckley the first thing he said is he's not fighting for anything but a title even though there's clearly contenders ahead of him. It's really hard to keep a division moving with these diva attitudes.

 

[flektarn]

It's been a dogshit division once Usman lost the strap. At least he was active.

 

[jeff7b9]

Division was already stale & backlogged due to usman and Leon having lots of pointless rematches and Colby/mazvidal fights

eachother 2x when first fight was as conclusive as possible
3 fights with Colby between them
Usman fought Mas twice for no reason

If half those fights which were stupid when they were booked were replaced by the guys on winning streaks, then good chance Shavkat and Brady and maybe even Garry could have already had title shots.


This is YEARS of horrible matchmaking

 

[Oscar Madison]

Why is WW always locked up and slow moving?​

"always" = crap organization

 

[Neck&Neck]

So would you say it’s stuck in the mud

 

[knight_templar]

So we dont' have squat rankers like colby or jorge relevant anymore but the division is still locked up by people not fighting.

What is going on in this division. It seems like this might be a WW specific thing as it has become normalized now.

Let's look at the 10 top:
Champ: JDM - next fight against islam in Nov/Dec

#1 Belal - Hasn't fought in 3 months. Coming of a loss. No opponent scheduled. You would think he would want to get going again after the loss.

#2 Sean brady - Hasn't fought in 5 months. No opponent scheduled. I guess he is waiting for a title shot after JDM and Islam fight. He really could have fought Belal in the meantime to avenge his one loss.

#3 Shavkat Rakmonov - Has not fought in 9 months. Injured and out until 2026. He was the number one contender and Belal ducked him. He will need to work himself back on return. No opponent scheduled.

#4 Leon Edwards - On a 2 fight losing streak so you would think he would want to come back. Hasn't fought in 5 months. He just refused a fight with MVP. No opponent scheduled.

#5 Kamuru Usman - Had a big win 2 months ago after not fighting for close to 2 years. Is a big name that 1-3 could use to pad their title shot argument but nothing has been signed. Can easily have him vs Belal or Brady at JDM vs islam for the next contender. No opponent scheduled.

#6 Ian Garry - Hasn't fought in 4 months. Is delusional enough to think he is due a title shot and the number one contender and suggested sitting out until he got a title shot. No opponent scheduled.

#7 Michaal Morales - really talented. Undefeated and just 26 years. Hasn't fought in in 3 months. Is in a real tough spot, because the guys above him will pull rank and refuse to fight him until they are desperate. Has called for Garry and Garry has already refused to fight him saying he see's the fight happening in 2-3 years. No opponent scheduled.

#8 Joaquin Buckley - Was really rising before Usman killed his momentum. You would think he wants to go back at it and pick up, but it has only been 2 months. He is a tough spot as the guys above him except Morales will refuse to fight him and will be very happy for buckley to take the role of gatekeeper previously held by Burns and currently held at lw by guys like Beniel and gamrot. No opponent scheduled.

#9 Colby Covington - Washed up trash fighter. Completely done. He continues to refuse fights. Recently ducked Kevin Holland and MVP. On record as saying he will only fight Paddy, Porier, Oliveira, Volk or Topuria next @ 170. He hasn't fought in 10 months. His last fight he looked for an exit and quit as soon as possible. He laughably also believes he will be inducted into the hall of fame. He might have started all the stalling culture at WW. No opponent scheduled.

#10 Gilbert Burns - Lots of respect for this guy. He has been the only ww putting in the work. He is 39 and done at this point. Hasn't fought in 3 months but he can get a pass. Is it a fight guy now gatekeeping guys from 15 to 11. No opponent scheduled.


Is it fair to say this is the worst and most frustrating division in the ufc right now?

Something like this is most likely to happen:

Belal vs Usman (November/December)
Shavkat vs Brady (November/December)
Leon vs Morales (October/November)
Buckley vs Winner of Neal/Prates sometime in 2026
Covington vs Burns (2026)
Garry vs winner Belal/Usman (2026)

 

[CatchtheseHands]

The division is moving, it just has a lot more moving parts compared to other shallower divisions . Also all of these guys have fought within the past 2-5 months aside from Colby who doesn't matter and Shavkat who is out injured so it's moving, just moving slowly because of all the moving parts.

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

The inevitable byproduct of multiple immediate rematches, coupled with inactivity from rank squatters. Garry and Brady should be on the short list for next no. 1 contender fight, whether against each other or against some combo of Shavkat/Belal/Usman

 

[Tweak896]

UFC has been rewarding fighters who sit around and punishing the active fighters. Which leads to most sitting around. If there was some rank dropping system maybe they'd get active again.

 

[Typrune Goatley]

It actually has been like this for almost a decade. Even during Woodley, Usman and Leon's reigns, this has been the slowest moving division.

Rank squatters, cherry pickers, injuries, part time fighters. Some good fighters in the division but it's definitely the most boring division ever since Woodley knocked off Lawler (who was the most exciting fighter and champion in WW history)

 

[j18lee]

Those guys want to fight but Dana has to keep the wmma divisions moving and you have to give the fans what they want so they all get the summer, fall and winter off lol

I wish that were true! Been looking forward to a lot of WMMA fights but in recent events, there have only been 1 WMMA fight a card, and even none! It's supposed to be 2 or 3 a card, but it seems like they have been cutting back unfortunately. I mean, Valentina fought in 3 months ago and not a peep about her next fight. Harrison, the next big star won her title in June two months ago and nothing scheduled. Don't get me started on Weili, with her last defense in Feb. WW looks active in comparison.

 

[World eater]

Depending on how you look at it, every division is trash. It is the Sherdog way.

 

[Sycho Sid]

Calling Ian Gary a rank squatter is fucking stupid. Dude fights down quite often.

And "hasn't fought in X months" is silly arbitrary nonsense. There is definitely a bit of a logjam, but it really isn't that bad.

Oh, and Shavkat is injured and his wife and kid got injured in a car wreck that killed 2 family friends. So he gets a bit of a pass for now.

 

[Thy]

Almost every division seems like this to me. Champs aren't forced to fight, so they sit on the belt and try to milk money from things while they're champ i guess. When ur not champ, u gotta stay more active to be relevant perhaps.