WTF is up with the HW division? Who's gonna fight?

The Big Babou

The Big Babou

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BB's gone...
Hunt hinted at retirement in his post-fight speech
Reem is 1 more KO away from retirement or will retire Werdum due to the latter's poor fight IQ
JDS is shot
Cain is a ghost
Browne was never that good & everyone now seems to have figured him out
Rothwell popped for PED's
Barnett's a liability who will most likely never step back into the Octagon
Arlovski has no soul (what remained after the Fedor loss was taken by Reem)
Bigfoot's gone from the UFC & maybe done for good

That leaves us with Stipe, Nagannou & a couple of Russian fighters

Rumble just retired from LHW but should have moved up to HW

WTF is going on?
 
Rumors include:

Stipe vs Cain for the belt
JDS vs Ngannou
 
jeicex said:
Rumors include:

Stipe vs Cain for the belt
JDS vs Ngannou
Click to expand...
Those are the 2 fights that are somewhat interesting in the division. If Ngannou loses, there is not much to look forward to in the division.
 
The HW division has always been very shallow. HW boxing has sucked for the better part of two decades now.

What's up with that?

NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL. When you can go into one of the major team sports and be an average pro and still make millions, you'd be crazy to roll the dice on fighting.
 
theincognito said:
11-0 twenty-something KO machine
Click to expand...
Signed with EFN still, they pay big money for their top fighters. He's their HW champion so likely he has a champions clause with the org so he won't be going anywhere.
 
theincognito said:
11-0 twenty-something KO machine

Click to expand...


Mark Hunt and Nick Diaz have a message...

Nick-Diaz-All-You-MFers-750x370.jpg
 
jeicex said:
Signed with EFN still, they pay big money for their top fighters. He's their HW champion so likely he has a champions clause with the org so he won't be going anywhere.
Click to expand...

His last fight was on Fight Pass so with the orgs working together like that, I'm hoping it can happen.
 
The Big Babou said:
I got a laugh out of that ... then realised he's about 400lb these days & would never make the 265lb HW limit
Click to expand...

If they run a steel cable through the towel and have a couple of really stout dudes on either side, he'd have a shot.
 
Don't forget Roy Nelson leaving for Bellator.

HW division is an old mans division.
 
HW and LHW is cannibalizing itself. These two divisions will rot in it's own filth if UFC doesn't sign and promote new fighters.
 
linvillegorge said:
The HW division has always been very shallow. HW boxing has sucked for the better part of two decades now.

What's up with that?

NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL. When you can go into one of the major team sports and be an average pro and still make millions, you'd be crazy to roll the dice on fighting.
Click to expand...
This argument is always ridiculous. First off, most of the major league sports you listed don't naturally have athletes that can transfer over to MMA.

Secondly, just because someone's a successful athlete at one sport, doesn't mean that it will translate to another sport. Athletes follow their talent, and lifelong training, and not just the money.

More importantly, it's easier to get into MMA, and make some huge paydays than it is getting drafted in any of these sports. Even if you're drafted, the odds are still against you being successful. So, any of those athletes would have a better chance of succeeding in MMA, than wasting their time on the small chance that they will have a career in those sports.

MMA should be drawing many of these athletes, and they're not. Why? Well, because not everyone wants to fight. Playing football, and fighting are two different mindsets with two greatly different risk factors. You have to want to be a fighter, or you're going to crumble mentally. In those sports you are not at a great risk of getting knocked out, emasculated, and having to defend yourself every time you run a play. You are not going to get cut, wobbled, have your nose bloodied, and your joints hyper-extended in every game. You're not going be questioning why you're fighting this guy who you don't even hate just for money.

Finally, what constitutes a HW these days is not what constituted a HW in the earlier days of boxing, and sports in general. As people get bigger, the larger, smaller sized HW gets pushed out, making it more difficult for traditionally natural HW's to succeed. This reduces the overall talent pool.

Look at the size of modern, boxing HW champs. They are 6'6-6'8. Tyson was what 5'10-5'11?

Fighting is not natural to most people; especially if they don't have certain advantages. Fighting for a small chance of fame, and money is not a reasonable thing to do by most people's standards. You have to be a weirdo to be a fighter. So, size and the mental game of fighting is what keeps HW divisions thin.
 
Last edited:
itheuser said:
This argument is always ridiculous. First, most of the major league sports you listed don't naturally have athletes that can transfer over to MMA.

Secondly, just because someone's a successful athlete at one sport, doesn't mean that it will translate to another sport. Athletes follow their talent, and lifelong training, and not just the money.

More importantly, it's easier to get into MMA, and make some huge paydays, than it is getting drafted in any of these sports. Even if you;'re drafted, the odds are still against you being successful. So, any of those athletes would have a better chance of succeeding in MMA, than wasting their time on the small chance that they will have a career in those sports.

MMA should be drawing many of these athletes, and they're not. Why? Well, because not everyone wants to fight. Playing football, and fighting are two different mindsets with two greatly different risks. You have to want to be a fighter, or you're going to crumble mentally. In those sports you are not at a risk of getting knocked out, emasculated, and having to defend yourself every time you run a play.

Finally, what constitutes a HW these days is not what constituted a HW in the earlier days of boxing, and sports in general. As people get bigger, the larger, smaller sized HW gets pushed out, making it more difficult for traditionally natural HW's to succeed. This reduces the talent pool.

Look at the size of modern, boxing HW champs. They are 6'6. Tyson was 5'11.

Fighting is not natural to most people; especially if they don't have natural advantages. Fighting for a small chance of fame, and money is not a reasonable thing to do by most people's standards. You have to be a weirdo to be a fighter. So, size, and the mental game of fighting is what keeps HW divisions thin.
Click to expand...

Stop nuthugging MMA and be realistic.

Sure, not all great athletes will translate into MMA, but a lot of them probably could.

No, it's not easier to get into MMA. How many truly high quality MMA training centers exist? How many MMA fighters are getting "huge paydays"? The 100th highest paid MMA fighter is probably barely scraping by. The 100th highest paid NBA or NFL player is balling ass rich.

MMA isn't drawing these athletes because the vast majority of kids don't grow up dreaming of being a UFC star. They grow up dreaming of being an NFL or NBA or MLB star. Their dads are pushing them to play those sports. Very few parents want to see their kids go into fighting. That shit would be nerve wracking to watch.

Historically speaking, the vast majority of the top tier HWs have been in that 225-245 range.
 
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