RealGM

I was wondering who you guys think should and realistically could move weight classes.

A couple of guys off the top of my head:

Jon Fitch - move from 170 to 185

Rashad Evans - move from 205 - 185. Evans has mentioned a move to MW in the past but has had a lot of success within the 205 division so I think that dissuaded him from that choice. However, at times he does appear pretty lean, so I am not sure how easy this drop would be for him. Rumor is he walks around at 210-215ish though, so with a bit more careful dieting, it is a good possibility that he could make the cut without sacrificing too much.

Both would make solid competition for Silva, and pose some of the biggest threats to his title that Silva has faced.

Shields to 185. I like Rashad at 205 where his speed advantage has put him on top.

Second Shields to 185. He's proven he can hang there, and brings a skillset that could give a lot of guys at MW problems. Plus he's already had his shot at GSP and will be looking at a long road to another one if he even gets through Ellenberger.

Don't really agree with Rashad or Fitch. Both could do it, I guess, but certainly don't need to do it. Rashad has a title shot coming up, so he's clearly doing alright. I don't think his lack of size has ever been a problem for him at 205, and as mentioned, his speed advantage might be negated at 185. Fitch is more likely, just because he may find himself in the Rich Franklin situation where he knows he can't beat the champ in his division, so he decides to move. He'll want to get his second shot at GSP first though.

Akiyama needs to drop to WW, but I think that move is already in progress.

Benavidez and Mighty Mouse need to drop to 125, but they need there to be a 125 class first.

Rumble needs to move to 185, but only if he struggles to make weight at 170. If he can make it, he'll be a tough matchup for a lot of the top guys at WW, but not so much at MW.

Demian Maia may benefit from a move to WW if he can make the cut. He's a pretty small MW.

Forrest Griffin moving to HW may help his career. He would be a small HW, but if he committed to it, he could probably be 240-250 comfortably, and would not be at such a skill disadvantage in most of his fights.

Jon Jones and Phil Davis may have to move to HW down the line if they continue to put on weight.

A lot of good mentions by cpt. However I would say that Maia looked pretty big in his last fight against Munoz, certainly bigger than he did for his title shot for example. Not sure if he changed his diet or weight training or something.

Forrest I'd worry about at HW. If he doesn't have the power to stop anyone at LHW, he probably wouldn't at HW. But I would be intrigued just because as mentioned his skillset would probably be superior to a bunch of guys. This is one of my frustrations with most HWs. Oftentimes seems like its just two fatties swinging away.

Jon Jones to HW

First to mind was Benevidez. Sherk too. And Siver. Height is such a big deal at those weights. Those dudes are musclebound.

Rumble Johnson to Middleweight, Dan Miller to welterweight.

cowboyronnie wrote:First to mind was Benevidez. Sherk too. And Siver. Height is such a big deal at those weights. Those dudes are musclebound.

I heard that once there is a 125 division, Benavidez will drop to that weight class.

I don't know why I am the first guy to bring up Roy Nelson. That pot belly thing is funny and everyone was ok with it as long as he was able to go the full 3 rounds without gassing but he was horribly winded in his fight with Mir. The guy needs to drop considerable weight.

If Roy ever dedicated himself to getting into peak condition it would be interesting to see how far his talents would take him.
He's got an incredible chin that shouldn't be effected by his weight loss, but I'm curious what would happen to his punching power and his ground game. A lot of his ground game seemed to be a mesh of skill and pure blubber smothering.

Headliner wrote:If Roy ever dedicated himself to getting into peak condition it would be interesting to see how far his talents would take him.
He's got an incredible chin that shouldn't be effected by his weight loss, but I'm curious what would happen to his punching power and his ground game. A lot of his ground game seemed to be a mesh of skill and pure blubber smothering.

+ 1

I think Vitor should go back to LHW where his speed would wreck people, the bigger wrestlers are definitely a problem though.

Rumble Johnson to Heavyweight lol.

demetrious johnson to 125 when that division come in, frankie edgar to 145 (one day), and kenny florian to 135 after losing badly to aldo. not very serious on the last one but that weight disparity since he started is crazy. to go from fighting in the same division as anderson silva to the same division that urijah faber used to fight in.

I know the UFC has a lot on their plate right now with the move to Fox and pillaging of Strikeforce, and are still working to establish BW and FW, but I hope the 125 division is coming fairly soon. Maybe it could even be the first season of the new TUF, though that might be too soon. Would be better than seeing them trot out a bunch of MWs outside of the top 200 though.

CPT wrote:I know the UFC has a lot on their plate right now with the move to Fox and pillaging of Strikeforce, and are still working to establish BW and FW, but I hope the 125 division is coming fairly soon. Maybe it could even be the first season of the new TUF, though that might be too soon. Would be better than seeing them trot out a bunch of MWs outside of the top 200 though.

If I remember correctly Dana White has said he would like to add the 125 division by 2012-2013 at the latest.

GSP to MW

When you're that good and that dominate, move up a weight class and show the world what you can do. I want to see GSP vs. Anderson Silva!

But If I can't get that I'd like to see Silva move up to LH...Jon Jones might move up to HW later in his career.