Should the UFC change weight class limits?

RalphWiggum · Post #1 » by **RalphWiggum** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 5:13 am

I don't want to drastically change them, I really just want a cruiserweight division an add 10lbs to the heavyweight division. Am I the only one who finds a 265 cap to be just a little too low? I know 10lbs doesn't seem like much but if you're a man that naturally walks around at close too 300lbs like Brock did and surely a couple other guys I think we'd get better fights if they didn't have to cut as much. I also think that 205-265 is asinine. Such a huge gap will be more of a factor in the future as MMA fighters become better and not just big slugging behemoths. I don't think it's fair that a 225 man that can't make 205 has to fight guys who outweigh them by 50-60 pounds come fight night?

I'd propose everything before light heavyweight stays as is.

I'd bump light heavyweight to 190-210 (5 extra pounds)

Then I'd introduce a cruiserweight division from 210-235 so guys that are naturally in the 230 range wouldn't have to fight guys that are naturally 270-280 and guys that are naturally 230 could in certain cases reasonable cut down to 210 to open up a lot more fights. Also guys that can make 210 wouldn't be so hesitant about moving up because they wouldn't have to fight 245-250 pound men.

Heavyweight would be 235-275. Maybe it's just cause I'm 285 pounds (I'm 6'4" with very big legs and a long torso) and I find it crazy that I'd have to lose 20lbs just to make weight in the UFC's heaviest division and I'm by no means a fat slob. I should ideally be about 250-255 but the couple times in my adult life I did weigh below that (235ish) I had people asking if I was sick and dying! Imagine the cut a man like Lesnar had to do to make weight? What did that take out of him? How much better could he have been if he didn't have to lose 10 extra pounds? For the record I'm not a Brock fan just using him as an example. Mark Hunt I'm sure would love the 10 extra pounds!

I just find the 205-265 pound class too wide and the 265 cap too low. I'd love to hear opinions as to why things are great as they are and I'm seeing issues where there are none.

REDDzone · Post #2 » by **REDDzone** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 5:38 am

HW is just so bad and LHW isn't much better. I don't see them splitting the "talent" into two divisions.

RalphWiggum · Post #3 » by **RalphWiggum** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 6:00 am

REDDzone wrote:HW is just so bad and LHW isn't much better. I don't see them splitting the "talent" into two divisions.

As it stands now you got a point. But 5 years from now things could be very different. Is it right to keep the status quo based on talent in each division as it stands now or what makes the most sense in the long term? Does a 205-265 division really make sense?

Like I said I'm actually hoping to have the mostly knowledgeable fans here show me the faults in my ideas although I wouldn't be upset if a couple said I like your idea more than the way things are now.

As much as MMA interest in the general public has declined a bit in the last couple years the actual talent of fighters coming up I think has grown enormously. A lot of people have started training really hard in the last 6-7 years and I think the sport is on the cusp of a huge influx of great fighters. A lot of 14-15 year olds that got hooked at the UFC apex a few years ago are going to be coming into their own very soon.

UN-Owen · Post #4 » by **UN-Owen** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 7:52 am

I'm sure to be in the minority here, but I'd like to see weight classes set at 10 lb intervals (160, 170, 180, 190, 200, 210, 220, etc) or (155, 165, 175, 185, 195, 205, 215, 225 etc)

Fighters would be allowed to hold titles over different weight classes (ex. Bones Jones would likely hold belts at 200 and 210)

It would allow for competitive match ups between fighters (ex. Cain vs Jones at 220)

cowboyronnie · Post #5 » by **cowboyronnie** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 1:05 pm

Do you think there are guys whose careers are changed by their natural fit into (or, contrarily, between) weight classes? JJ might be someone who hugely benefits from fitting perfectly into 205.

Cos, if so, there is talent out there that's not able to really show itself and therefore that wouldn't be "split" by the increase in weight classes.

REDDzone wrote:HW is just so bad and LHW isn't much better. I don't see them splitting the "talent" into two divisions.

This might be the one serious exception, where you actually are splitting away talent. I'm not sure. I think talent would definitely emerge (increased number of effective fighters) at, say, a 205-230 division. Heck, considering how evident it is that Cain's relative lack of size is allowing him to dominate the JDSs and Big Foots, maybe those guys would be given a second lease.

Post #6 » by **CPT** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 2:22 pm

I'd be more inclined to reduce HW to like 245. If you can't make that, I'm probably not all that interested in seeing you fight (there are exceptions of course). But I know that's not going to happen.

I kind of like the idea of going every ten pounds higher up the scale. 125, 135, 145, 155, 165, 175, 185, 205, whatever you want to do after that (225/235 and 265/275?), or 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 200, 220...maybe 250 and 280?

The splits that may actually generate better fights would be splitting LW, WW, MW into 4 weight classes, because those divisions have the talent to do it. I'd almost want to do it just to shake things up, and see fights we may not have considered before. Guys like Faber, Edgar, Alvarez, Bendo, Hendricks, Lombard, and others may have a new lease on life if there was a weight class 5 pounds above or below their current fight weight.

I also want to point out that I think the 50-60 pound weight advantage is extreme, and probably doesn't happen often, if ever. A 225 pound guy can cut to 205. A 235 pound guy may even be able to do it. I wouldn't be surprised if that's about what Cormier fights at; I also remember hearing Jones say 227 specifically, and I remember hearing about Forrest Griffin fighting at like 240. If the lowest a guy can cut to is 225, he's probably 250ish anyway, and fighting a guy who has to cut to 265. Even if that guy is 300 on fight night, I think you're seeing diminishing returns there.

NZB2323 · Post #7 » by **NZB2323** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 5:35 pm

At first I was going to say sure, but then I remembered that the best HWs are small HWs. It's strange to say that it's unfair that Cain, Cormier, JDS, and Fedor had to fight guys that are bigger than them.

REDDzone · Post #8 » by **REDDzone** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 5:46 pm

cowboyronnie wrote: Heck, considering how evident it is that Cain's relative lack of size is allowing him to dominate the JDSs and Big Foots, maybe those guys would be given a second lease.

How do you figure? I think Cain actually weighed in heavier than JDS in their last fight.

Who would even comprise the heavyweight division even be if we made a 225 division? Guys like Cain wouldn't drop down, for sure. He would just stay up and beat up Bigfoot and Big Country and Hunt over and over again is my guess.

cowboyronnie · Post #9 » by **cowboyronnie** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 7:34 pm

oh. JDS isn't huge?

cowboyronnie · Post #10 » by **cowboyronnie** » Sat Jan 17, 2015 7:36 pm

he's 242. Cain 241. which is the sport where they shoot the puck past the guy with the mask into the net? I'm cold and hungry.

Blame Rasho · Post #11 » by **Blame Rasho** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 2:08 am

I am of the opinion that sticking to the original weight classes as intended make it all the more compelling when a fighter goes up and down a weight class. I also think a fighter if he is able to fight in two different weight classes and win titles, that should be encouraged and not discouraged. Ideally, you shouldn't have fighters cutting so much weight(like boxing) where there is a distinct disadvantage for a particular fighter who fights at his walking weight compared to someone who cuts weight to fight in a particular weight class.