30 years of UFC...what has been the best division in MMA?

[theleerygoose]

Debated between LW and LHW but they are consistently the divisions that have had the most interesting fights.

 

[Lax617]

Welterweight in my book. The list of champs is solid and great contenders too like Rory, Condit, and Fitch (yeah smoke break). Miletich went on to produce multiple champions as a coach like Timmeh, Lawler, and Hughes. Just a stacked division from top to bottom including the UFC GOAT according to a poll on the forum.

 

[moreorless87]

Personally I think whilst the UFC loved to hype WW during the Pride years because it was the one division they dominated the division itself remained relatively unevolved for years with quite a lot of rather dull wrestling, did I think have some great fights around Robbie Lawler and some of the Hughes fights both wins and loses were iconic but not overall for me.

You could probably argue for LW I'd say in that it was "evolved" by the early 00's and has put on consistently good fights ever since although I think HW and LHW probably have the most iconic fights.

 

[ferrisjso]

The squandering of the late 2010s should preclude LW from winning this poll tbh.

 

[Striker Fox]

Hughes
Penn
St Pierre
Lawler
Hendricks
Usman
Diaz
Fitch
Condit
Woodley
MacDonald
Edwards
And that's the short list. I voted WW.

Shields
Khamzat
Shavkat
Koscheck
Colby
Burns
Wonderboy
Maia

 

[Goutfather]

light heavyweight is the only correct answer.

from the beginning, ever since the introduction of weight classes, it was light heavyweight-sized fighters that captured the public’s interest and became stars. it started with people like frank and ken shamrock, tito ortiz, vitor, randy couture, wanderlei silva, chuck liddell, and others who came up in the tournament era. many of those fighters would go on to become stars in ufc and pride, and that stardom would continue well into “modern” times. tito really helped grow the ufc in the early 2000’s, with his trash talk and rivalries with ken and chuck. chuck obviously went on to become the face of the ufc, and probably many people reading this got into mma when chuck was the top dawg. at that time, light heavyweight was just overflowing with stars. for reference, the lightweight champ was some nobody by the name of jens pulver, and heavyweight was occupied with names like pedro rizzo and josh barnett (and of course randy couture, but he was also a lhw). fighters like bj penn didn’t really emerge as stars at lightweight until much later (bj won the lw title in 2008 from joe stevenson).

meanwhile, the stars at lhw kept coming: rampage, shogun, machida, forrest, rashad, all the way up until the jon jones era. during jones’s era, he thoroughly cleaned out the deepest and most famous division in ufc, leaving it in its current state.

idk why some people continue to say lightweight was the deepest division. the only time that was true was after ufc absorbed wec, and those days have been over for some time. since then, there have been a number of placeholder champs and sub-par contenders. the division’s most respected talent—khabib nurmagomedov—won his title from al iaquinta, because tony ferguson was unavailable, and retired after only 3 defenses. lightweight was simply not the shark tank some people believe it to be.

 

[World eater]

HW and LHW is always the answer for me.
I love and appreciate the lower weight divisions, but it is just not the same.

 

[Local Plata]

LHW, then WW.

 

[The Legendary Scarface]

LW had the most talent without a doubt.
LHW had an epic peak. So did WW.
Something about FW has always been incredible to me.

Tldr: No fucking clue

 

[Robbocop]

I'm always interested in knowing who is the best fighter with no handicap, so for me it's got to always be heavyweight in any sport.

 

[Rationality]

Shields
Khamzat
Shavkat
Koscheck
Colby
Burns
Wonderboy
Maia

Exactly. You could go on and on at WW. Killers.

 

[pankrat]

Shields
Khamzat
Shavkat
Koscheck
Colby
Burns
Wonderboy
Maia

Exactly. You could go on and on at WW. Killers.

It's funnny because Maia was told to be one more weak one-dimensional contender when he was at MW.

 

[Rationality]

It's funnny because Maia was told to be one more weak one-dimensional contender when he was at MW.

Out of that whole list you found one guy (whom I didn't even include)? Put together a list that long at any other weight class and most will have gaping holes in their mma game.

 

[pankrat]

Out of that whole list you found one guy (whom I didn't even include)? Put together a list that long at any other weight class and most will have gaping holes in their mma game.

For the record, I think Maia is a superb fighter. One of the best out of the names you listed.

I was just pointing out the double standard when assesing contenders at WW and MW or other divisions.

 

[Rationality]

For the record, I think Maia is a superb fighter. One of the best out of the names you listed.

I was just pointing out the double standard when assesing contenders at WW and MW.

If anything, I think MW has been thin by comparison but to each their own.

 

[pankrat]

If anything, I think MW has been thin by comparison but to each their own.

Which basically supports what I said in my initial reply to you.
At the top, they were absolutely comparable.
The double standard when assesing contenders at WW and MW or other divisions is gross.
WW used to be way overhyped by American fans, ever since UFC-Pride days

 

[Baal]

For the record, I think Maia is a superb fighter. One of the best out of the names you listed.

I was just pointing out the double standard when assesing contenders at WW and MW or other divisions.

Maia had a much easier path to a title at MW than WW despite being a better fighter when he was at WW. His BJJ had become better tailored for MMA by that point, plus he wasn't undersized anymore.

MW has always been a weak division other than the brief moment when Chris, Luke, Jac, Yoel were in their primes together. Sadly it was ruined by Bisping KOing Luke and holding up the div.

 

[pankrat]

Maia had a much easier path to a title at MW than WW despite being a better fighter when he was at WW. His BJJ had become better tailored for MMA by that point, plus he wasn't undersized anymore.

MW has always been a dodgy division other than the brief moment when Chris, Luke, Jac, Yoel were in their primes together. Sadly it was ruined by Bisping KOing Luke and holding up the div.

- Maia dropped after losing to Mark Muñoz, who never even fought for the MW tittle. Righ after dominated perennial #2 WW Fitch in his own game.

- Maia had a "much easier path to the tittle at MW" based on what?? He got the title at WW at 40 years old after a split dec with Masvidal FFS.

The double standard is gross.

The "MW dodgy division" is a narrative pushed by certain fans in sherdog, mostly GSP fanboys.
If such was the case, plenty of contenders in the allegedly superstacked WW would just move up and take the money and exposure coming with making a run to a tittle shot at MW. They are prize fighters and they are not stupid. We see fighters moving up and down a division all the time.

It happens that fighters knew that it was a narrative for internet forums, not an actual reality. At the top, they were comparably tough.

 

[Baal]

- Maia dropped after losing to Mark Muñoz, who never even fought for the MW tittle. Righ after dominated perennial #2 WW Fitch in his own game.

- Maia had a "much easier path to the tittle at MW" based on what?? He got the title at WW at 40 years old after a split dec with Masvidal FFS.

The double standard is gross.

The "MW dodgy division" is a narrative pushed by certain fans in sherdog, mostly GSP fanboys.
If such was the case, plenty of contenders in the allegedly superstacked WW would just move up and take the money and exposure coming with making a run to a tittle shot at MW. They are prize fighters and they are not stupid. We see fighters moving up and down a division all the time.

It happens that fighters knew that it was a narrative for internet forums, not an actual reality. At the top, they were comparably tough.

15lb gap is a big one in MMA with grappling involved

Is WW washout Whittaker winning the belt, or a 4 years retired GSP doing the same not enough for you? <Lmaoo>

What about 5'9" WW Kelvin giving the #2 MW GOAT the fight of his life?

 

[pankrat]

15lb gap is a big one in MMA with grappling involved

Is WW washout Whittaker winning the belt, or a 4 years retired GSP doing the same not enough for you? <Lmaoo>

What about 5'9" WW Kelvin giving the #2 MW GOAT the fight of his life?

Excuse me but that's a simpleton argument even by sherbro standards.

I could go on on how a "LW washout" Masvidal 15 years into his career got two opportunities for the WW tittle. 15lbs gap there is between LW and WW as well btw. And the lower you go in weight, the more such gap represents.
I could also talk about another "LW washout" on Matt Serra. Or about yet another "MW washout" in Robbie Lawler becoming WW champ the moment he moved down.
...and so on.

You can nitpick as much as you wish. The fact of the matter is that I dont know about the #20-30 ranked guys in each weightclass, but talking about the actual top contenders, those involved in the tittle picture, WW and the division next to it were comparably tougher. Absolutely comparable. As expected by anybody with basic understanding of the prize fighting business who isnt grossly biased.