Is 5'6 to 5'7" the best height for featherweight?

[humdizzle]

o'malley 5'11
chito vera 5'8

volk is 5'6
topuria 5'7

islam 5'10
oliveira 5'10

it seems like that specific weight division really favors the shorter/stocky guys now? the weight class above and below has taller champs.

are we in the 'short king' era for FW ?

 

[Siver!]

No, I don't think so.

Conor McGregor and Max Holloway are taller than that and they were champions in the division.

I just think we happen to have a couple of stout tanks at 145 right now but it's not going to be a rule going forward.

 

[achoo42]

Matt Hughes was 5'6, hell DC was 5'10 at HW. Not a trend, just generational talent happens to manifest in shorter people sometimes.

I just think that height/length don't really have that much to do with your success rate in MMA compared to other factors.

People say Semmy Schilt only won because he was tall and then they ignore equally big guys like Hong Choi Man and Stefan Struve who were mediocre at best.

The only guys who I think won titles due to size alone were Nikolai Valuev and Primo Carnera, but that had a lot more to do with the level of competition they were facing. Valuev in particular fought in the weakest era of heavyweight boxing in the past century.

 

[IronGolem007]

o'malley 5'11
chito vera 5'8

volk is 5'6
topuria 5'7

islam 5'10
oliveira 5'10

it seems like that specific weight division really favors the shorter/stocky guys now? the weight class above and below has taller champs.

are we in the 'short king' era for FW ?

Interesting question, but you fail to account for mass size reduction through height deficiency.

Thus, a fighter who is 5'6" to 5'7", and 145 lb, is tantamount to a fighter who is 5'9" to 5'10", and 155 lb.

With the exact-same body proportions, the shorter fighter will be "X"-lb lighter, with each inch in height reduction.

That said, at FW, Conor was kind of a freak being 5'9", and Holloway even more so at 5'11".
Both were very tall for their respective divisions.

Similarly, at MW, Alex Pereira was almost unprecedented being 6'4".

I've not plugged-in all the numbers, but there is a certain "average size" for each division — and, almost always, those fighters who are "big for their weight" are going to have an advantage.

Most striking example would be John Jones @ LHW: 6'4", 84.5-inch reach.

GOAT height-weight proportions = GOAT results.

.

 

[Ibm]

Vol isnt 5ft6. No way. lol.

 

[Fergelmince]

holloway is really tall for the divicsion, but mcgregor is about 5'4", so you don't even need to be as tall as volk or topuria to be champion.

 

[stalehotdog]

Vol isnt 5ft6. No way. lol.

I’ve been questioning the 5’6 claim as well. I thought maybe it’s because he’s so heavily muscled but he really doesn’t look that height

 

[HuskySamoan]

If the UFC cared at all about talent acquisition and actually shelled out the money for guys like (5'10) AJ McKee and (5'10) Salahdine Parnasse, they'd likely both be title contenders at 145lbs in the UFC. I don't think "optimal builds" for weights is so much a thing, Cormier was better than every current LHW and that dude was 5'10.

What Volk and Topuria have is undeniable athleticism, just as Aldo did. Some of the best athletes in the game.