Weight Class with most skilled fighters?

[StonedLemur]

Pretty much the same as it always was- elite fighters being hard to come by. The difference is that those around the elite fighters are more well-rounded in the lower weight classes. Certainly, LHW and HW are not what they once were in the past, incredibly shallow. Witnessed long streaks of the Chuck and Islam show at LW, and the Volk and Max show at FW, and no one else being much of a challenge- how deep is it when a couple guys totally dominate?

It really does go to a basketball analogy. When you go Wilt, Kareem and Shaq, their stats are gradually worse when they played- not because they were necessarily any worse than the previous top center (likely played at a similar level), but because the competition level gradually increased with time.

The UFC shows a non-team sport version of this. You have a more well-rounded and athletic pool than you did, but you still only have a handful of the most elite (and they aren't necessarily any better than previous élites).

Never looked at it like this, but its a good analogy sir.
Good stuff brother.

 

[Hassan Mouzine]

Pretty much the same as it always was- elite fighters being hard to come by. The difference is that those around the elite fighters are more well-rounded in the lower weight classes. Certainly, LHW and HW are not what they once were in the past, incredibly shallow. Witnessed long streaks of the Chuck and Islam show at LW, and the Volk and Max show at FW, and no one else being much of a challenge- how deep is it when a couple guys totally dominate?

It really does go to a basketball analogy. When you go Wilt, Kareem and Shaq, their stats are gradually worse when they played- not because they were necessarily any worse than the previous top center (likely played at a similar level), but because the competition level gradually increased with time.

The UFC shows a non-team sport version of this. You have a more well-rounded and athletic pool than you did, but you still only have a handful of the most elite (and they aren't necessarily any better than previous élites).

dominate?

charles had an incredible hard road to his firs title shot. he took alot of big losses before he went on his run because the division is full of sharks.
he only became champ because khabib retired. he would have never snapped the title away from khabib.

in every title fight that charles was, he was on the receiving end of alot of damage. so yes....he FINALLY had a great run at light weight but that doesnt mean that the division gets dominated by 2 guys. he had 2 succesfull defenses.

FW you mentioned is a better example. long reign by aldo, than quite an impressice reign by max and now a long reign by volk with max knocking off pretty much all contenders. besides those 3 none really seem elite. So basically i agree with you when it comes to FW but not LW. there's a new elite guy always right around the corner. Benoit en Arman are probablky the future after Islam.

 

[ultra321]

lightweight no question...

 

[gentel]

It's definitely not 185, 205, or 265, where most fighters even in the top 5 don't even do grappling

That leaves 5 divisions: 125, 135, 145, 155, 170

My vote is 125 because the top guys there are both elite grapplers and strikers at the same time with huge pace. Pantoja, Moreno, Royval, KKF, Albazi, Mokaev, Kape, etc all make for a stacked division

Second place to LW for Islam (best fighter alive), Tsarukyan, Oliveira, Gaethje, Poirier, Gamrot, Dariush, and the rest of them. Islam and Tsarukyan are even bigger talents than FLW but the rest of the division doesn't equal the depth at FLW

 

[Levi_]

dominate?

charles had an incredible hard road to his firs title shot. he took alot of big losses before he went on his run because the division is full of sharks.
he only became champ because khabib retired. he would have never snapped the title away from khabib.

in every title fight that charles was, he was on the receiving end of alot of damage. so yes....he FINALLY had a great run at light weight but that doesnt mean that the division gets dominated by 2 guys. he had 2 succesfull defenses.

FW you mentioned is a better example. long reign by aldo, than quite an impressice reign by max and now a long reign by volk with max knocking off pretty much all contenders. besides those 3 none really seem elite. So basically i agree with you when it comes to FW but not LW. there's a new elite guy always right around the corner. Benoit en Arman are probablky the future after Islam.

OK, but you are using slanted language to be fair. Charles has finished everyone in the first 2 rounds facing multiple top 5 fighters at LW after progressive improvement over the years (he's obviously not the same fighter as when he was losing early in his career, so that comparison is out the window). He made Daruish look weak, who was supposed to challenge Islam for the title. The Dustins and Justins and Chandlers and Conors and on and on will NEVER be better than Chuck or Islam. We will see if anyone is around the corner.

 

[ferrisjso]

125 because the smallest are the most skilled but because 135 is so stacked the answer is probably 135. Its always going to be a WEC division though.

 

[Gregoire1]

HW

 

[LindyBrah]

Bantamweight. Division is so deep the title can change hands several times without issue. I could see Song, Merab, Yan, Umar, or Cory holding the strap

 

[PEDRO IVO RUSSO MIRANDA]

LW and FW are stacked from the top to the botom.
Just Killer in those divisions

 

[Shaddows]

IMHO LW wins.