I think most people agree that it’s 155, but I think everything from 145-185 is great. All of those divisions are full of interesting fighters that are in contention for the title. And many of the the fighters not currently in contention in those weight classes are either up-and-comers (like Zabit at 145) or older fighters that people still tune in to see (Vitor and Bisping at 185)
Agree 145-185
Personal order
155
170
145
185
my tie breaker for 145/170 is that I like watching bigger guys fight more, so I gave Welterweight the edge
I think 155 right now is as compelling as a division has ever been. Trying to think of comparable levels of excitement.
LHW when Jones, DC, Gus, and Rumble were the 4 Kings.
WW with BJ, GSP, Hughes, and a rising Fitch.
WW with BJ, Condit, GSP, and Diaz.
The Brock Era was pretty damn compelling.
Those are all off the top of my head.
I think 170 and 185 have my favorite fighters, but most of the top guys at 170 aren’t booked (I think I saw a thread on here about that recently), and Whittaker being injured is a bummer.
I think 145 is my favorite because Max is so active, Frankie is a warrior, Ortega is an exciting prospect, Aldo still has great matchups, Zabit is worth tuning in to witness his potential rise
Then guys like Stephens, Emmett, Choi, Elkins, Cub, etc are all a ton of fun to watch and super high action.
145
The champ is already a legend imo & the rest of the top 7-8 guys could likely beat eachother depending on who's 'on' that day.
I think it's the most competitive right now & the rest you have the top 3-4 guys then everyone else
155
Historically Light Heavyweight has been the most compelling weight class in the history of MMA. Consider that Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar was at 205 lbs. Chuck Liddell, Rampage, Shogun, Wanderlei, Randy Couture, Forrest Griffin, Tito Ortiz, Frank Shamrock. Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier, Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustaffson etc.
LW
Zafurov 35-5,Barnaoui 17-4 just made it to the finals of the ROAD tourny.
Bellator has Pitbull, Bendo, Chandler, Primus, Yamauchi, Campos
Rizin, M1, KSW, ONE have guys like Gamrot, Aliev, Yachi, Aoki, Gafurov,
ACB has a bunch of “UFC level” LWs
UFC has 90 LWs under contract.
2018 LW is best division in history of sport, easy.
CRE - Historically Light Heavyweight has been the most compelling weight class in the history of MMA. Consider that Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar was at 205 lbs. Chuck Liddell, Rampage, Shogun, Wanderlei, Randy Couture, Forrest Griffin, Tito Ortiz, Frank Shamrock. Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier, Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustaffson etc.
Good point!
BJ Penn Forever - LWZafurov 35-5,Barnaoui 17-4 just made it to the finals of the ROAD tourny.
Bellator has Pitbull, Bendo, Chandler, Primus, Yamauchi, Campos
Rizin, M1, KSW, ONE have guys like Gamrot, Aliev, Yachi, Aoki, Gafurov,
ACB has a bunch of “UFC level” LWs
UFC has 90 LWs under contract.
2018 LW is best division in history of sport, easy.
It’s amazing.
wiggum -BJ Penn Forever - LWZafurov 35-5,Barnaoui 17-4 just made it to the finals of the ROAD tourny.
Bellator has Pitbull, Bendo, Chandler, Primus, Yamauchi, Campos
Rizin, M1, KSW, ONE have guys like Gamrot, Aliev, Yachi, Aoki, Gafurov,
ACB has a bunch of “UFC level” LWs
UFC has 90 LWs under contract.
2018 LW is best division in history of sport, easy.
It’s amazing.
I try not to get pumped up about a fight until fight night because of injury and USADA but I’m pumped for April’s LW fights…
Henderson vs Huerta 4/6 Bellator
Khabib vs Ferguson 4/7 for the UFC title
Felder vs Iaquinta 4/7
Pettis vs Chiesa 4/7
Aubin Mercier vs Dunham 4/7
Lauzon vs Gruetzemacher 4/7
Chandler vs Primus II 4/13 Bellator
Poirier vs Gaethje 4/14
Burns vs Vannata 4/14
Lee vs Barboza 4/21
Miller vs Hooker 4/21
155 lbs
Women's 145 pounds
BJ Penn Forever -wiggum -BJ Penn Forever - LWZafurov 35-5,Barnaoui 17-4 just made it to the finals of the ROAD tourny.
Bellator has Pitbull, Bendo, Chandler, Primus, Yamauchi, Campos
Rizin, M1, KSW, ONE have guys like Gamrot, Aliev, Yachi, Aoki, Gafurov,
ACB has a bunch of “UFC level” LWs
UFC has 90 LWs under contract.
2018 LW is best division in history of sport, easy.
It’s amazing.
I try not to get pumped up about a fight until fight night because of injury and USADA but I’m pumped for April’s LW fights…
Henderson vs Huerta 4/6 Bellator
Khabib vs Ferguson 4/7 for the UFC title
Felder vs Iaquinta 4/7
Pettis vs Chiesa 4/7
Aubin Mercier vs Dunham 4/7
Lauzon vs Gruetzemacher 4/7
Chandler vs Primus II 4/13 Bellator
Poirier vs Gaethje 4/14
Burns vs Vannata 4/14
Lee vs Barboza 4/21
Miller vs Hooker 4/21
Tony v. Khabib is a holy grail level fight.
Related, if you head over to the NCAA Wrestling Prediction thread, 125 this year is among the greatest weight classes of all-time.
Spencer Lee (world champion) could theoretically place outside the top 5. That’s how good it is.
wiggum - Related, if you head over to the NCAA Wrestling Prediction thread, 125 this year is among the greatest weight classes of all-time.Spencer Lee (world champion) could theoretically place outside the top 5. That’s how good it is.
Yep, Tony vs Khabib is huge, they have achieved so much.
Will for sure check out the NCAA thread. That is awesome 125 is stacked like that, should be epic.
PFL has not even really started and they are able to offer LW fights like 20-2 Rashid Magomedov vs 26-6 Jason High and 18-4 Will Brooks vs 20-8 Buscape.
Even smaller promotions like Pancrase have fights like 21-4 Taksuke Kume vs 25-10 Anton Kuivanen.
LW has so many good fighters that can’t even crack the fightmatrix top 200 because of the size of the talent pool.
T?bikan J?dan - I think most people agree that it's 155, but I think everything from 145-185 is great. All of those divisions are full of interesting fighters that are in contention for the title. And many of the the fighters not currently in contention in those weight classes are either up-and-comers (like Zabit at 145) or older fighters that people still tune in to see (Vitor and Bisping at 185)
Usually 155 but could make a good case for 170 atm...
UFC...
Till
Woodley
Wonderboy
RDA
Covington
Usman
GSP (maybe)
BELLATOR and other orgs.. .
Rory
Lima
MVP
Askern etc
155 is just insane these days. Someone posted an article here on how good you have to be just to be considered top 100 in 155 and it was unreal. That division is definitely a shark tank.
155 easily