Whittaker is undefeated for eight years outside the Adesanya fights.
Speaking of Adesany he is about to defend vs Pereira in a fight everyone wants to see.
The division has the UFC vets still like Costa, Allen, Till, Gastelum, Brunson etc…
Then the following relative UFC newcomers have arrived and are making some noise.
4-1 in UFC Rodrigues
4-1 Hawes
3-0 Du Plessis
3-1 Curtis
4-1 Imavov
5-0 Muniz
Then of course you have Bo Nickal’s debut in Dec and maybe Chimaev’s full time move to MW in 2023.
Using the fightmatrix UFC rankings, half the top 30 are booked to fight before the end of the year.
The only division I could see being better in 2023 is LW but if its not LW then MW will be the most fun and exciting division of 2023 for sure.
I agree. Even though Jan handled him I was just not too thrilled about the Vettori, Whittaker II and especially the Cannonier fights.
I think the division got pretty boring once Anderson, Weidman, Jacare, Romero, Mousasi, Vitor, Hendo, Rockhold etc…all started to decline.
With Adesanya, Pereira, Costa, Hawes, Muniz etc… where they are now and Chimaev and Nickal arriving on the scene as well I have the most interest I’ve had in the division since that 2012-2017 era that I think was one of the best divisions UFC has ever had.
Its hard to replace a division that had Anderson, GSP (1x), Nick Diaz (1x), Rumble (1x),Romero, Whittaker, Jacare, Weidman, Vitor, Rockhold, Machida, Mousasi, Hendo, Bisping, Gastelum, Kennedy, Cung Le, Chael, Brunson etc… all in there from 2012-2017.
It was great.
I honestly think that is part of what some people have not liked about the Adesanya era. Adesanya made his UFC debut in 2018. Right after the best five years of MW fights in the history of MMA. All the 2012-2017 era stars were declining and/or retiring and things started to suck compared to what it had been.
There are definitely some interesting potential challengers out there. Bo will presumably get fast tracked to a title shot like Pereira did. Khamzat could probably come up and get a near immediate shot. Robocop is a ton of fun to watch. Borralho has looked good etc etc.
I think 155 is the most interesting though. It feels like its in a transitional phase with super talented guys like Fiziev, Gamrot, Damir, Guram, Jalin, Tsaryukyan waiting in the wings to get at Do Bronx and the “old” guys like Dustin, Justin and Chandler. Its such a shark tank.
