To what degree in you estimation does weight affect a fight outcome at some of the lower/middle weight classes. We see smaller HW's often fight and handle larger opponents, and it leads me to wonder - how well would an elite LW or FW guy do against a solid but not spectacular MW or LHW assuming they didnt have a style nightmare to deal with.
Here are some examples of hypothetical fights that I would like to offer as discussion points:
I always thought smaller and skilled vs. bigger and less skilled makes for interesting matchups, I was one of the few who thought Genki vs. Butterbean was a cool idea. When Tank announced his return to the UFC, Matt Hughes said that he'd like to fight him. It wasn't very realistic due to weight classes and commissions, but I was hoping they would make it happen somehow.
I dont care what anyone tells you , but weight is a factor.. people say that great technical skills wins a fight! this is ture however. When you have a guy that is on the same or close to the same level as a much smaller guy, the the skill can be killed by size.. But iam not saying that the bigger guy always wins. He just has a bigger edge..
I think it becomes more of a factor as the weights go down. With the big guys, like was said above, it seems to be more of a style factor. As you get lighter 170 lb div, 155lb div, and on down it becomes a huge factor.