Weight classes in mixed martial arts.

Tanner defended his title against Rich Franklin in the same year. Cyborg defended her title twice in the following year, first defeating Holly Holm by unanimous decision and then knocking out Yana Kunitskaya. Sean Woodson. Justin Jaynes. However, Jones again failed a doping test, testing positive for an anabolic steroid, and once again his title was stripped. Understanding these weight classes and which fighters compete in them is essential before you begin to bet on UFC. Dan Ige. It is reminding me of the similar situation with Stefan Struve in the heavyweight division. It should be a great fight.

Although heavy striking is common, wrestling skills remain extremely important in the middleweight class. Conor McGregor dominated the flyweight class due in large part to the power of his punches, especially his left hand. Nik Lentz. Nate Landwehr. Light heavyweight. My guess is he faces someone like Hacran Dias or Hatsu Hioki next. October 3. The flyweight title was created in , with the winner of a four-man tournament at UFC in Toronto to be crowned the inaugural champion. Unfortunately for Newton, the ref only noticed that he was out cold, awarding the fight to Hughes. Retrieved February 24,

With a hastily re-shuffled schedule, McGregor instead fought Chad Mendes for the interim featherweight title. As you mentioned, he had impressive wins at lbs. Lamas just beat Hioki who was easily ranked 2 or 3 in the world at FW. Herbert Burns. Shamrock won the inaugural title in just 16 seconds, forcing Kevin Jackson to submit via armbar. Fighters moving up to middleweight are likely to try to win via submission or wrestling, as they may not have the power to knock out the naturally heavier man. For example, many sportsbooks will allow you to bet on the number of successful titles defenses over time or how a specific fight will be decided. The first lightweight champion was Jen Pulver, winning the inaugural title against the Caol Uno from Japan in

Retrieved December 5, Something we take into consideration is the strength of competition they have faced. St-Pierre stumbled at his first attempt to defend the belt. Safety is another concern. He ultimately won the fight via TKO. Home UFC. Billy Quarantillo. The occasion became the new record pay-per-view MMA event. The retirement part is not confirmed though it is presumed considering his age, lack of recent activity, and the fact that he is coming off a win.

My guess is he faces someone like Hacran Dias or Hatsu Hioki next. Adriano Moraes lb, 61 kg. Johnson is a highly technically skilled fighter, and the majority of his wins came from submission, or unanimous decision if the fight went the distance. As a result, featherweight is simply an empty division that may get closed in the future. When sheer power is at play, the potential for upsets is also higher since an underdog fighter may only need to land one punch to end a fight. Over these six years, Johnson showcased his prowess at a vast array of diverse styles and introduced moves that had never been seen in the UFC before. Where do you believe he should be ranked? She lost her title a mere three months later to Joanna Jedrzejczyk, a Muay Thai kickboxing specialist from Poland. It may sound obvious, but if a fighter has been struggling in the build-up, it can play a crucial role in how fights play out. Although he successfully defended his unified title against Faber at UFC , a few months later he was beaten by T.

Retrieved February 24, Dillashaw was a big underdog going into the fight, and it remains one of the great upsets in UFC history. In the second round, Anderson looked to connect with a low kick, which had been an effective weapon throughout both fights. Angela Lee lb, 52 kg. Namajunas successfully defended her title in the rematch at UFC , which went the distance. Rick Glenn. Despite an incredibly impressive performance and one of the biggest upsets in UFC history, Holm was unable to defend her title, losing to Miesha Tate in her next fight. As he attempted his customary dodging, however, Weidman connected with a left hook just as Silva was weaving his head. Despite his at times unorthodox striking, Jones is also an extremely competent wrestler and a versatile fighter.

Indeed, her last three successful title defences were ended at , and respectively. Chris Fishgold. However, a month before the fight Aldo was forced to withdraw due to a rib injury. Understanding these weight classes and which fighters compete in them is essential before you begin to bet on UFC. I try to take all opinion out of the rankings, but at times it is really difficult. His loss was a one-sided 1st round stoppage to Cerrone. Mirsad Bektic. I scored it a draw r1 -Siver, r2-draw, r3-Nunes , but obviously the judges awarded Siver the decision. South African. The reasoning for Nunes being ranked ahead of Siver is that their fight was also a razor-thin decision.

Pokrajac, Nam vs. Over these six years, Johnson showcased his prowess at a vast array of diverse styles and introduced moves that had never been seen in the UFC before. Oliveira is a tricky one to rank. Meanwhile, Robert Whittaker of New Zealand defeated Yoel Romero for an interim middleweight title, expecting to fight for the unified title against the winner of St-Pierre and Bisping. Heavy strikers are the order of the day in the light heavyweight class. Namespaces Article Talk. Kevin Aguilar. Conor McGregor dominated the flyweight class due in large part to the power of his punches, especially his left hand. South African.

Rafael Alves. Something we take into consideration is the strength of competition they have faced. The welterweight title is one of the oldest in UFC, with Pat Miletich becoming the first champion in Instead, Cyborg faced Tonya Evinger for the vacant title, knocking her out in the third round. Cejudo meanwhile went on to successfully defend this title against regular bantamweight TJ Dillashaw in , with an impressive display of striking. Click here for our in-depth strategy guide for how to bet on the UFC. He had the title stripped when he signed with a rival MMA company. This was brought about by the death of Chinese fighter Yang Jian Bing, who died during training camp for a fight after heavily dehydrating himself to make weight. In the final against John Dodson, Johnson survived a couple of scares before winning via a unanimous decision. Categories : Mixed martial arts weight classes.

I wonder if this possibly opened the door for a fight with Aldo in the future. In the run-up to UFC McGregor threw a handrail at a bus containing several fighters, including Nurmagomedov who McGregor had an on-running feud with. With no state or government laws regarding weight class restrictions, organizations in other countries are free to schedule bouts with little regard for weight differential. Chase Hooper. Chris Fishgold. However, she gave a dominant display of striking which led to a first round TKO with Jedrzejczyk floored by a left hand. Crazy scenes like this were common in the early days. Any other oversights you have seen in the rankings? Flyweight: lb, 57 kg. So, how do we compile our rankings?

While fights can go the distance, early stoppages are common. Hidden categories: Webarchive template wayback links. Reuben Duran Jr. It has been painfully obvious that Oliveira struggles against anyone even close to Top 10 consideration. The other thing that is hurting him is his overall record in his last 5 fights. UFC just got better,Lamas Vs. Upon their debut, they will be removed from their former weight class. October 3. With a hastily re-shuffled schedule, McGregor instead fought Chad Mendes for the interim featherweight title.

Well, he just beat Palaszewski in fairly dominating fashion. So, how do we compile our rankings? South Korea. Billy Quarantillo. Darrick Minner. Jamall Emmers. Kron Gracie. Garcia I, Jung vs. Doo Ho Choi.

However, Silva was also a talented wrestler, successfully defending himself when opponents forced the fight to the mat and winning a number of fights via submission, as well as TKO. Light heavyweight. However, she gave a dominant display of striking which led to a first round TKO with Jedrzejczyk floored by a left hand. Fights often go the distance too, where competent technical displays are rewarded by the judges. Indeed, her last three successful title defences were ended at , and respectively. Nik Lentz. The same is true of the women, with Amanda Nunes winning her recent title through sheer punching power. Rousey was the first female athlete UFC ever signed, and was immediately installed as the bantamweight champion on her arrival.

Check out the latest odds and predictions! Rafael Alves. When St-Pierre announced he was vacating the middleweight title in December , Whittaker became the undisputed middleweight champion. One is practical — although UFC is growing, it still has a comparatively small field of athletes. Zhenhong Lu. While Conor McGregor seemed invincible in the featherweight division, he definitely struggled when moving up to lightweight and beyond. After one title defence, Sherk tested positive for anabolic steroid use. Agreed on all accounts with your statement.

Retrieved December 18, Well, he just beat Palaszewski in fairly dominating fashion. She lost her title a mere three months later to Joanna Jedrzejczyk, a Muay Thai kickboxing specialist from Poland. Rousey was the first female athlete UFC ever signed, and was immediately installed as the bantamweight champion on her arrival. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Injury troubles plagued dos Anjos, and he eventually lost his belt to Eddie Alvarez. Jungle Fight Shooto Brasil. Spreading a thin field across two many weight classes would harm the integrity of the contest — resulting in many mis-matches and uncompetitive fights. Shane Young. Lightweight fighters are still light enough to display genuine speed, but have enough power and weight to throw devastating blows.

One notable exception to this standard is Asian promotion ONE Championship , which adopted higher weight limits as well as pre-fight urinalysis in order to discourage weight cutting. Silva was an up-and-coming star in UFC who was developing a reputation as a fearsome and accurate striker. That was the start of the longest reign of a champion in UFC history. Sodiq Yusuff. He recently announced that he was moving to Lightweight. One is practical — although UFC is growing, it still has a comparatively small field of athletes. Tony Kelley. Andre Fili.

After successfully defending his title in a rematch, and an unsuccessful shot at the flyweight title against Henry Cejudo, Dillashaw was banned in for failing a drug test, leaving the bantamweight title open. Shamrock was champion from , and was considered one of the first MMA fighters to excel in a wide variety of styles. Jedrzejczyk was a dominant champion and she beat multiple women, including Andrade, in her title reign. Chan Sung Jung. It should be a great fight. Returning to defend his title after nearly a year off, Ortiz was defeated by Randy Couture. Jeremy Stephens. So, how do we compile our rankings? Giga Chikadze. The Unified Rules designate limits for fourteen different weight classes in mixed martial arts; all definitions and measurements are in pounds.

What would probably happen is huge men would be brought into UFC with little or no actual martial arts ability. Andre Fili. Arnold Allen. If a fighter has fought elite competition and fallen short, we factor in how they performed. Julio Arce. Douglas Andrade. Sergio Giglio. Another good lesson we can see from the history of the lightweight division is to pay close attention to athletes moving weight categories. Brown SUB. Tanner defended his title against Rich Franklin in the same year.

Nevertheless, anyone who was able to look through the hype and identify that the power of Holly Holm would cause Rousey problems in their title fight would have made a lot of money on that bet. Silva was given the chance to immediately regain his title at UFC However, after beating some of the other top contenders in the division, Cejudo earned a re-match in April , at UFC McGregor was arrested and eventually charged with assault and criminal mischief. While fights can go the distance, early stoppages are common. Strawweight — lb. In a title defense at UFC , Chris Sonnen was widely considered to be leading the fight with two minutes to go of the final round, when Silva managed to lock up an armbar and force Sonnen to submit. In , after controversially being awarded a victory against Johnny Hendricks in his last title defense, St-Pierre decided to step away from UFC, vacating his welterweight title. Guan Wang.

The UFC on Fox card is stacked as well. Wikimedia list article. You stated at least Top 15, but does he really deserve to be ranked higher than Hioki, Elkins, Hacran Dias, and Gamburyan? Finally, after another year of suspension, Jones returned to regain his vacant light heavyweight title again, defeating Gustafsson in a TKO. Nurmagomedov eventually caused McGregor to submit in the fourth round with yet another impressive display. Views Read Edit View history. After a nine-fight winning streak, Usman squared off against then, champion Tyron Woodly, on march 2nd, winning the title. Instead, Cyborg faced Tonya Evinger for the vacant title, knocking her out in the third round.

Liddell successfully defended his title four times between and , including in rematches against Couture and Ortiz. The flyweight title was created in , with the winner of a four-man tournament at UFC in Toronto to be crowned the inaugural champion. Just look at the history of the heavyweight title — of the sixteen different champions only one man has managed to defend the belt three times consecutively. Mixed martial arts champions. Xiong Jing Nan lb, 57 kg. Nevertheless, the fights between the two were by no means walk-overs, as Cormier found ways to affect Jones, even if he could not emerge victorious. In an epic five-round encounter Cruz narrowly regained his title on a split decision. It is difficult to wade through as many things come down to who is the best fighter at this current point in time.

Retrieved July 26, Currently, the champion of this division is Zhang Weili. Mike Grundy. Guan Wang. Mixed martial arts weight classes are weight classes that pertain to the sport of mixed martial arts. A fighter must debut in their new weight class in order to officially be ranked there. It should be a great fight. Invicta FC.

Guan Wang. The inaugural strawweight champion was Carla Esparza when she won the first ever title in Yair Rodriguez. Upon their debut, they will be removed from their former weight class. Martial arts portal. Jedrzejczyk was a dominant champion and she beat multiple women, including Andrade, in her title reign. Garbrandt was unable to hold the title for too long, after he was knocked out by Dillashaw at UFC Invicta FC. Rousey was the first female athlete UFC ever signed, and was immediately installed as the bantamweight champion on her arrival.

He ultimately won the fight via TKO. Organizations are listed by a combination of their size number of fighters, events per year, etc. She decided to move up in weight and face Shevchenko for the title. Heavy strikers are the order of the day in the light heavyweight class. San Diego Center for Health. May One notable exception to this standard is Asian promotion ONE Championship , which adopted higher weight limits as well as pre-fight urinalysis in order to discourage weight cutting. One is practical — although UFC is growing, it still has a comparatively small field of athletes. Some organizations have created titles in weight classes outside the NSAC guidelines.

The California State Athletic Commission had worked extensively on regulation, but their sanctioning of MMA was not implemented due to state governmental issues surrounding the process. Max Holloway. Retrieved December 18, Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata. What separates us from other web sites that formulate rankings? Steven Peterson. Tanner defended his title against Rich Franklin in the same year. A re-match was quickly arranged, and Couture retained his title via doctor stoppage in the third round. In an extremely dominant display of powerful punching, Nunes knocked Cyborg out in 51 seconds, becoming the first woman to hold titles at two different weight classes simultaneously.

With performances like that, no one knows who can beat Shevchenko at flyweight. Nate Landwehr. Jeremy Stephens. It has been painfully obvious that Oliveira struggles against anyone even close to Top 10 consideration. Garcia I, Dunham vs. Spike Carlyle. Zabit Magomedsharipov. Movsar Evloev. It may sound obvious, but if a fighter has been struggling in the build-up, it can play a crucial role in how fights play out.

Max Holloway. Chas Skelly. Although the inaugural lineal champions are sometimes contested, especially at heavyweight; the consensus view, is that all the lineal titles have been unified with their respective weight class UFC titles. Movsar Evloev. I wonder if this possibly opened the door for a fight with Aldo in the future. Categories : Mixed martial arts champions Lists of mixed martial artists. Bisping successfully defended his title once before being scheduled to fight the returning welterweight superstar Georges St-Pierre. Suman Mokhtarian. The California State Athletic Commission had worked extensively on regulation, but their sanctioning of MMA was not implemented due to state governmental issues surrounding the process.

Meanwhile, Cormier was declared the light heavyweight champion, but opted not to defend his belt and instead moving back to the heavyweight division. Instead, Cyborg faced Tonya Evinger for the vacant title, knocking her out in the third round. Despite his at times unorthodox striking, Jones is also an extremely competent wrestler and a versatile fighter. Douglas Andrade. Lerone Murphy. Download as PDF Printable version. Home UFC. A belt may be vacated when a fighter leaves a promotion, or is suspended.

Serra was plagued by back injuries in the coming year, allowing St-Pierre to capture an interim Welterweight title and set up a unification match at UFC After that, she successfully defended it against Jessica Eye, knocking her out with a spectacular head kick. Cormier submitted Johnson in the third round to become the new light heavyweight champion — the first new champion in four years. To be honest, I will take a closer look at the situation. This list displays all title holders for the major, certified MMA promoting and sanctioning bodies. Kyle Nelson. After successfully defending his title in a rematch, and an unsuccessful shot at the flyweight title against Henry Cejudo, Dillashaw was banned in for failing a drug test, leaving the bantamweight title open. Stoneface surprised a lot of people with his willingness to test his grappling against Yahya. Pickett, Stacked Card!!!! From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A fighter must debut in their new weight class in order to officially be ranked there. A number of fighters were scheduled to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov for the vacant title, including Max Holloway and Tony Ferguson, who both eventually had to withdraw due to injury and weight cutting issues. Hiromasa Ougikubo Bantamweight: lb, 57 kg. South Korean. In the final against John Dodson, Johnson survived a couple of scares before winning via a unanimous decision. Dillashaw at UFC I realize that Elkins and Lentz are around Top 10 currently, but this is a completely different weight class and time frame than when Oliveira fought them. Dillashaw instead successfully defended his belt against Joe Soto. He successfully defended his title twice in the coming years, first against Dennis Hallman and then in an epic encounter against the iconic BJ Penn.

Well, he just beat Palaszewski in fairly dominating fashion. Several fighters incurred injuries from the smashed bus, leading to various fights being rescheduled. Wrestling is still important, however, and many fighters have found success in the division by focusing on technical ground skills. Two notable exceptions from UFC are:. Returning to defend his title after nearly a year off, Ortiz was defeated by Randy Couture. Invicta FC. In , after controversially being awarded a victory against Johnny Hendricks in his last title defense, St-Pierre decided to step away from UFC, vacating his welterweight title. When St-Pierre announced he was vacating the middleweight title in December , Whittaker became the undisputed middleweight champion. The flyweight title was created in , with the winner of a four-man tournament at UFC in Toronto to be crowned the inaugural champion.

Holm in turn, lost against Miesha Tate in her first title defense. He remained featherweight champion for two years, without actually defending his title. After successfully defending his title in a rematch, and an unsuccessful shot at the flyweight title against Henry Cejudo, Dillashaw was banned in for failing a drug test, leaving the bantamweight title open. A fighter must debut in their new weight class in order to officially be ranked there. Hioki looked impressive against Palaszewski, but you are right, when fighting overseas, Hioki will likely struggle. At such times an interim champion may be crowned, or the belt may be awarded to the winner of a fight between top contenders. Recently, former strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk has shifted to lb flyweight. Dillashaw at UFC Hiromasa Ougikubo Bantamweight: lb, 57 kg.

Unfortunately for Newton, the ref only noticed that he was out cold, awarding the fight to Hughes. It is difficult to wade through as many things come down to who is the best fighter at this current point in time. Nicco Montaño won the inaugural flyweight belt when she beat Roxanne Modafferi. October 3. Xiong Jing Nan lb, 57 kg. Cyborg defended her title twice in the following year, first defeating Holly Holm by unanimous decision and then knocking out Yana Kunitskaya. Youssef Zalal. Lerone Murphy. If a fighter moves up to an unfamiliar class to fight his next opponent, you should be aware of it.

Latest UFC News. Jedrzejczyk was a dominant champion and she beat multiple women, including Andrade, in her title reign. All of this conveniently provided a lot of publicity for UFC , where Nurmagomedov was due to defend his title against the returning McGregor. So, why is Nunes currently ranked higher than Siver. Silva was given the chance to immediately regain his title at UFC Reuben Duran Jr. The middleweight title had a somewhat stilted beginning due to a high turnover of middleweight fighters in the UFC. After a nine-fight winning streak, Usman squared off against then, champion Tyron Woodly, on march 2nd, winning the title.

Hacran Dias handled Alcantara on the ground and deserves to fight a top contender next time out, but I am doubtful that will happen. Velasquez produced a ferocious display of striking, leading to a first round TKO and a new heavyweight champion. Arnold Allen. What would probably happen is huge men would be brought into UFC with little or no actual martial arts ability. Wikimedia list article. Seo Hee Ham Super Atomweight: lb, 49 kg. Thanks to all my friends who support me. Upon regaining the welterweight title, Georges St-Pierre began one of the longest champion streaks UFC history, defeating a host of skilled challengers between The power of the fighters tends to make for some particularly brutal fights, with early stoppages always a distinct possibility. If a fighter has fought elite competition and fallen short, we factor in how they performed.

When the middleweight division pairs two fighters who rely on striking as their main method of attack, you can anticipate a fight to end early. Dominick Cruz had finally overcome his series of injuries to make his return, four years after his last title fight. Should a fighter be suspended for performance enhancing substances or fighter conduct, they will be removed from the rankings. Yair Rodriguez. April 23, [8]. Luiz Garagorri. Since then, to create uniformity, all state commissions in the United States that regulate mixed martial arts have assimilated these rules into their existing unarmed combat competition rules and statutes. Darrick Minner.

I went back and watched the fight again. If a fighter has compiled a bunch of wins against competition that is lackluster they will likely have a difficult time moving up in the rankings until they face stiffer competition in order for us to accurately predict how they would perform against exceedingly tougher competition. Crazy scenes like this were common in the early days. Retrieved February 24, April 17, [6]. The fight took place at UFC 68 in , with Couture putting on a dominant display of both striking and wrestling. McGregor won via majority decision, setting up another shot at the lightweight title, now held by Alvarez. The rankings have been updated, thanks for the comment. Danny Henry.

UFC fighters are streaky, and once their momentum is halted and the aura of invincibility disappears it can be hard to recover. Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata. Kevin Randleman eventually won the title and held it until , when Couture was offered the chance to return to the UFC to take a shot at his previous title. If a fighter has fought elite competition and fallen short, we factor in how they performed. If the fighter temporarily competed outside of their division, they will be ranked in their primary division unless the fighter states different. The lowest weight categories are less likely to rely on sheer power, and flyweight fights are often defined by off-the-charts cardiovascular fitness and strong wrestling skills. Mixed martial arts champions. Sean Woodson. The other thing that is hurting him is his overall record in his last 5 fights. In a controversial fight, in which de Randamie threw some punches after the bell which hurt Holm, de Randamie was declared the winner by unanimous decision.

Nicco Montaño won the inaugural flyweight belt when she beat Roxanne Modafferi. Koch announced as well as Wineland Vs. There are many highly-skilled fighters who are in title contention and who can beat the other women in the division. Retrieved February 24, Good point about Galvao and Dantas. Valentina Shevchenko. Bryce Mitchell. Dillashaw instead successfully defended his belt against Joe Soto. Cub Swanson.

Stoneface surprised a lot of people with his willingness to test his grappling against Yahya. The first lightweight champion was Jen Pulver, winning the inaugural title against the Caol Uno from Japan in However, Pulver soon left the UFC, abandoning his lightweight title. Retrieved December 5, Wikimedia list article. However, after beating some of the other top contenders in the division, Cejudo earned a re-match in April , at UFC After one title defence, Sherk tested positive for anabolic steroid use. Each belt is usually contested every time the belt holder fights, and passed to the victor of that fight see the List of UFC champions for a chronology of UFC title belts.

I want to see José Aldo vs Korean Zombie! It has been painfully obvious that Oliveira struggles against anyone even close to Top 10 consideration. I still think Nelson and Brown would beat Struve if they were to fight again. Pokrajac, Nam vs. Among other things, these seriously heavy athletes are less durable than the wiry lower-weight athletes over time, which is partly why we have seen the heavyweight title change hands so many times. There was no regulation about what fighters could wear either. However, a series of injuries hampered Cruz as he had to continually delay various title defenses. The welterweight title is one of the oldest in UFC, with Pat Miletich becoming the first champion in

One notable exception to this standard is Asian promotion ONE Championship , which adopted higher weight limits as well as pre-fight urinalysis in order to discourage weight cutting. It was his first loss in UFC history. Montana was due to defend her title against Valentina Shevchenko, but ran into health problem related to making her weight. Soon after becoming only the fourth UFC athlete at the time to hold titles at two separate weight classes, St-Pierre decided to retire from the sport due to recurring injuries and advancing age. Two undefeated fighters, Israel Adesanya and Paulo Costa, do battle in the main event of UFC for the undisputed middleweight championship. After the fight, Shamrock retired from UFC and vacated the title, holding a record as light heavyweight champion. Shelby is either booking these fighters against each other, which does nothing to establish their presence with American fans or he has them fight unpopular fighters. Josh Culibao. Darren Elkins. Safety is another concern.

The lack of huge power and focus on wrestling and technical skills means that fights often go the distance, and early KOs are not so common. I realize that Elkins and Lentz are around Top 10 currently, but this is a completely different weight class and time frame than when Oliveira fought them. McGregor had been by far the biggest draw in the featherweight division for a number of years, so when he decided to move up the weight classes after he became featherweight champion, he brought a lot of the media attention with him. Calvin Kattar. Mendes has held his own against BJJ guys Yahya, Vazquez , but Dias has better size and athleticism that could potentially earn him some takedowns. Check out the latest odds and predictions! Ortiz was perhaps the hottest prospect in MMA at the time, and had to cut weight to fight Shamrock. She did that and won the title easily. Darrick Minner. Popular UFC Articles.

A fighter must debut in their new weight class in order to officially be ranked there. Jordan Griffin. Kyle Nelson. Of his seven defenses, Aldo won by unanimous decision five times, underlining his technical superiority over every other fighter in the division. The inaugural strawweight champion was Carla Esparza when she won the first ever title in Some organizations have created titles in weight classes outside the NSAC guidelines. In a title defense at UFC , Chris Sonnen was widely considered to be leading the fight with two minutes to go of the final round, when Silva managed to lock up an armbar and force Sonnen to submit. Here are the main things to know about the heavyweight class: The minimum weight is lb The maximum weight is lb The current champion is Stipe Miocic History of the UFC Heavyweight Class Mark Coleman was the first holder of the UFC heavyweight title in , before it changed hands twice in the same year, first to Maurice Smith and then Randy Couture.

There was a lot of value to found for anyone betting against the public on that occasion. So, how do we compile our rankings? In his eleventh title defense, Silva faced Chris Weidman as a big favorite. Bill Algeo. Watching a welterweight fight, you are equally as likely to see bodyslams and seriously damaging punches and kicks as proficient wrestling. Hioki looked impressive against Palaszewski, but you are right, when fighting overseas, Hioki will likely struggle. I went back and watched the fight again. The body shapes of lightweight fighters allow for this range of fighting options, with power and technique roughly of equal importance. Home UFC. If a fighter has compiled a bunch of wins against competition that is lackluster they will likely have a difficult time moving up in the rankings until they face stiffer competition in order for us to accurately predict how they would perform against exceedingly tougher competition.