Superheavy and Cruiser: Weight Class Discussions

Contrary to what some say, size matters.

I ran into a piece by E. Spencer Kyte (of Keyboard Kimura and Watch Kalib Run) that forced me to pull out a point I had been saving until we got a little closer to the premier of TUF 10.

Kyte’s point, for those who want the readers’ digest version, is that a superheavyweight division for fighters 250 pounds and up is a terrible idea. I agree. The heavyweight division, as it exists now, is not conducive to the addition of a superheavyweight division because, in reality, the division needs a weight cap in order to be seen as credible by the commissions and general population. A superheavyweight division begs for freak matchups, fights between Brock Lesnar (4-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC, #2 IWMMAR) and 600 pound sumo wrestlers like Emmanuel Yarborough (1-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) or Chad “Akebono” Rowan (0-4 MMA). And while the institution of a ceiling free division in the UFC may be a discussion worth having in the future, at this point, it’s not.

If there’s going to be a superheavyweight division, it should be for fighters above the 265 pound mark, giving the true heavyweights who cut down a chance to fight up a weightclass and compete against freak opponents (thus demonstrating their technical capacity) while also giving them a weightclass where their physical power can be showcased against fighters their own size and slightly smaller.

That said, the discussion touches on a very real problem in the structure of the heavyweight division, and I think there is a solution.

The problem, for those who are straining to see what I’m talking about, is that there are more and more true heavyweights coming into the division, and they’re going to use their physical power to control bouts. There are a lot of heavyweights that are too big to cut down to 205 and too small, physically, to keep up with the true heavyweights on an athletic level.

This problem, we must acknowledge, is a direct result of a skewed divisional structure that has been organized when the sport was standardized in the United States (and, to some degree, in the Eastern Hemisphere, though they paid less attention to weight classes).

All of the weight classes that exist in the United States have a 10-20 pounds window, which makes cutting weight from one weight class to another possible for fighters who are on the lower side of a division. A fighter who is, naturally, 190 pounds, doesn’t have to fight in the closest weight class, knowing that he would be on the small end of the spectrum. He could very easily fight at 170 if he slimmed down and made a tough weight cut, and would end up being towards the larger end of the spectrum. The incremental increases in the size of those windows (10 pounds between all of the weightclasses less than lightweight, fifteen between lightweight, welterweight and middleweight and twenty between middle and lightheavyweight) are not a big deal because fighters are capable of cutting down weight proportional to their physical size, but the jump from a 20 pound window to a 60 pound window (the difference between lightheavyweight and the current heavyweight size) is a serious problem.

The fighter that suffers, in the current division, is the fighter betwen 235-250 pounds. Bigger fighters can compete, physically, with the true heavyweights, and smaller fighters can cut to 205 if they want to. However, a 235 pound fighter will struggle to drop 30 pounds for that weight class (assuming he is cut at that weight), and has to fight true heavyweights weighing between 260 and 280 pounds, giving up 25-45 pounds, an inordinate size advantage.

For those who don’t believe this is going to be a real problem, I want to cite TUF 10 as a primary reason for the creation of a sixth UFC division.

TUF 10 is going to bring in half a dozen true heavyweights into the UFC, and if you don’t believe me, then look at the roster . We all know that the UFC is going to use this show to recruit for an emaciated division, and is going to pull in a lot more fighters than they have in the last few seasons. With half of the fighters in the house at that 265 pound mark, there are going to be a lot of guys coming into the division with that massive, true heavyweight build.

My solution, since this article is already running long in the description of the problem, is not to create a division for the big men. It isn’t to try and separate Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin (11-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC, #8 IWMMAR) from the rest of the division, but rather to give the guys who want out of the division full of big men a chance to go somewhere else.

This is why I’m using the term cruiserweight. After all, the concept of a division between heavyweight and lightheavyweight already exists, and has for years. Why not simply implement such a division in MMA?

As far as where I would recommend this division exist, the most obvious place, it seems to me, is at 235 pounds, though really anywhere between 230-240 pounds is acceptable, as it gives guys up to 250 and opportunity to cut less than 10% of their body weight (recommended for health reasons, generally, though many fighters cut more than that) and still make the division. Fighters that have been successful in the heavyweight division and want to keep fighting bigger competition, guys like Frank Mir (12-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC, #4 IWMMAR), Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-5-1-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC, #5 IWMMAR) and Randy Couture (16-9 MMA, 13-6 UFC, #6 IWMMAR), who are on that cusp but have been successful using their technique against bigger, stronger fighters in the past can make the decision to either fight up or in their own weight class. Even Fedor Emelianenko (30-1-0-1 MMA, #1 IWMMAR) can make the decision about where he wants to fight.

It leaves that option open to fighters who want to decide where and who they want to fight, as well as presenting an opportunity for an additional UFC title that can be pursued in tandem with the UFC heavyweight strap. It seems like a much better idea than simply adding a division on top of the heavyweight division, as it will enhance the UFC’s ability to prevent freak matchups (instead of diminish it, which is what a superheavyweight division would inevitably do), and continue to lend credibility by adding a stable weight class that lightheavyweights can reasonably look to move up into, when, before, they had to generally avoid the heavyweight division because of the massive size discrepency.

This answer, to me, makes far more sense.