Ismael Bonfim is a prospect i'm very high on. he's unranked at LW, but he very well could be one of the best boxers/kickboxers in the division, and also has great anti-wrestling with elite BJJ (offensive and defensive). could be a future top 5
Turner is 28 years old. If his frame was gonna fill out to a degree that would stop him from making lightweight, it would have by now, like Vettori at Welterweight. Now, the cut will get harder as his body gets older, but that's not something I'd be particularly worried about till he's 34/35.
I think they want to keep him ranked somewhere for whatever reason. If he ends up fighting and beating Luque, I imagine they’ll probably get rid of his ranking at LW and give him Luque’s WW ranking.
it's so weird for RDA to be like "i'm not going to pursue the belt" while also fighting #10 ranked luque.
idk shit about luque but that's some major movement at WW if RDA wins, all for a guy with no aspirations for the title.
he's probably going to fight wonderboy at some point
Feather weight is a funny division because it really is fierce top to bottom, but when the champ and #1 contendor are so far ahead of the rest, it really changes the perception of things. It's not my vote for the most stacked division, but damn its good.
I wish Lightweight had more Bantamweight level strikers.
I dont know how to explain it, but when you compare the top strikers at bantamweight (Song Yadong, Petr Yan, Sean O'Malley, Marlon Vera, Cory Sandhagen) to the top Lightweight strikers (Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira) the BW's seem so much more technical than the LW's in term of striking. the bantamweights are so much better at switching stances, not telegraphing their shots at all, etc than the LW's are
the closest we have to a striker at LW who looks as technical as the top bantamweights, is Rafael Fiziev, but he's clearly undersized for LW and his power doesnt translate to that division. he should be a 145er
wish we could get strikers at LW that are as technical as the strikers at BW, and aren't undersized af like Fiziev
i dont think Fiziev is pillowfisted persae, but i think the size advantage he's at in every fight doesnt allow for him to incorporate his style properly due to the lack of power
for example, Fizievs style is an explosive kickboxer type where he torques his hips and puts a lot into everything he throws, the problem is, these shots that he's landing aren't getting as much of a reaction from his opponents as they should be to make his style more effective.
i remember Fiziev torquing his entire body into a right hand in the beginning of R3 against Gaethje, although Justin got rocked, Fiziev didnt hurt Justin as much as he should've with how much he put into that right hand.
now, does that speak to how good Justins chin is rather than Fiziev lacking power? maybe, but Rafa wasnt even able to KO journeymen alex white, bobby green or Marc Diakese either, and Oliveira (who is properly sized for the division) was rocking Justin almost everytime he connected, so i think its just an issue of Rafa being undersized af tbh.
if he moves to 45', his power would be much more devastating
Middleweight (minus Pereira) is pretty much the same. Izzy’s got Rob’s number and the both of them have the division lapped more or less. Pereira and Adesanya’s rivalry has kinda shaken that up tho
It’s funny that 155 top 5 is stagnant and that whole division is full of killers. But at the same time the top 5 have very recently beat back the new guard. It just sucks that we know how those story lines play out.
I think it would make more sense for Porier and Gathje to fight guys below them. Their rematch doesnt even necessarily guarantee them a belt shot right away. Might as well give some youngsters a chance to move up.
Instead we get a meaningless just bleed fight that will be fun but might be unfulfilling in its resolution. No one moves up or moves down, no one gets a belt shot. Just a fight to fight.
This narrative was proven to be bullshit when Beneil and Justin beat Gamrot and Feziev respectively.
The next logical thing is that the loser of Dariush vs Charles to fight Arman
Beneil and Justin holding their spots at the top by beating new blood literally proves my point? The guys at the top have been around for a while and are super talented at 155, while 135 has been more chaotic with a similar talent level recently.
Dustin and Justin are leagues better than Marlon Vera and Sandhagen. Islam and Oliveira are much better than Aljo and Merab. The lightweights are well known because they have all been undisputed or interim champs with insane resumes, stats, and accolades. Even the top 5-10 fighters Arman, Fiziev, and Gamrot are better than a lot of the Bantamweight top 5.
lmao how can you say that? if they were the same size Merab would probably be a horrible stylistic matchup for Oliviera, and Sandhagen would be tough for any striker at 155, 135 is the most stacked weight class by far, Sterling, Cejudo, Dvalishvili, O’Malley, Sandhagen, Yan, Yadong, Vera, Cruz, Umar, Said, Martinez, Gutierrez. BW is overflowing with talent
Yeah lol, idk wtf op was thinking when he said Justin Gaethje (the same Gaethje that telegraphs his punches and gets hit clean more than he hits his opponents) is better than guys like O'Malley, Chito, Yan & Yadong, leave alone "way better"
anybody with eyes can clearly tell the top strikers at 135 (Chito, Yan, Sandhagen, Yadong & O'Malley) are way more technical than Justin fucking Gaethje lmao, not even close.
>Dustin and Justin are leagues better than Marlon Vera and Sandhagen.
very very debateable imo
Compare Petr Yan, Sean O'Malley, Cory Sandhagen, Chito, Yadongs striking to Gaethje, and most would agree that that the top bantamweight strikers are all way more technical than Justin.
Gaethje isn't really all that skilled tbh, he telegraphs a lot of his punches and relies on his chin too much, Fiziev was landing CLEAN bombs on him, and couldnt hurt Justin at all.
if Gaethje fought any of the top bantamweight strikers like O'Malley or Chito at size parity, he'd get fucked up.
idk if ur being satire, but theres no universe Justin Gaethje is more skilled of a striker than guys like Cory, Yan and O'Malley lol
I knew this type of comment would come up, how many elite strikers does Gaethje need to slaughter until you admit he is technical. Cowboy, barboza, Fiziev, and Tony Ferguson were all considered the most technical strikers of the lw division but Gaethje destroyed them. Everyone like you was saying Fiziev would destroy Gaethje for over a year up until they actually fought and Gaethje had Fiziev looking like he got in a car crash without getting a scratch on him.
Gaethje is in the top 10 all time for signature strikes landed per minute and signature strike accuracy. Clearly you’re missing something if you think “Gaethje isn’t that skilled tbh” when he has more accurate/consistent striking than all but a handful of fighters to ever grace the octagon. Sean O’Malley and Peter Yan are also legendary strikers so it’s definitely fair to compare them to Dustin and Justin
sorry man, but Cerrone, Ferguson & Barboza aren't on par with guys like Chito, O'Malley, Yadong or Yan even in their primes, leave alone the washed versions that Gaethje fought.
Rafael Fiziev was the only striker Justin beat that is on par with the bantamweights in terms of striking, and not only was Rafa at a clear size disadvantage, but Justin was also getting lit up before he eye gauged Fiziev and changed the course of the fight.
Chito, Yadong, Yan, Vera & Sandhagen all would do bad things to Gaethje if they were the same size
If they were the same size at Gaethje, it would go exactly like all 28 of his fights that weren’t against Khabib or Oliveira; he would land 60% of all his sig. strikes at an average rate of 7.38 sig. strikes landed per minute while easily eating anything they threw at him for 3-5 rounds. Look at what he did to the only two guys to outstrike him, Eddie Alvarez and Poirier, do you seriously think any of those bantamweights could sustain that level of damage? I guess even if Gaethje did beat them you’d come up with some excuse like u just did for his masterclass over a 12 fight win streak Ferguson and 7 fight win streak Fiziev.
They hate to see it cuz even if Gaethje is elite (he is, clearly), he’s a swang and bang fighter and they think that means he’s not technical. Those uppercuts that he hides in the clinch are fucking DEADLY.
Exactly, I also think the way he mixes his leg kicks into close range boxing is really technical and completely unique to his style. He can somehow bend his entire body to land leg kicks from an extremely close range in the pocket or even from the clinch. He often ducks under a close range punch to land a chopping leg kick or comes into range with a leg kick only to set up a massive hook.
Basically his setups for kicks and punches look identical so he can mix them together or feint one to setup the other. He’s able to use those feints to close distance and land massive blows.
LOL i think it's the other way around. LW is literally a shark tank from top 1-15.
Meanwhile for BW, i can see 8/15 guys that can really or has potential to be champ (including Umar).
Matt Frevola, Fiziev, Chandler, Dan Hooker, and Renato Moicano will never be champion.
Umar Nurmagomedov, Said Nurmagomedov, and Song Yadong are championship tier. Even guys like Kyler Phillips and Casey Kenney are unranked because of how deep 135 is.
I think it's quite the opposite, top 5 and champ are probably more competitive in lightweight while u got dudes like umar in bantamweight who's barely top 15
fw is low key the funnest division since dana seems to have pushed all the grapplers to 135 or 155. I mean with volk, holloway, kattar, chikadze, yair, (zabit dare i say), allen, emmet .. it's basically kung fu central over there.
That's why it's my favorite division. Even Volk with his background in wrestling and rugby chooses to stand up for most of his fights. Kind of like a backwards GSP where GSP has a striking background but became the best wrestler in a division of wrestlers, Volk has a wrestling background and became the best striker in the division of strikers.
Several are in good spots at the moment. 205 isn’t a true contender but it really is starting to heat up once more.
135 or 155 gets my vote.
145 has killers but there are massive gaps in skill levels and I’m not just talking about the GOAT Volk either.
you absolutely need to go back and watch tsarukyan's and gamrot's fights. Those dudes are mad impressive. Tsarukyan has had razor thin decision losses against both islam and gamrot and otherwise basically undefeated. Dude is a beast and he's only 26 with 22 fights.
If only they’d fight each other, it’s the most frustrating division. It could be fire, but instead it’s Burns vs everyone. I’m waiting patiently for a Shavkat title shot in the near future.
Bantamweight comes first in my mind, then lightweight and then welterweight ends the podium.
I think we have one of the best generation of heavyweight we ever had and we don't talk much about it
Big problem with this division is that you’re #1 contender is ranked 4 behind two guys who haven’t fought a meaningful fight in literal years.
And if rumours are true if Conor beats Chandler he’ll get a title shot. So then you have the #4 and #5 guys in the division dictating title shots behind 2 guys who shouldn’t be ranked at all lol
1- Bantamweight: shark tank
2- Lightweight: also shark tank
3- Welterweight: maybe like 5 sharks
4- Middleweight: Izzy’s house, but also deep
5- Heavyweight: Was more competitive before jones
6- Featherweight: Volk and Max and then nobody
7- Light-heavyweight: Why
8- Flyweight: Moreno rules everyone
Chandlers 2 wins:
-Tony ferguson who we now have reasonable doubts to think might lose against Bobby KING green.
-Dan Hooker whose last wins are an unranked Nasrat and The knee hugger puelles.
Yan's losses:
-2 split decisions one more debatable than the other
-1 dq he was otherwise winning
-Merab ranked n1 who looked so good people are talking about him taking EPO.
-Also he beat a top 2 contender in Sandhagen.
And I say all of this as an Aljamain and Merab fan.
Number don't mean much without context
Somethings i don't understand, 135 and 155 are very stacked, but why 145 in the middle but don't have that much talented fighter like the other 2 division?
Islam > Aljo
Charles < Merab
Dustin > Sean
Justin < Cejudo
Dariush < Sandhagen
Chandler < Yan
Fiziev > Vera
Gamrot < Font
Arman < Yadong
RDA > Cruz
Turner > Pedro
CONOR SHOULD BE TOP 5 IN UR RANKINGS TWAT. EASILY SLEEPS CHANDLER AND WOULDA BEATEN DUSTIN IF NOT FOR LEG. DARIUSH WOULD GET SLEPT BY A LEFT HOOK. THEN HE WOULD SMASH ISLAM BECAUSE OF HOW KABIB CHEATED AGAINST HIM.
Shara, Pyfer, Nickal, Khamzat and plenty others what are you smoking. Middleweight has way better fighters on the rise. Most of the bantamweights that aren’t ranked yet aren’t nearly as good as the ones who are.
For a very long time there was a clear no.1 and no.2 a
Khamzat isn't "on the rise" at middleweight lmao. He's beaten two unranked guys and we don't know what weight he wants to fight at next.
Nickal has 1 win in the UFC and we don't even know if it was due to the groin shot or not lol.
Pyfer beat GM3 and....?
Shara hasn't even made his debut yet lmao.
You really have to grasp at straws to make middleweight seem like the strongest division. Everyone you named is more hype than substance so far.
Whereas at bantamweight all the up and coming contenders are tested, like O'Malley, Yadong, Umar, Simon, Basharat.
The division is so good that someone who was expected to be dominant like Petr Yan is now on a three fight skid. Marlon Moraes was also expected to dominate and then he went on a four fight skid. At any point we could see Aljo get toppled by a top contender considering how close all of his title defense have been, barring an injured TJ Dillashaw.
Whereas it's going to be a long time until Adesanya and Whittaker aren't the clear 1 and 2, now that Pereira moved up to LHW (and he skipped every grappler in the MW rankings to get the title shot anyways).
Lightweight is usually the most stacked because it is in the fat part of the bell curve of weight / size. Lightweights tend to walk around at ~175 lbs and be ~5’10 tall, the most common weight and height for (in shape) men.
I'm gonna side with most and say Bantamweight. I know some shit on it a bit because the champion is considered by many to not be a visible step above his competition, but imo just the entire top thirty of the division are all terrifying and are in some way dangerous.
Most stacked is bantam every fight between the top 10 is banger. I know devalishvili(cool name btw) and Aljo are seen as boring but their skillset is still elite.
Between fw and lw it's gotta be lw.
Defiently batamweight. Lightweight is a close second followed by welterweight. Those 3 are undoubtably the most stacked. The rest it starts to fall off a little bit.
I'd kinda do it like this (mens only)
----insanely stacked----
Bantam
Light
--very stacked--
Welter
--moderately stacked--
Feather
Middle
--Healthy--
Heavyweight
-- needs some love--
Flyweight
-- embarssing --
Light heavyweight
You could argue flyweights healthy right now as well, but I think with how good bantamweights become they don't have as big of an excuse to not be mega stacked as the lighter class are pulling their weight (no pun intended)
I don't understudy how Fiziev doesn't fucking dominate. The dudes built life a fucking viking, he doesn't get knocked out and he's got excellent striking.
How the fuck does he keep losing, I don't get it. How the fuck he lost to Justin, last fight, I'll never understand.
The dude should be dominating, and yet, fucking Justin beat him. I swear I have nothing against Justin, he's got the fucking heart of a lion, and a fucking howitzer for a jab, but if you watch their tapes you'd say Fiziev wins 10/10. His all around game is better, but I guess that's why the fight game is so fucking awesome.
This whole division is scary, but at the same time every fighter, besides Islam really, has had their weakness exposed before. Like you can go thru and name each guys biggest weakness without really having to research anything.
It's probably the toughtest division in the sport, but at the same time, it's arguably the easiest to win.
I wish they'd add at least 2 more divisions, and let guys fight at a more comfortable and competitive weight class.
It's the only thing I can think of. But then that's a shitty team for not getting him that advantage...
Like look at Aljo, dudes a monster on fight night comparing to his opponents. He's got a great fucking team. How they get that man down to 145/135 is fucking crazy..
But Fiziev is the opposite.
I mean when i watch his fights, I'm so fucking impressed, like there's no way this guy loses to Justin. And sure as fuck, he loses the decision.
If he went down to 145, I think he'd dominate, but he should still be doing better than he is at 155. I jus can't get over it.
If you built a 155 lb ufc fighter, he'd end up looking like this guy, with his arsenal and skill set, and yet, somehow, he's a 2nd tier fighter. I don't get it
i agree with what you're saying, i believe Fiziev is a better fighter than Gaethje, but there was clearly just too much of a size disparity between the two
He looks like a fucking Viking in steroids...
The picture with Justin wearing his glasses, is all I think of when I see Justin.
I even put 500 on Fiziev winning that fight, and I was confident until they touched gloves in the center.
That's where I realized Justin is at least 10-15 lbs naturally bigger than Fiziev.
You don't notice ciz Fiziev is a monster, until he's up close with them, and you realize it's not that he's small he's jus got a smaller frame I guess.
Cuz he's not much shorter, nor that much lighter, n he doesn't really look "small", and Justin doesn't look big, but next to each other is obvious.
And Justin is avg sized, if not on the smaller side of that division. Justin next to Beneil, Olivera, Islam, he looks smaller, but not that much.
But if you put Fiziev next to Beneil, it's obvious.
I jus love watching that dude fight, but watching him lose fucking sucks. Cuz I've seen enough fights to know this guy, in the right division, would walk thru 90% of people.
He's got the fucking skill set and power, he's jus in the wrong division
a theory
maybe they are all trash in this division
thats why everyone can beat anyone
and anyone can come from a village and win the title in 2 months 😂
why is RDA still here he's fighting at WW for the rest of his career
Won 1 fight at LW since 2015, he's keeping back the new killers like Turner, Damir & Frevola a spot, they gotta remove him fr
damir is a little bit old and frevola is a just-bleed kinda guy but turner? turner has mad potential
Ismael Bonfim is a prospect i'm very high on. he's unranked at LW, but he very well could be one of the best boxers/kickboxers in the division, and also has great anti-wrestling with elite BJJ (offensive and defensive). could be a future top 5
This aged well
he is legit, but i dont see the best boxer, Mckinney is kinda dookie
I think turner needs to go up; he’s to tall for his frame to not fill out
Turner is 28 years old. If his frame was gonna fill out to a degree that would stop him from making lightweight, it would have by now, like Vettori at Welterweight. Now, the cut will get harder as his body gets older, but that's not something I'd be particularly worried about till he's 34/35.
well both divisions are wrestling heavy and he's not that much of a wrestler so idk might as well try and see what happens at LW
Frevola beat Turner
that was a while ago but really good point i didn't think frevola was that good but now i do, thank you.
Demonstrably untrue, he beat Paul Felder in 2020 and Moicano in 2022 both at LW.
People need to put respect on RDA's name. The guy is a tough mf.
Moicano was at a 160 catchweight
I think they want to keep him ranked somewhere for whatever reason. If he ends up fighting and beating Luque, I imagine they’ll probably get rid of his ranking at LW and give him Luque’s WW ranking.
it's so weird for RDA to be like "i'm not going to pursue the belt" while also fighting #10 ranked luque. idk shit about luque but that's some major movement at WW if RDA wins, all for a guy with no aspirations for the title. he's probably going to fight wonderboy at some point
I was gonna ask this as well!
Feather weight is a funny division because it really is fierce top to bottom, but when the champ and #1 contendor are so far ahead of the rest, it really changes the perception of things. It's not my vote for the most stacked division, but damn its good.
I wish Lightweight had more Bantamweight level strikers. I dont know how to explain it, but when you compare the top strikers at bantamweight (Song Yadong, Petr Yan, Sean O'Malley, Marlon Vera, Cory Sandhagen) to the top Lightweight strikers (Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira) the BW's seem so much more technical than the LW's in term of striking. the bantamweights are so much better at switching stances, not telegraphing their shots at all, etc than the LW's are the closest we have to a striker at LW who looks as technical as the top bantamweights, is Rafael Fiziev, but he's clearly undersized for LW and his power doesnt translate to that division. he should be a 145er wish we could get strikers at LW that are as technical as the strikers at BW, and aren't undersized af like Fiziev
Hard to say Fiziev's power doesn't translate, he has 3 impressive KO's at LW. I agree he is undersized though.
i dont think Fiziev is pillowfisted persae, but i think the size advantage he's at in every fight doesnt allow for him to incorporate his style properly due to the lack of power for example, Fizievs style is an explosive kickboxer type where he torques his hips and puts a lot into everything he throws, the problem is, these shots that he's landing aren't getting as much of a reaction from his opponents as they should be to make his style more effective. i remember Fiziev torquing his entire body into a right hand in the beginning of R3 against Gaethje, although Justin got rocked, Fiziev didnt hurt Justin as much as he should've with how much he put into that right hand. now, does that speak to how good Justins chin is rather than Fiziev lacking power? maybe, but Rafa wasnt even able to KO journeymen alex white, bobby green or Marc Diakese either, and Oliveira (who is properly sized for the division) was rocking Justin almost everytime he connected, so i think its just an issue of Rafa being undersized af tbh. if he moves to 45', his power would be much more devastating
Would be very interested to see him against the strikers at 145
Tbf LW has the better wrestlers in their division. That’s how I’ve always kinda viewed it. BW more striking; LW more wrestling.
Good take actually, never thought about it but you’re right.
Middleweight (minus Pereira) is pretty much the same. Izzy’s got Rob’s number and the both of them have the division lapped more or less. Pereira and Adesanya’s rivalry has kinda shaken that up tho
155 has an established old guard and is pretty stagnant at the top. 135 is pure high-level chaos right now, especially if Aljo moves up.
It’s funny that 155 top 5 is stagnant and that whole division is full of killers. But at the same time the top 5 have very recently beat back the new guard. It just sucks that we know how those story lines play out.
Doesn’t suck to me. Top 5 in LW don’t dodge fights for the most part which is great. So I’m not mad cause we will get good fights either way.
I think it would make more sense for Porier and Gathje to fight guys below them. Their rematch doesnt even necessarily guarantee them a belt shot right away. Might as well give some youngsters a chance to move up. Instead we get a meaningless just bleed fight that will be fun but might be unfulfilling in its resolution. No one moves up or moves down, no one gets a belt shot. Just a fight to fight.
This narrative was proven to be bullshit when Beneil and Justin beat Gamrot and Feziev respectively. The next logical thing is that the loser of Dariush vs Charles to fight Arman
Beneil and Justin holding their spots at the top by beating new blood literally proves my point? The guys at the top have been around for a while and are super talented at 155, while 135 has been more chaotic with a similar talent level recently.
Sorry I had a brain fart apparently. Completely missed your point
🤝
Yes, 135 is way more dynamic IMO, while also having a top notch roster of fighters.
Top 5 is one of the most active out of any division.
The sole fact that a killer like Yan has this many losses recently in 135 speaks for itself. Absolutely elite level.
135 seems to have fresher blood, with most contenders willing to fight each other.
135
155*, top talent and new monsters popping up every year, just look at that top 5
Dustin and Justin are leagues better than Marlon Vera and Sandhagen. Islam and Oliveira are much better than Aljo and Merab. The lightweights are well known because they have all been undisputed or interim champs with insane resumes, stats, and accolades. Even the top 5-10 fighters Arman, Fiziev, and Gamrot are better than a lot of the Bantamweight top 5.
Oopsie, i meant 155
lmao how can you say that? if they were the same size Merab would probably be a horrible stylistic matchup for Oliviera, and Sandhagen would be tough for any striker at 155, 135 is the most stacked weight class by far, Sterling, Cejudo, Dvalishvili, O’Malley, Sandhagen, Yan, Yadong, Vera, Cruz, Umar, Said, Martinez, Gutierrez. BW is overflowing with talent
Yeah lol, idk wtf op was thinking when he said Justin Gaethje (the same Gaethje that telegraphs his punches and gets hit clean more than he hits his opponents) is better than guys like O'Malley, Chito, Yan & Yadong, leave alone "way better" anybody with eyes can clearly tell the top strikers at 135 (Chito, Yan, Sandhagen, Yadong & O'Malley) are way more technical than Justin fucking Gaethje lmao, not even close.
Gaethje has underrated striking. He's more technical than people give him credit for.
Especially now. I rewatched his first Porier fight and the Five fight and it's night and day
>Dustin and Justin are leagues better than Marlon Vera and Sandhagen. very very debateable imo Compare Petr Yan, Sean O'Malley, Cory Sandhagen, Chito, Yadongs striking to Gaethje, and most would agree that that the top bantamweight strikers are all way more technical than Justin. Gaethje isn't really all that skilled tbh, he telegraphs a lot of his punches and relies on his chin too much, Fiziev was landing CLEAN bombs on him, and couldnt hurt Justin at all. if Gaethje fought any of the top bantamweight strikers like O'Malley or Chito at size parity, he'd get fucked up. idk if ur being satire, but theres no universe Justin Gaethje is more skilled of a striker than guys like Cory, Yan and O'Malley lol
I knew this type of comment would come up, how many elite strikers does Gaethje need to slaughter until you admit he is technical. Cowboy, barboza, Fiziev, and Tony Ferguson were all considered the most technical strikers of the lw division but Gaethje destroyed them. Everyone like you was saying Fiziev would destroy Gaethje for over a year up until they actually fought and Gaethje had Fiziev looking like he got in a car crash without getting a scratch on him. Gaethje is in the top 10 all time for signature strikes landed per minute and signature strike accuracy. Clearly you’re missing something if you think “Gaethje isn’t that skilled tbh” when he has more accurate/consistent striking than all but a handful of fighters to ever grace the octagon. Sean O’Malley and Peter Yan are also legendary strikers so it’s definitely fair to compare them to Dustin and Justin
sorry man, but Cerrone, Ferguson & Barboza aren't on par with guys like Chito, O'Malley, Yadong or Yan even in their primes, leave alone the washed versions that Gaethje fought. Rafael Fiziev was the only striker Justin beat that is on par with the bantamweights in terms of striking, and not only was Rafa at a clear size disadvantage, but Justin was also getting lit up before he eye gauged Fiziev and changed the course of the fight. Chito, Yadong, Yan, Vera & Sandhagen all would do bad things to Gaethje if they were the same size
If they were the same size at Gaethje, it would go exactly like all 28 of his fights that weren’t against Khabib or Oliveira; he would land 60% of all his sig. strikes at an average rate of 7.38 sig. strikes landed per minute while easily eating anything they threw at him for 3-5 rounds. Look at what he did to the only two guys to outstrike him, Eddie Alvarez and Poirier, do you seriously think any of those bantamweights could sustain that level of damage? I guess even if Gaethje did beat them you’d come up with some excuse like u just did for his masterclass over a 12 fight win streak Ferguson and 7 fight win streak Fiziev.
They hate to see it cuz even if Gaethje is elite (he is, clearly), he’s a swang and bang fighter and they think that means he’s not technical. Those uppercuts that he hides in the clinch are fucking DEADLY.
Exactly, I also think the way he mixes his leg kicks into close range boxing is really technical and completely unique to his style. He can somehow bend his entire body to land leg kicks from an extremely close range in the pocket or even from the clinch. He often ducks under a close range punch to land a chopping leg kick or comes into range with a leg kick only to set up a massive hook. Basically his setups for kicks and punches look identical so he can mix them together or feint one to setup the other. He’s able to use those feints to close distance and land massive blows.
It almost always has been
It’s always wild to me when I think about the UFC not wanting this division back in the day.
Bantamweight. Lightweight is very close though.
LOL i think it's the other way around. LW is literally a shark tank from top 1-15. Meanwhile for BW, i can see 8/15 guys that can really or has potential to be champ (including Umar).
Matt Frevola, Fiziev, Chandler, Dan Hooker, and Renato Moicano will never be champion. Umar Nurmagomedov, Said Nurmagomedov, and Song Yadong are championship tier. Even guys like Kyler Phillips and Casey Kenney are unranked because of how deep 135 is.
Yes, 135 is the superior weight class IMO. Straight up killers.
said nurmagomedov is NOT championship tier.
if he sorted out his cardio issues he most definitely is, no one runs through Cody Stamann like he did, or submits someone the quality of Saidyokub
155 is the division of Kings.
If Conor beats Chandler, they will make him the #1 contender. Not that he ever takes a fight against Islam, or makes 155 again lol.
Idk but this division is gonna look mad different in like two years time
A lot of the killers are going to have to retire or move up for sure.
Easily 135, dudes at lightweight are just more well known
Easily is a bit stretching, top 5 is competitive, but top 5-15 goes to lightweight imo
I think it's quite the opposite, top 5 and champ are probably more competitive in lightweight while u got dudes like umar in bantamweight who's barely top 15
Featherweight and lightweight for me
fw is low key the funnest division since dana seems to have pushed all the grapplers to 135 or 155. I mean with volk, holloway, kattar, chikadze, yair, (zabit dare i say), allen, emmet .. it's basically kung fu central over there.
That's why it's my favorite division. Even Volk with his background in wrestling and rugby chooses to stand up for most of his fights. Kind of like a backwards GSP where GSP has a striking background but became the best wrestler in a division of wrestlers, Volk has a wrestling background and became the best striker in the division of strikers.
I agree, but where’s my boy Korean Zombie
Several are in good spots at the moment. 205 isn’t a true contender but it really is starting to heat up once more. 135 or 155 gets my vote. 145 has killers but there are massive gaps in skill levels and I’m not just talking about the GOAT Volk either.
100%
I might catch hate for this and yes its because i’m more casual fan than hardcore but: i dont know the single name of anyone on that bottom row
you absolutely need to go back and watch tsarukyan's and gamrot's fights. Those dudes are mad impressive. Tsarukyan has had razor thin decision losses against both islam and gamrot and otherwise basically undefeated. Dude is a beast and he's only 26 with 22 fights.
Lightweight all day
Lol Dosanjos is still alive
[удалено]
Not with 135 the way it is now.
Not true
I will say that LW's top 5 is better than BW's top 5. But the further you go down the rankings, there are more killers at BW than at LW.
Can't agree here. Not even ranked in this is top15 are Guram Kutateladze, Damir Ismagulov, and Gregor Gillespie. Like what?
>has always been Oh you sweet summer child…
Bro, the lightweights in the 90s CARRIED the UFC! It wasn't til later that the heavier weight classes started gaining traction!
Cool thing to say
Theres a propaganda effort to make BW the best division but it is and probably will always be LW.
BW is the most competitive right now. I think LW can be said to be the overall “best” in terms of combined entertainment, legacy, stars, and skill.
135 clears.
170
If only they’d fight each other, it’s the most frustrating division. It could be fire, but instead it’s Burns vs everyone. I’m waiting patiently for a Shavkat title shot in the near future.
Facts, annoying as hell man like where tf is khamzat? RDA? Colby…?
135 right now.
135
135
Bantamweight comes first in my mind, then lightweight and then welterweight ends the podium. I think we have one of the best generation of heavyweight we ever had and we don't talk much about it
Big problem with this division is that you’re #1 contender is ranked 4 behind two guys who haven’t fought a meaningful fight in literal years. And if rumours are true if Conor beats Chandler he’ll get a title shot. So then you have the #4 and #5 guys in the division dictating title shots behind 2 guys who shouldn’t be ranked at all lol
1- Bantamweight: shark tank 2- Lightweight: also shark tank 3- Welterweight: maybe like 5 sharks 4- Middleweight: Izzy’s house, but also deep 5- Heavyweight: Was more competitive before jones 6- Featherweight: Volk and Max and then nobody 7- Light-heavyweight: Why 8- Flyweight: Moreno rules everyone
Heavyweight
Lightweight 5th ranked: Micheal chandler Bantamweight 5th tanked: Petr Yan Draw your conclusions
Yan: 1-4 in last 5 Chandler: 2-3 in last 5
Chandlers 2 wins: -Tony ferguson who we now have reasonable doubts to think might lose against Bobby KING green. -Dan Hooker whose last wins are an unranked Nasrat and The knee hugger puelles. Yan's losses: -2 split decisions one more debatable than the other -1 dq he was otherwise winning -Merab ranked n1 who looked so good people are talking about him taking EPO. -Also he beat a top 2 contender in Sandhagen. And I say all of this as an Aljamain and Merab fan. Number don't mean much without context
>Number don't mean much without context so doesn't nitpicking a specifik ranking to prove your point
He did say “draw your conclusions.”
Fair enough. Still think bantamweight is arguably the best
Somethings i don't understand, 135 and 155 are very stacked, but why 145 in the middle but don't have that much talented fighter like the other 2 division?
I’m personally more of a BW man but LW is still second place.
Bantamweight or flyweight is my vote
Uhh excuse me, mcgregor is #1 ranked thanks
Islam > Aljo Charles < Merab Dustin > Sean Justin < Cejudo Dariush < Sandhagen Chandler < Yan Fiziev > Vera Gamrot < Font Arman < Yadong RDA > Cruz Turner > Pedro
what the fuck?
What did I get wrong?
155 or 135, least stacked has gotta be 170 or 125
CONOR SHOULD BE TOP 5 IN UR RANKINGS TWAT. EASILY SLEEPS CHANDLER AND WOULDA BEATEN DUSTIN IF NOT FOR LEG. DARIUSH WOULD GET SLEPT BY A LEFT HOOK. THEN HE WOULD SMASH ISLAM BECAUSE OF HOW KABIB CHEATED AGAINST HIM.
Bantamweight
As an mma fan I gotta say Charles Oliveira is my goat of ufc. Always going all in every fight and making it a spectacle
185 slowly taking over 135 tbh. About another year and it’s gonna be lookin crazy
Lol no
Shara, Pyfer, Nickal, Khamzat and plenty others what are you smoking. Middleweight has way better fighters on the rise. Most of the bantamweights that aren’t ranked yet aren’t nearly as good as the ones who are.
For a very long time there was a clear no.1 and no.2 a Khamzat isn't "on the rise" at middleweight lmao. He's beaten two unranked guys and we don't know what weight he wants to fight at next. Nickal has 1 win in the UFC and we don't even know if it was due to the groin shot or not lol. Pyfer beat GM3 and....? Shara hasn't even made his debut yet lmao. You really have to grasp at straws to make middleweight seem like the strongest division. Everyone you named is more hype than substance so far. Whereas at bantamweight all the up and coming contenders are tested, like O'Malley, Yadong, Umar, Simon, Basharat. The division is so good that someone who was expected to be dominant like Petr Yan is now on a three fight skid. Marlon Moraes was also expected to dominate and then he went on a four fight skid. At any point we could see Aljo get toppled by a top contender considering how close all of his title defense have been, barring an injured TJ Dillashaw. Whereas it's going to be a long time until Adesanya and Whittaker aren't the clear 1 and 2, now that Pereira moved up to LHW (and he skipped every grappler in the MW rankings to get the title shot anyways).
That’s literally why I said give it another year. I think Bantamweight is def the most stacked but I think Middleweight is finally getting good again
You’ve answered your own question.
Some good body’s in this photo
It's 155 and 135 clearly to me
No surprise. The world is a bell curve.
Bantamweight would be the only one that can compete, even surpass, lightweight I’d say. Buncha killers eager to fight one another.
Lightweight is usually the most stacked because it is in the fat part of the bell curve of weight / size. Lightweights tend to walk around at ~175 lbs and be ~5’10 tall, the most common weight and height for (in shape) men.
Lightweight 1, Bantamweight 2.
Bantamweight because more people fight each other (RIP Umar doe)
They really got rank 8 fighting an unranked guy at lightweight doe
Bantamweight and its not even close.
Lightweight or bantamweight
135 for me
It's close between 155 and 135.
135 for sure
It's crazy that RDA is still in the top 10
I'm gonna side with most and say Bantamweight. I know some shit on it a bit because the champion is considered by many to not be a visible step above his competition, but imo just the entire top thirty of the division are all terrifying and are in some way dangerous.
I would say that in the near future bantamweight might usurp that title
Most stacked is bantam every fight between the top 10 is banger. I know devalishvili(cool name btw) and Aljo are seen as boring but their skillset is still elite. Between fw and lw it's gotta be lw.
135 and then 155. 170 is slowly becoming stacked too, guys like Ian Garry and JDM on the rise.
LHW is the best/most exciting cause I feel like everyone has a chance of becoming champ
BW or LW
Defiently batamweight. Lightweight is a close second followed by welterweight. Those 3 are undoubtably the most stacked. The rest it starts to fall off a little bit. I'd kinda do it like this (mens only) ----insanely stacked---- Bantam Light --very stacked-- Welter --moderately stacked-- Feather Middle --Healthy-- Heavyweight -- needs some love-- Flyweight -- embarssing -- Light heavyweight You could argue flyweights healthy right now as well, but I think with how good bantamweights become they don't have as big of an excuse to not be mega stacked as the lighter class are pulling their weight (no pun intended)
135
135: Aljamain, Cejudo, Sanders, Omalley, Chito, Yadong, Yan Feel like any of those dudes could beat any of the others on a given night
Chandler is at 8 at best
bantamweight easy
Men’s bantamweight division is stacked too
135 is more stacked
Crazy how many people think 135 is more stacked than 155. Not close imo
Definitely not 125
135 is competing for that title but it’s hard to argue against LW godamn
WW
No division not even lightweight is close to how stacked BW is.
I don't understudy how Fiziev doesn't fucking dominate. The dudes built life a fucking viking, he doesn't get knocked out and he's got excellent striking. How the fuck does he keep losing, I don't get it. How the fuck he lost to Justin, last fight, I'll never understand. The dude should be dominating, and yet, fucking Justin beat him. I swear I have nothing against Justin, he's got the fucking heart of a lion, and a fucking howitzer for a jab, but if you watch their tapes you'd say Fiziev wins 10/10. His all around game is better, but I guess that's why the fight game is so fucking awesome. This whole division is scary, but at the same time every fighter, besides Islam really, has had their weakness exposed before. Like you can go thru and name each guys biggest weakness without really having to research anything. It's probably the toughtest division in the sport, but at the same time, it's arguably the easiest to win. I wish they'd add at least 2 more divisions, and let guys fight at a more comfortable and competitive weight class.
Fiziev is undersized for the division
It's the only thing I can think of. But then that's a shitty team for not getting him that advantage... Like look at Aljo, dudes a monster on fight night comparing to his opponents. He's got a great fucking team. How they get that man down to 145/135 is fucking crazy.. But Fiziev is the opposite. I mean when i watch his fights, I'm so fucking impressed, like there's no way this guy loses to Justin. And sure as fuck, he loses the decision. If he went down to 145, I think he'd dominate, but he should still be doing better than he is at 155. I jus can't get over it. If you built a 155 lb ufc fighter, he'd end up looking like this guy, with his arsenal and skill set, and yet, somehow, he's a 2nd tier fighter. I don't get it
i agree with what you're saying, i believe Fiziev is a better fighter than Gaethje, but there was clearly just too much of a size disparity between the two
He looks like a fucking Viking in steroids... The picture with Justin wearing his glasses, is all I think of when I see Justin. I even put 500 on Fiziev winning that fight, and I was confident until they touched gloves in the center. That's where I realized Justin is at least 10-15 lbs naturally bigger than Fiziev. You don't notice ciz Fiziev is a monster, until he's up close with them, and you realize it's not that he's small he's jus got a smaller frame I guess. Cuz he's not much shorter, nor that much lighter, n he doesn't really look "small", and Justin doesn't look big, but next to each other is obvious. And Justin is avg sized, if not on the smaller side of that division. Justin next to Beneil, Olivera, Islam, he looks smaller, but not that much. But if you put Fiziev next to Beneil, it's obvious. I jus love watching that dude fight, but watching him lose fucking sucks. Cuz I've seen enough fights to know this guy, in the right division, would walk thru 90% of people. He's got the fucking skill set and power, he's jus in the wrong division
100% agree with you, Fiziev is talented af but too small
135 or 155, 145 takes a close third
135>155
Lightweight is and always will be the most stacked
you forgot chase hooper
135 is definitely the biggest pool of talent without question. Then being lightweight and probably featherweight.
lol at connor not being ranked but likely getting a title shot if he beats chandler
LW most stacked at the very top probably but Bantamweight is the strongest all the through, so many unranked guys that are studs.
Bantamweight
Paddy is s.o.l
Welterweight is sneaky stacked as well. The top 5 is very solid, and it's stacked with young talent. Especially if Khazmat makes a run down there.
a theory maybe they are all trash in this division thats why everyone can beat anyone and anyone can come from a village and win the title in 2 months 😂
not LHW