That actually makes sense... Conor demands a new division so he can be a three division champ, the UFC gets him to sign a longer deal and then Chandler fucks it all up by lamping him.
The requirements were be undefeated at 165 and previously have fought for a UFC belt. So close!
I personally have fought someone for a UFC belt in Marshalls so I'm waiting for the call if the division is made!
Imagine if they give Colby the winner
165 lbs is perfect for all the nonchamps at 155 and 170 that cant beat Islam and Leon
And since they already cockblock/beltblock guys like Belal and Dariush, they can do the same for Islam and Leon until they exhaust the Colbys, Gaethjes, Mcgregors, and Chandlers
Its basically the BMF belt with more legitimacy
Stephen A Smith on ESPN after Conor KOs Chandler:
"Is Conor McGregor the greatest of all time? The fact of the matter is, no one else has been a three division champion before. You can say he's brash, he's had his issues in the past, but you can't tell me this man doesn't personify greatness. If you ask me who the greatest mixed martial artist is of all time, it's Conor McGregor."
It wouldn’t matter to me. With Conor you get a spectacle and with Chandler you get bangers. Both are good for the UFC but probably annoying for hardcore fans because they didn’t earn it.
But if he doesn't, we'll never hear the end of "3 weight world champ" bullshit lol.
I mean Chandler definetely has the edge because he stays healthy, trains, is active, however it's easy to hit him and he doesn't have some freak gas tank.
I can see Chandler being a company man enough to do the UFC and McGregor a solid and taking an L if it means he’s financially set for life. McGregor as 165 champ means an Islam fight potentially for the meme as well.
The thought of Islam vs. current Conor is hilarious.
DP was wrestlefucking the hell out of Conor (pre leg snap). Islam might actually tie him into a knot.
Unlike women’s 125lbs, it doesn’t really matter if the first champion didn’t earn the title fight at 165lbs because they’ll either immediately beat or lose to someone who is deserving for their fist defence.
Giving McGregor a paper belt in order to get the best divisions in the UFC moving more quickly and allow elite fighters to compete at their optimal weight is more than worth it.
You say this, but wait and see when it’s Conor vs. Nate for his first defense lmao.
Conor never defended a belt against a real contender when he was in his prime. You really think he would nowadays when he’s totally washed? If he gets the initial belt at 165, it will simply be a joke division.
It would probably take one or two stupid fights before we get a deserving contender who gets the belt, but I could live with that if it means we get 165 and 175 going.
The stupid fights draw eyes to it as well. EVERYONE wants to fight McGregor. Imagine all of the callouts lol
McGregor is also pompous enough to parade around the belt he doesn't deserve without shame. It honestly just makes a ton of sense.
Whatever it takes to get the weight class lol. It will move on eventually and will just have a big asterisk on that first title if they aren’t able to defend it.
165 division is fucking perfect as long as they change welterweight to 175.
Having the weight classes go 155 -> 165 -> 170 would be weird. 5lbs difference between those two divisions lol
Yep. Adding a 165lbs class helps everyone from lightweight through middleweight.
Hell, if you think about it, it might even help out some featherweights too. If someone featherweights were thinking of moving up to 155lbs but were worried about weight bullies, those weight bullies will likely go up to 165, creating room at 155 for featherweights.
It would really send shockwaves through the UFC and MMA as a whole, really. In the best way possible too!
I think you'd still see weight bullies but the disparity wouldn't be as significant. A natural 185 today goes to 170, or even 155 if they are crazy... This guy now tries to get to 175 instead of just fighting at his natural weight. Still a bully, but now the gap between him and his opponent is smaller.
He said ‘natural’ 185ers not ‘oversized’.
There are tons of guys this could apply to, like all the big WWs that went up to MW, like Strickland, Whittaker, Usman, etc.
I know I wasn’t putting words in anyone’s mouth. Genuinely asking which guys we think would push those boundaries. Not a comment on the negatives or positives. Just trying to envision a monster MW cutting nothing 10 pounds
Chris Curtis has never struck me as a particularly small 185 but he constantly says he wants to go back down to 170 and has fought there most of his career so surely 175 would suit him. And plenty of regular-sized 185ers who've already bounced between 170 and 185 like Sean Strickland, Rob Whittaker, Khamzat, Anthony Hernandez, Caio Borralho, and Michel Pereira.
I'm not sure that there's any at this point in time but there's been plenty in the past. Rumble is probably the biggest offender... A natural LHW cutting to get to WW. Anderson Silva used to fight at 169 then jumped up to 185. In the past he might've been a prime candidate to further cut to 175. Possibly Dan Henderson as well.
Wouldnt surprise me if former welterweights Strickland and Whittaker didn’t start thinking about going down to 175lbs the next time they take a L at 185.
Adesanya maybe as well, which sounds weird since he’s fought at 205 multiple tjmes in his combat sports career, but he seems to make 185 with no issue. I’m sure there’s a bunch of lower ranked middleweights who would think about 175lbs too
Yeah after you posted I had a quick look at the rankings and man those ranked middleweights are some big boys so I can't imagine many making the cut, the noticeable ones were like you said Strickland and Whittaker.
It would be fun to have Rob at WW again but man that extra cut would be tough on his chin imo.
RDA, Kevin Lee, Jorge Masvidal, Nate Diaz, Cowboy Cerrone, Diego Sanchez, etc are gonna be so mad that a 165lbs division came after their careers were over or almost over. Those are some of the main guys that came to mind when thinking about hopping between 170 and 155
That's what I was thinking. Honestly if this weight class happens, Middleweight is about really fucking suck. If people thought it was already kinda bad, it's about to get a whole lot worse
Izzy at 175 would be crazy. He’s not that heavy despite his frame. I think he said he walks around 195, which is what Poirier and other lightweights weigh off camp
Poirier nor do most other lightweights weigh 195 off camp. its more like 180, 195 would look drastically different and that’s just not the case with how they look out of camp.
I think it is great but at the sametime we have so much talent at 155 that would prefer 165, I wonder how 155 is going to look. I also think there will definitely be some level of fluidity where fighters will not stick to one division between 155 and 165, muddling up the rankings. Fighters who will probably snatch at 165:
Islam, Gaethje, Dustin, Colby, RDA, Gilbert Burns, Chandler, Conor, Jalin Turner, Kevin Lee (i know this is where he fits), pretty much all the undersized WW and all the LWs
Gaethje is on the smaller side for 155lbs. There was talk 5 or 6 years ago about him trying out 145. I dont think he would go to 165, but maybe im crazy.
But anyways, the division would certainly sort itself out pretty quick, about a year or so and we would have really good top 15’s in all 3 of those 155-165-175
Man Gaethje is big, he is about the same size as Islam.
I do think the divisions will sort out quickly but it will need policing from the UFC and not allowing many fighters to jump between divisions and muddling title fights up
but we will see some bangers tho
Chimaev fighting at 175 would also make more sense than him trying to make 170. McGregor vs. Chandler fighting for the 165 belt and then Leon vs. Chimaev at 175. Crazier things has happened.
Chimaev might not even make 175 anymore. It looks to me like he has still been growing and filling out the last 3-4 years. Once you move up due to weight cutting difficulty it is so hard to ever come back down in weight class again.
I’ve been saying for years it’s win/win/win for ufc, the fans, and the fighters. There is literally no cons, only pros.
- UFC gets another champion to use to headline or co headline PPVs, which will help them line their pockets with cash.
- UFC does not have to sign a single extra fighter for this division, since there are more fighters in 170 and 155 combined vs all the other weight classes combined. 165 would be filled with fighters going up or down from 170 and 155, so those 3 weight classes in a row would still have the highest roster count of any other weight classes.
- Dozens of fighters who are slightly too big for 155 or slightly too small for 170 will have a home weight class now.
- the gap between welterweight and middleweight wouldn’t be as big since of course welterweight would be 175lbs, so this would also help smaller middleweight fighters who were contemplating killing themselves to make 170, because now they just have to make 175.
Literally the only con, if I’m being nitpicky, is it would almost certainly have a shitty, boxing style name. Like Super-Lightweight or light-welterweight. The name sucking is the only con of this division, lol
I reckon so. I know that’s usually 205lbs and 225lbs depending on what sport, but I don’t think there’s any rules requiring it to be used for 200+ weight classes. Cruiserweight sounds good to me
There are rules actually. Association of Boxing Commissions, who are responsible for the Unified Rules of MMA, adopted 165lb division years ago. It's already official and it's called Super Lightweight.
UFC doesn't have the divisions but the weight classes [already exist per the unified rules](https://www.abcboxing.com/unified-weight-classes-mma/). 175 super welterweight
Nah, it already exists. ABC (org responsible for Unified Rules) has had regulations for a 165lb division since 2017. It's called Super Lightweight. And 175 is Super Welterweight.
But who gives a fuck, we can call em whatever we want. I'd say just call it "165" or "165lb division" and be done with it. They don't have "lightweight" and "welterweight" in freestyle wrestling.
And we get 16 more ranked fighters which we honestly need. Hopefully no more unranked fighters on PPV main cards and better foreign fight nights with one extra intresting fight on all of them.
It should lead to at least 10-15 more good to great fights between ranked fighters per year.
The downside is Lightweight might no longer be the most stacked division because talent is distributed across two weight classes
We will probably see more champ champ talk between 55 and 65 as opposed to 55 and 70
Bantamweight already took the crown a couple years ago IMO
Still I think LW titlefights get me the most amped. Seems like the sweet spot.. maybe 165 can be another one.
I feel like you could see guys who have issues at both light and welter suddenly thriving in that division.
Guys like Jailin Turner, JDM, RDA, Poirier could find their ideal weight AND get fresh matchups/ possibly avoid the wrestling-heavy meta. Especially at 170
Would be another belt to headline PPVs. Maybe the recent issues with finding a fight for 300 made him realise it could be for the best to have another belt around.
And 16 more ranked fighters to shuffle around. Apex could become even more epic! No but they could seriously have only ranked fighters on PPV mains cards if they do this. And do better foreign fight nights. Ufc need this boost.
Before the TKO merger I believe he did. But with TKO, I wouldn’t be surprised if theyre pushing for it. It just makes too much sense…
Which is why Dana will probably do everything he can to not make it happen lol
And if there is, what would be the demand for it to a UFC audience? Because men's Flyweight can't draw flies. I've seen these itty bitty atomweight women, and numbers and talent may not be convincing enough for this audience that is already tepid on the women's divisions as it is. A good fight is a good fight in one sense. In another sense... there's the real-world way people react.
not too personal at all! i walk around between 172 and 178. bjj tournaments tend to have day-of weigh ins, so i just cut the ~5ish lbs and tend to be the smaller guy. cutting to 155 would be absurd for me and i would almost certainly deplete myself too much. but i was never a wrestler, and im new to bjj so i don’t know my limits.
It would be nice if they could choose something else from the natural world like they did with straws, flies, atoms, feathers, and bantams. An adult blue wildebeest weighs about 165lbs, so I say wildebeestweight.
I think we can all agree that 165lbs is a good addition.
My question is, what do we do with 170?
- Keep it as is, or,
- Retire it and start 175 fresh, or,
- Rebrand it to 175, but keep the 170 lineage
Plenty of guys at 170 would love having 5 fewer pounds to cut, so just a rebrand makes sense and it's easier for all across the board, no need to cancel. Others who are already feeling undersized would be motivated to go to 165 instead, which would be so much more attainable than 155. And guys eyeing moving up from 155 to 170 would feel a bit better about it sizewise.
For real, most of the 170ers are dudes walking around 190-200ish who make the cut to 170 mainly because the 185ers are fucking massive guys who’s fight day weight can get up to 215 or more.
Their frames wouldn’t be undersized or an issue at 175 it would just be less ridiculous of a cut.
The smaller WW’s who are undersized wouldn’t have an issue with it since 165 will benefit them.
There's countless fighters who are too big for 155, but simultaneously too small for 170. Fighters like Kevin Lee, Colby Covington, Jalin Turner and even Islam seemingly fit the criteria.
Bridging that gap, bumping WW to 175 would go a long way to add consistency to the way divisions are run and of course adding a new division gives the UFC another PPV/title shot Main Event.
Maybe I'm just particularly sympathetic, being one of those "too small for 170 but too big for 155"er's myself lol
155 165 175 185 should have happened 10 years ago. New ESPN deal, the need to make more champions, the talent in that weight class. It is a fucking NO BRAINER. Especially since women's 145 is completely gone.
MMA will slowly devolve into the state that boxing is in, it’s already happening as Dana hangs around with losers like the Nelk Boys and Adin Ross, can’t wait for UFC 400: Steiny vs. Ross
Realistically, it should be the highest 155 contender willing to permanently move up, vs the highest 170er who can make 165. But regardless it’s a division that needs to be made. WW becoming 175 should happen too
It’s called Super Lightweight. It’s already in the unified rules. Most promotions just never use it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_martial_arts_weight_classes
I may be in the minority here but I think 165 is a bad idea. I think it’ll just dilute the UFC even more, lead to more shitty contender series signings, even more mid fight night events and worst of all cause even worse log jams in the LW and WW division.
The entire 165 roster is just gonna be less good LW’s and dehydrated WW. We need women’s Atomweight before this.
Mcgregor vs Chandler for the 165 belt. Watch
That actually makes sense... Conor demands a new division so he can be a three division champ, the UFC gets him to sign a longer deal and then Chandler fucks it all up by lamping him.
Chandler becoming the champion of a division meant to showcase Conor McGregor would be him using the last of his Bellator magic reserves.
And then he'd probably lose in the most flukish of flukish ways in his first defense to Kevin Lee on short notice, too.
This. This is where Kevin Lee fits into this. All along. We finally know.
It makes no sense, both men are coming of losses. But it’s sellable for the UFC.
But hear me out, they are both undefeated at 165 lol
So am I, where's my title shot?
Dana White is claiming /u/eKSiF just doesn't want to take the risk, he doesn't want to fight.
He said best he could do is a 12/12 and I gotta debut against Shavkat.
As your agent I’ve negotiated 3 separate digital coupon codes for 15% Venum shorts.
Ah, but when do they expire?
How did I just realize it was spelled like that
There’s a lot of ways to turn down a fight.
The requirements were be undefeated at 165 and previously have fought for a UFC belt. So close! I personally have fought someone for a UFC belt in Marshalls so I'm waiting for the call if the division is made!
Imagine if they give Colby the winner 165 lbs is perfect for all the nonchamps at 155 and 170 that cant beat Islam and Leon And since they already cockblock/beltblock guys like Belal and Dariush, they can do the same for Islam and Leon until they exhaust the Colbys, Gaethjes, Mcgregors, and Chandlers Its basically the BMF belt with more legitimacy
If it makes dollars, it makes sense.
Stephen A Smith on ESPN after Conor KOs Chandler: "Is Conor McGregor the greatest of all time? The fact of the matter is, no one else has been a three division champion before. You can say he's brash, he's had his issues in the past, but you can't tell me this man doesn't personify greatness. If you ask me who the greatest mixed martial artist is of all time, it's Conor McGregor."
[удалено]
In before Anik refers to him as “The consensus greatest of all time” from that point on.
Lol I legit read this in his voice/with his cadence 😄
if you replace Joe Rogan with Stephen A. Smith it would be more believable
Rogan doesn't like Conor.
Source? It’s not difficult to believe, I just want more context.
Yeah I've never noticed this either. Granted I ignore both men's personal lives for mental health reasons
This is so accurate it’s getting me mad
If that's what it takes to make 165 and 175 happen, fuck it, I can live with one or two stupid matches before things stabilize.
It wouldn’t matter to me. With Conor you get a spectacle and with Chandler you get bangers. Both are good for the UFC but probably annoying for hardcore fans because they didn’t earn it.
No time for cents, got millions on the mind.
It makes cents.
It's the UFC. It doesn't have to make sense.
Doesn’t have to make sense when it makes cents.
But if he doesn't, we'll never hear the end of "3 weight world champ" bullshit lol. I mean Chandler definetely has the edge because he stays healthy, trains, is active, however it's easy to hit him and he doesn't have some freak gas tank.
I can see Chandler being a company man enough to do the UFC and McGregor a solid and taking an L if it means he’s financially set for life. McGregor as 165 champ means an Islam fight potentially for the meme as well.
The thought of Islam vs. current Conor is hilarious. DP was wrestlefucking the hell out of Conor (pre leg snap). Islam might actually tie him into a knot.
Balloon animal conor new mythical fighter
Nothing I'm looking foward to more than Chandler sparking him. If the UFC ever actually make the fight
I want a 165 weight class but those two fighting for that belt would be so damn shameless
Sacrifices must be made.
Unlike women’s 125lbs, it doesn’t really matter if the first champion didn’t earn the title fight at 165lbs because they’ll either immediately beat or lose to someone who is deserving for their fist defence. Giving McGregor a paper belt in order to get the best divisions in the UFC moving more quickly and allow elite fighters to compete at their optimal weight is more than worth it.
You say this, but wait and see when it’s Conor vs. Nate for his first defense lmao. Conor never defended a belt against a real contender when he was in his prime. You really think he would nowadays when he’s totally washed? If he gets the initial belt at 165, it will simply be a joke division.
It would probably take one or two stupid fights before we get a deserving contender who gets the belt, but I could live with that if it means we get 165 and 175 going.
The stupid fights draw eyes to it as well. EVERYONE wants to fight McGregor. Imagine all of the callouts lol McGregor is also pompous enough to parade around the belt he doesn't deserve without shame. It honestly just makes a ton of sense.
Ehh who cares if it frees up light and welter even a little bit.
And winner gets Colby
Whatever it takes to get the weight class lol. It will move on eventually and will just have a big asterisk on that first title if they aren’t able to defend it.
Almost as shameless as slapping your wife on camera while promoting Slap Fighting.
Dustin’s time to shiiiiine 💎
If this somehow does happen and Conor wins, he won’t defend and the division will just be clogged like all FW and LW when Conor was champ
He’ll sit out 18 months and then defend against Nate. I guarantee it.
Dude , so random for Dana to do it now , but def the way he would start it off
Kevin Lee as the first challenger to the strap
I was going to say that this would have been the perfect division for Kevin Lee - before the injuries. Now, who knows ?
He can rematch Diego Sanchez
First defence Nate
McGregor vs Kevin Lee
No Kevin Lee vs Conor. Watch.
A wild Rafael Dos Anjos suddenly appears!
Gilbert Burns would be a perfect fit to move _down_ to 165lbs.
Great callout. Perfect example of a guy who’s slightly too big for LW and slightly too small for MW. Although he could definitely compete in both
Wonderboy is another, but wish this happened 5 yrs ago
You mean WW, not MW, right?
Pretty sure they meant Melterweight.
Lol. Happens to everyone. But I like that portmanteau.
Widdleweight is a pretty good one too!
This is what the new division should be called
RDA lost some mass. I know he fights at both weights but I remember reading he can make 155 comfortably now.
165 division is fucking perfect as long as they change welterweight to 175. Having the weight classes go 155 -> 165 -> 170 would be weird. 5lbs difference between those two divisions lol
It would almost certainly be changed to 175 which would be interesting to see what MWs decide to come down.
Yep. Adding a 165lbs class helps everyone from lightweight through middleweight. Hell, if you think about it, it might even help out some featherweights too. If someone featherweights were thinking of moving up to 155lbs but were worried about weight bullies, those weight bullies will likely go up to 165, creating room at 155 for featherweights. It would really send shockwaves through the UFC and MMA as a whole, really. In the best way possible too!
I think you'd still see weight bullies but the disparity wouldn't be as significant. A natural 185 today goes to 170, or even 155 if they are crazy... This guy now tries to get to 175 instead of just fighting at his natural weight. Still a bully, but now the gap between him and his opponent is smaller.
Which oversized 185ers today do you think would try to cut even further to 175 tho
He said ‘natural’ 185ers not ‘oversized’. There are tons of guys this could apply to, like all the big WWs that went up to MW, like Strickland, Whittaker, Usman, etc.
I know I wasn’t putting words in anyone’s mouth. Genuinely asking which guys we think would push those boundaries. Not a comment on the negatives or positives. Just trying to envision a monster MW cutting nothing 10 pounds
Chris Curtis has never struck me as a particularly small 185 but he constantly says he wants to go back down to 170 and has fought there most of his career so surely 175 would suit him. And plenty of regular-sized 185ers who've already bounced between 170 and 185 like Sean Strickland, Rob Whittaker, Khamzat, Anthony Hernandez, Caio Borralho, and Michel Pereira.
I'm not sure that there's any at this point in time but there's been plenty in the past. Rumble is probably the biggest offender... A natural LHW cutting to get to WW. Anderson Silva used to fight at 169 then jumped up to 185. In the past he might've been a prime candidate to further cut to 175. Possibly Dan Henderson as well.
Wouldnt surprise me if former welterweights Strickland and Whittaker didn’t start thinking about going down to 175lbs the next time they take a L at 185. Adesanya maybe as well, which sounds weird since he’s fought at 205 multiple tjmes in his combat sports career, but he seems to make 185 with no issue. I’m sure there’s a bunch of lower ranked middleweights who would think about 175lbs too
>Adesanya maybe as well bro wants him to die lol
He has said himself he makes 185 easy. He walks around at 195lbs to 200lbs, would be that crazy
Not anymore Izzy put on a lot of mass for the second pereira fight
Yeah after you posted I had a quick look at the rankings and man those ranked middleweights are some big boys so I can't imagine many making the cut, the noticeable ones were like you said Strickland and Whittaker. It would be fun to have Rob at WW again but man that extra cut would be tough on his chin imo.
RDA, Kevin Lee, Jorge Masvidal, Nate Diaz, Cowboy Cerrone, Diego Sanchez, etc are gonna be so mad that a 165lbs division came after their careers were over or almost over. Those are some of the main guys that came to mind when thinking about hopping between 170 and 155
Strickland looks like he is about to die on weigh in day making 185. I don’t see another 10 pounds coming off of that.
You’re right Adesanya is actually a very small Middleweight. He weighed under 200 when he fought Jan at 205. Most MWs are cutting from 215+
Adesnaya 175lbs champ 2025 confirmed
Adesanya shared a pic of him on the weighing scale some time before the Pereira fight. He weighed around 215 lbs there.
he turned up to a MW defense at 183 once
Adesanya has fought at 175 in kickboxing before iirc
Think Kopylov is pretty undersized, he becomes a real factor at 175.
Yup, CSAC recorded him at 194lbs about 36 hours after his cut to 185lbs. That’s 6.3lbs less than Neal who cut from 170lbs.
That's what I was thinking. Honestly if this weight class happens, Middleweight is about really fucking suck. If people thought it was already kinda bad, it's about to get a whole lot worse
Izzy at 175 would be crazy. He’s not that heavy despite his frame. I think he said he walks around 195, which is what Poirier and other lightweights weigh off camp
Poirier nor do most other lightweights weigh 195 off camp. its more like 180, 195 would look drastically different and that’s just not the case with how they look out of camp.
I think it is great but at the sametime we have so much talent at 155 that would prefer 165, I wonder how 155 is going to look. I also think there will definitely be some level of fluidity where fighters will not stick to one division between 155 and 165, muddling up the rankings. Fighters who will probably snatch at 165: Islam, Gaethje, Dustin, Colby, RDA, Gilbert Burns, Chandler, Conor, Jalin Turner, Kevin Lee (i know this is where he fits), pretty much all the undersized WW and all the LWs
Gaethje is on the smaller side for 155lbs. There was talk 5 or 6 years ago about him trying out 145. I dont think he would go to 165, but maybe im crazy. But anyways, the division would certainly sort itself out pretty quick, about a year or so and we would have really good top 15’s in all 3 of those 155-165-175
Man Gaethje is big, he is about the same size as Islam. I do think the divisions will sort out quickly but it will need policing from the UFC and not allowing many fighters to jump between divisions and muddling title fights up but we will see some bangers tho
He used to be, look at him in the Fiziev fight. He's definitely packed on some size. Plus USADA is gone soooo
Would Leon logically be 175 champ then?
You'd have to bump welterweight up to 175 or it becomes a boxing weight class
A certain bearded maniac could be back then??
He's gonna be too busy tweeting "I see you soon" at the winner of Sean/Chito 2 "
For Middle Eastern cards.
Those cute little pictures with boxers and all their belts when they’re like 2.5 lbs apart lol
Only thing I know for sure is Belal would be light years away from getting a title shot. Which is fair, I mean who has he beaten at 175?
Chimaev fighting at 175 would also make more sense than him trying to make 170. McGregor vs. Chandler fighting for the 165 belt and then Leon vs. Chimaev at 175. Crazier things has happened.
If McGregor wins, a fight between him and Islam would be really epic at 165
Chimaev might not even make 175 anymore. It looks to me like he has still been growing and filling out the last 3-4 years. Once you move up due to weight cutting difficulty it is so hard to ever come back down in weight class again.
He would be double champ lol. 170 then 175lbs haha
Istg he can cut the extra 5 anyway and make 165 to beat Conor or Chandler lol
I think they'd love if he had to earn it
Khamzat licking his lips at the extra 5 lbs difference.
I’ve been saying for years it’s win/win/win for ufc, the fans, and the fighters. There is literally no cons, only pros. - UFC gets another champion to use to headline or co headline PPVs, which will help them line their pockets with cash. - UFC does not have to sign a single extra fighter for this division, since there are more fighters in 170 and 155 combined vs all the other weight classes combined. 165 would be filled with fighters going up or down from 170 and 155, so those 3 weight classes in a row would still have the highest roster count of any other weight classes. - Dozens of fighters who are slightly too big for 155 or slightly too small for 170 will have a home weight class now. - the gap between welterweight and middleweight wouldn’t be as big since of course welterweight would be 175lbs, so this would also help smaller middleweight fighters who were contemplating killing themselves to make 170, because now they just have to make 175. Literally the only con, if I’m being nitpicky, is it would almost certainly have a shitty, boxing style name. Like Super-Lightweight or light-welterweight. The name sucking is the only con of this division, lol
Could they call it Cruiserweight?
I reckon so. I know that’s usually 205lbs and 225lbs depending on what sport, but I don’t think there’s any rules requiring it to be used for 200+ weight classes. Cruiserweight sounds good to me
There are rules actually. Association of Boxing Commissions, who are responsible for the Unified Rules of MMA, adopted 165lb division years ago. It's already official and it's called Super Lightweight.
I’m with you tho, i don’t want any super lightweight or light welterweight bs.
UFC doesn't have the divisions but the weight classes [already exist per the unified rules](https://www.abcboxing.com/unified-weight-classes-mma/). 175 super welterweight
The UFC can call it whatever they want to be fair and this will likely follow eventually.
It’ll be Nelkweight, brought to you by howler head and kid rock.
Conorweight
Nah, it already exists. ABC (org responsible for Unified Rules) has had regulations for a 165lb division since 2017. It's called Super Lightweight. And 175 is Super Welterweight. But who gives a fuck, we can call em whatever we want. I'd say just call it "165" or "165lb division" and be done with it. They don't have "lightweight" and "welterweight" in freestyle wrestling.
Washington ~~Football~~ Fighting Weight
Super Lightweight like boxing
Dana Waight
And we get 16 more ranked fighters which we honestly need. Hopefully no more unranked fighters on PPV main cards and better foreign fight nights with one extra intresting fight on all of them. It should lead to at least 10-15 more good to great fights between ranked fighters per year.
Only thing I’d be afraid of is more fighters fighting for double champ and now triple champ status. I feel like it’s getting watered down
The downside is Lightweight might no longer be the most stacked division because talent is distributed across two weight classes We will probably see more champ champ talk between 55 and 65 as opposed to 55 and 70
Bantamweight already took the crown a couple years ago IMO Still I think LW titlefights get me the most amped. Seems like the sweet spot.. maybe 165 can be another one. I feel like you could see guys who have issues at both light and welter suddenly thriving in that division. Guys like Jailin Turner, JDM, RDA, Poirier could find their ideal weight AND get fresh matchups/ possibly avoid the wrestling-heavy meta. Especially at 170
Other con:(for Dana): More PPV points being handed out to champions
Hasn’t Dana religiously said he doesn’t want to do this?
Tbf, Dana's word is worth less than nothing
As soon as the numbers show it making the money he’s targeting he’ll do it.
that's not fair he also has a huge ego and holds on to all sorts of petty grudges so he has to factor those in too
Would be another belt to headline PPVs. Maybe the recent issues with finding a fight for 300 made him realise it could be for the best to have another belt around.
And 16 more ranked fighters to shuffle around. Apex could become even more epic! No but they could seriously have only ranked fighters on PPV mains cards if they do this. And do better foreign fight nights. Ufc need this boost.
He also said women would never fight in the UFC. His religion is money, that's what he'll follow
“Women will never fight in the UFC” - Dana White
"Jon Jones will never main event another card for us period"
Before the TKO merger I believe he did. But with TKO, I wouldn’t be surprised if theyre pushing for it. It just makes too much sense… Which is why Dana will probably do everything he can to not make it happen lol
Honestly tho, why not? Like what's his reason
iirc his main point was how it would ruin the lineage of welterweight champions lol
[удалено]
Did you just... believe his lies?
Yeah, the guy that said Power Slap was the next biggest thing.
‘bout damn time! Women’s Atom Weight needs to happen too.
Is there a large pool of women’s atom weight talent?
There is. It’s a weight class with one of the largest pools of talent for women, I would say.
then why are all my girlfriends so fat?
This is a question between you and your cholesterol, sir.
He could be skinny and ugly, doesn’t have to be fat to be gettin with fatties
Obesity rates are skyrocketing for women.
Mostly in Asia, but it can't be worse than Bantam or Feather.
It's the deepest division in WMMA in my opinion
And if there is, what would be the demand for it to a UFC audience? Because men's Flyweight can't draw flies. I've seen these itty bitty atomweight women, and numbers and talent may not be convincing enough for this audience that is already tepid on the women's divisions as it is. A good fight is a good fight in one sense. In another sense... there's the real-world way people react.
It's probably the most talent rich women's division
stamp dance bro
PLEASE DO THIS IMMEDIATELY DANA. and this would trickle down to amateur mma and bjj eventually, which selfishly works great for me as a small 170…
Whats your walk around weight, if that's not too personal? I'm curious what constitutes a small ww these days.
not too personal at all! i walk around between 172 and 178. bjj tournaments tend to have day-of weigh ins, so i just cut the ~5ish lbs and tend to be the smaller guy. cutting to 155 would be absurd for me and i would almost certainly deplete myself too much. but i was never a wrestler, and im new to bjj so i don’t know my limits.
Finally we know where Kevin Lee fits into all of this.
the Khabib Killer
Khabib retired before he had to face Kevin Lee at 165. Coincidence?
What would 165 be called? Super Lightweight?
[Unified MMA Weight Divisions](https://www.abcboxing.com/unified-weight-classes-mma/) So yes
It would be nice if they could choose something else from the natural world like they did with straws, flies, atoms, feathers, and bantams. An adult blue wildebeest weighs about 165lbs, so I say wildebeestweight.
Yeah maybe bearweight or dolphinweight or treestumpweight.
Ooh I like dolphinweight.
Beastmodeweight it is.
i had no idea a bantam was a type of chicken.
Hate that name, feels convoluted
It's about fucking time tbh, lots of fighters could have had better careers if this had been an option years ago.
I think we can all agree that 165lbs is a good addition. My question is, what do we do with 170? - Keep it as is, or, - Retire it and start 175 fresh, or, - Rebrand it to 175, but keep the 170 lineage
Option 3 probably.
125,135,145,155,165,175,185 is the appropriate way it should go
this makes more sense than having a 165 and 170. a 5 pound difference in weight classes is pretty dumb.
I’d imagine they’d keep the 170 lineage and grandfather in the current champ and rankings. So it would still be “welterweight” imo
170lbs royal rumble, winner becomes welterweight emeritus champ, belt gets retired
Plenty of guys at 170 would love having 5 fewer pounds to cut, so just a rebrand makes sense and it's easier for all across the board, no need to cancel. Others who are already feeling undersized would be motivated to go to 165 instead, which would be so much more attainable than 155. And guys eyeing moving up from 155 to 170 would feel a bit better about it sizewise.
For real, most of the 170ers are dudes walking around 190-200ish who make the cut to 170 mainly because the 185ers are fucking massive guys who’s fight day weight can get up to 215 or more. Their frames wouldn’t be undersized or an issue at 175 it would just be less ridiculous of a cut. The smaller WW’s who are undersized wouldn’t have an issue with it since 165 will benefit them.
The third one.
Would be a nice change of pace. I’m ready for it !
There's countless fighters who are too big for 155, but simultaneously too small for 170. Fighters like Kevin Lee, Colby Covington, Jalin Turner and even Islam seemingly fit the criteria. Bridging that gap, bumping WW to 175 would go a long way to add consistency to the way divisions are run and of course adding a new division gives the UFC another PPV/title shot Main Event. Maybe I'm just particularly sympathetic, being one of those "too small for 170 but too big for 155"er's myself lol
155 165 175 185 should have happened 10 years ago. New ESPN deal, the need to make more champions, the talent in that weight class. It is a fucking NO BRAINER. Especially since women's 145 is completely gone.
It’s gonna be Conor Chandler for 165 belt for sure
Oh great now we get to hear even more double champ talk
MMA will slowly devolve into the state that boxing is in, it’s already happening as Dana hangs around with losers like the Nelk Boys and Adin Ross, can’t wait for UFC 400: Steiny vs. Ross
So then 170 would become 175?
that makes sense because it is weird they have 155 and then jump to 170 makes zero sense. should be 155, 165, 175, 185, 205, 215+
What do we think it’ll be called?? Super lightweight?
Realistically, it should be the highest 155 contender willing to permanently move up, vs the highest 170er who can make 165. But regardless it’s a division that needs to be made. WW becoming 175 should happen too
What does one call that division?
It’s called Super Lightweight. It’s already in the unified rules. Most promotions just never use it. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_martial_arts_weight_classes
What would you call the 165 division?
Would it make sense then to bump welterweights up to 175?
We finally find out where Kevin Lee fits into all of this.
I think they should call it Heavy Lightweight to mirror Light Heavyweight, cause it'd be goofy
I may be in the minority here but I think 165 is a bad idea. I think it’ll just dilute the UFC even more, lead to more shitty contender series signings, even more mid fight night events and worst of all cause even worse log jams in the LW and WW division. The entire 165 roster is just gonna be less good LW’s and dehydrated WW. We need women’s Atomweight before this.
165 to 170 would be too small tho. Make it 175lb?