Super Heavyweights???

Kimura · 02-08-2009, 12:47 AM

I was watching this show today and the host was Mauro Ranallo. He brought up an excellent point. To fight in the Heavyweight division today, you must weigh between 206lbs and 265lbs. Guys like Nogueria, Couture and even Fedor, all weigh less than 240lbs. Unlike back in the days, today the sport has evolved so much, that monsters who weigh over 270lbs are not freak-shows anymore, but actually real athletes. These monsters include Tim Sylvia, Antonio Silva and Brock Lesnar. In fact, all these guys gotta cut weight to make the 265lbs limit.

Weight does a make a difference as we saw in that fight between GSP and BJ Penn, therefore maybe they should reasses what constitues a heavyweight. Mauro Ranallo suggests making the Heavyweight division between 206lbs to 235lbs, while the Super Heavyweight Division could consist of guys weighing between 236lbs to 265lbs.

I think this is a great idea. How can Randy Couture who comes into a fight weighing 230lbs beat a guy that weighs over 265lbs come fight time.

It's like saying Kenny Florian who weighs 255lbs is gonna beat Dan Henderson...It's never gonna happen.

So what do you think, should the UFC/MMA introduce a new weight class?

Bigpapa42 · 02-08-2009, 02:16 AM

I don't know that adding a Super Heavyweight division is the answer. Because guys like Lesnar and Carwin can make the cut to 265. There are a limited number of guys out there who can't. What are the chances we are going to see Hong Man Choi or Mark Hunt in the UFC in the near future?

It would probably work best to have a Cruiserweight class between Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight, just like in boxing. Weight limit of about 235 pounds. So the guys who are actually small heavyweights by current standards but either can't or won't cut to LHW can be competitive.

There are problems with the idea, of course. Most notably that the current HW is already thin. This would just make that worse. It also brings up the "too many weight classes" debate that has plagued boxing, the same reason that the UFC seems unlikely to adopt the new unified weight classes.

Suffy · 02-08-2009, 02:12 PM

Also you have guys like Fedor who only weigh around 230 so that would exclude them from the heavyweight division which would be a shame.

Kimura · 02-08-2009, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suffy
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Also you have guys like Fedor who only weigh around 230 so that would exclude them from the heavyweight division which would be a shame.

I dont think you read my post right. Fedor would be in the Heavyweight Division. That division would consist of guys who weigh between 206lbs to 235lbs.

Suffy · 02-08-2009, 05:46 PM

I know and that's a problem because part of Fedor's aura is that he beats guys much bigger than him with ease, with him being in a division where he is the biggest takes away from that.

Zar · 02-08-2009, 07:11 PM

I just don't think you can cut a thin division in half.

Super Heavyweights???

This is a discussion on Super Heavyweights??? within the MMA - Mixed Martial Arts forums, part of the Sports Forums category; I was watching this show today and the host was Mauro Ranallo. He brought up an excellent point. To fight ...