The UFC Needs New Blood at the Top of These 3 Divisions

There are some divisions in the UFC where the talent pool seems endless. Classes like lightweight, featherweight, and welterweight have always had a constant stream of contenders rising up through the ranks. Not every weight class has had this luxury recently, and there are a few that could use some new blood to make things more interesting.

The 155-pound class has always been known for its depth, and the recent addition of Eddie Alvarez to the fray makes it an even deeper tank of sharks.

Middleweight has seen a resurgence lately as well, with an influx of talent from Strikeforce, like Rockhold, Kennedy and "Jacare" Souza, along with an exodus of a few fighters from the light heavyweight division, like Machida and Mousasi.

The UFC’s newest and fastest rising star, Conor McGregor, is bringing the featherweight division to prominence, and the sky is the limit on the potential fights for the 26-year-old Irishman.

Not all divisions are experiencing a youth movement, however. Heavyweight is going through a renaissance of aging fighters who have been around since MMA’s earlier days. The UFC’s most recent male weight addition, 125 pounds, has seen it’s champion rise to pound-for-pound dominance and nearly clean out the division.

The light heavyweight division has always been the UFC’s marquee weight class. The longtime home to greats like Liddell, Rua and Couture, the 205-pound division currently houses the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones.

Along his path to pound-for-pound greatness, he’s beaten half of the current Top 10 at light heavyweight, and there aren’t a lot of 205-pounders storming their way through the division to get to Jones.

Let’s take a look at the weight classes where the UFC most needs some fresh faces.

No. 3: Light Heavyweight

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Jon Jones sits atop the UFC light heavyweight division and the UFC’s official pound-for-pound rankings. He’s beaten back every challenger and has defended his title a record seven times.

Aside from Daniel Cormier and Alexander Gustafsson, whom Jones has already beaten, there aren’t very many contenders that are seen as threats to Jones’ championship reign.  

Looking a bit further down the ranks, the Top 15 currently includes fighters like Fabio Maldonado (No. 15), who has gone 4-4 inside the Octagon, Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante (No. 12), who’s only won two of his last six fights, and Rogerio Nogueira (No. 13), who has exactly one win over a top-ranked fighter in the last five years.

The dearth of high-level fighters at 205 pounds is such that Vitor Belfort is ranked No. 14. Belfort competes at middleweight and his only win at light heavyweight in the last five years was against a 43-year old Dan Henderson in November 2013.  

Aside from a few fighters like Antonio Carlos Jr. and Patrick Cummins, who will face each other at a Fight Night card in December, the light heavyweight division is seriously lacking in prospects as well as contenders.

No. 2: Heavyweight

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Heavyweight seems to always be in need of some new blood. The power the big boys possess means that anyone can get knocked out on any given night. Now more than ever, the heavyweight landscape is filled with fighters who have punched their way to the big time with a few big knockouts.

Ben Rothwell, Mark Hunt, and Andrei Arlovski have all recently seen resurgences by starching their competition in exciting fashion.

The heavyweight division seriously needs some youth. One problem for the UFC’s upper-most division is that most younger fighters who walk around within the heavyweight limit will attempt to make 205-pounds and compete at light heavyweight if at all possible, leaving heavyweight for the bigger, and usually older, veterans.  

No. 1: Flyweight

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The flyweight division in the UFC was introduced in 2012, and a four-man tournament gave us the first and only champion thus far, Demetrious Johnson.  

The work that "Mighty Mouse" has put in against the top fighters at 125 pounds has earned him seven straight victories and the No. 3 spot on UFC.com's pound-for-pound rankings. 

Johnson is now facing the prospect of a series of rematches with fighters he’s already beaten, or taking on younger and lesser-known challengers in fights where he’d be extremely heavily favored that would garner no fan interest.

The struggle is real.

Unlike heavyweight, there are a lot of developing contenders coming down the pipeline at 125 pounds. Dustin Ortiz, Ray Borg, and Kyoji Horiguchi are just a few of the young up-and-comers at flyweight.

The problem at flyweight is that the demand for title challengers exceeds the current supply of contenders.

There are prospects, but they need time to gain experience and the maturity in the cage that will be needed to challenge a dominant champion such as Johnson.