Brock Lesnar Is out of His League!

The Heavyweight division is unlike any other weight class in the UFC and this difference will ensure that Brock Lesnar will continue to dominate it for the foreseeable future.

All of the other weight divisions have a 15-20 pound range.  For example, at weigh-in, a middleweight fighter must weigh between 171 and 185 pounds (15).  Other than the Heavyweight division the only significant departure from this formula is the light heavyweight division which has a 20 pound range.

The heavyweight division has a 60 pound range.  At weigh-in a Heavyweight fighter must weigh between 206 - 265 pounds (60).  Following the charts below, this means that the Heavyweight division is actually 3 or even 4 weight divisions in one.  It is 3 divisions if one uses the 20 pound range found in the Light Heavyweight division and it is 4 divisions if one uses the 15 pound range found in all the other divisions.

The cutoff for the current divisions:
       Lightweight: ---------- 155
       Welterweight: -------- 170 (+15)
       Middleweight: -------- 185 (+15)
       Light Heavyweight: --- 205 (+20)
       Heavyweight: -------- 265 (+60)

Consider this: (15 pound weight class difference)
       Light Heavyweight: ---- 205
       Cruiserweight: --------- 220 (+15) 1
       Super Cruiserweight: --- 235 (+15) 2
       Heavyweight: ---------- 250 (+15) 3
       Super Heavyweight: ---- 265 (+15) 4
 
Consider this: (20 pound weight class difference)
       Light Heavyweight: ----- 205
       Cruiserweight: ---------- 225 (+20) 1
       Super Cruiserweight: ---- 245 (+20) 2
       Heavyweight: ----------- 265 (+20) 3

Clearly this gives a tremendous advantage to those who are naturally bigger.  In all the other divisions it is a common practice for a fighter to get into the lowest weight division he is capable of so that he will be a giant amongst smaller men.  This strategy is taken to its ultimate in the Heavyweight division by Brock Lesnar.  Where many fighters gain a significant advantage by going down just one division imagine a fighter going down 3 or even 4 divisions.  This would be like Randy Couture, who fights at both LHW & HW and is therefore a relatively small fighter for the heavyweight division, dropping to Lightweight or at least Welterweight with no significant loss in performance.  Lesnar benefits that much from the current system.

It's worth mentioning that most Heavyweight fighters fight at around 240 pounds and therefore Lesnar does not have the same advantage against them as he would a 206 pound heavyweight.  I believe this is somewhat offset by the fact that, according to the word on the street, Lesnar's normal weight is around 290 pounds.  From my understanding very few Heavyweights have to "cut weight" to stay within range and are actually, given Lesnar's size, motivated to stay as heavy as possible when fighting him.  This means that not only does Lesnar have an effective 50 pound weight advantage (290 - 240) he's fighting slow & bloated fighters while he is in tip-top shape.

Obviously I'm not saying anything that even a casual UFC fans hasn't thought I'm just trying to specifically lay it out there for the record.

An exceptionally skilled fighter like Fedor Emelianenko always has a good chance at beating the odds but that only proves the point that the current situation puts the odds in Lesnar's favor before the fight even begins.  Years ago I had a friend with a history in the martial arts and he repeatedly reminded me of the axiom that "all things being equal the bigger man wins."  Barring the unexpected, and assuming he makes a full recovery from his diverticulosis, it's clear that Lesnar will continue to benefit from this truth.

In addition, others will argue that Lesnar's shape, athleticism, power & warrior spirit are key factors to his success.  While I agree with those sentiments they are not within the purview of this article.

Of course Lesnar is not to be blamed as he is only benefiting from a system that existed before he fought in the UFC.  Of course the primary reason for the bloated weight range of the Heavyweight division has nothing to do with Lesnar and everything to with a dearth of relevant Heavyweights.  Were the UFC filled with an additional 40 legitimate Heavyweights then there would likely be more divisions and his advantage would be lessened or removed entirely.  As it is, however, there are maybe 10 legitimate Heavyweights in the entire UFC and that means that Lesnar is not going anywhere anytime soon.