MMA's Land of Giants: Should It Add a Cruiserweight Division?

A hot topic of debate in the MMA community is whether or not the sport should add another weight class to make up for the expanded spectrum of weight in the heavyweight division.

Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva’s recent squashing of former Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko seems to be the catalyst of this debate.

Silva dwarfed Emelianenko at the official Strikeforce weigh-ins, and he likely enjoyed a 40-plus-pound weight advantage on fight night. Still, how much of a role did the significant weight difference play on the actual fight? Emelianenko has defeated exceptionally larger fighters in the past.

Firstly, the point has to be made that size wasn’t the only reason Emelianenko picked up his second straight loss. Even with his otherworldly accomplishments in the sport, Emelianenko isn’t perfect. There were serious deficiencies in his ability to maintain guard and escape from mount. These deficiencies were all a matter of technique, not size or strength.

With that said, it would be incredibly foolhardy to completely disregard size as a significant advantage for Silva in the bout. As the sport continues to evolve, the fighters will as well. Today’s heavyweights aren’t overgrown masses with sluggish, one-dimensional skills.

They are world-class strikers, dominant wrestlers and black belts in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

The athleticism and well-rounded nature of the division far surpasses its vintage form. This makes things tougher on heavyweights like Randy Couture (past) and Emelianenko, who have often relied on their speed and technique to dominate larger opponents.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar is an athletic freak and a former NCAA Division I national champion wrestler.

Strikeforce contender Fabricio Werdum is a world-renowned BJJ practitioner and a two-time ADCC world heavyweight champion.

Alistair Overeem and Junior Dos Santos are two of the fiercest strikers in the sport.

Current UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez is possibly the most well-rounded fighter in the entire division.

As larger heavyweights, the technical proficiency and speed these guys are able to maintain is a testament to how the sport has evolved.

Regardless of personal opinion, 60 pounds is a wide gap for one weight division. The sport could opt to shorten that gap with a 206 to 235-pound cruiserweight/super light heavyweight division and a 236 to 265-pound heavyweight division.

Of course, there is a plethora of reasons to argue against the addition of a new weight class.

There is a major concern about a minimal influx of talent and spreading other divisions thin. With the addition of a new class, heavyweights will start to drop down, and light heavyweights will begin to bump up. Does an organization like Strikeforce have enough of a star-studded roster to make this commitment yet? Can the UFC?

As the sport grows, the idea of constricting the heavyweight spectrum will become a more realistic possibility. Until then, smaller heavyweights will have to either drop weight or continue to live in the land of giants.

(SportsHaze.com Original)