3 Reasons the Heavyweight Division Is the Weakest in the UFC

We've heard Dana White say, "this division is stacked" many times, but rarely, if ever have we heard him say that about the heavyweight division.  This actually is time to point out why MMA (the UFC in particular) have overwhelmed their principal rival, boxing.  

Let's admit it, boxing has two things going for it right now:  Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. These guys have fought a total of five times in two years.  That's not enough to keep fight fans satisfied.

When boxing was king, Heavyweights ruled.  

The popularity of boxing can be directly linked with the success and prosperity of the heavyweight division.  Be honest, who wants to see the Klitschko brothers beat up another terrible opponent?  This establishes my point.  

MMA (once again the UFC in particular) is wildly successful in spite of it's heavyweight division.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there are no good fighters in the heavyweight division, because there are. There just aren't the number of good fighters that are in the light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, and lightweight divisions.  

(Notice I left out bantamweight...We'll save that for another article)

The point is this:  MMA is successful in spite of its overall heavyweight division.  Why is it weak?  I'm glad you asked...    

1) Top Heavy

Despite the title of this article, I DO think that the heavyweight division has strong fighters, it just doesn't seem like they have enough strong fighters.  Let's look at them.  

Top Tier

The top tier, is just that, the guys who are a fight or two away from fighting for the title, or in Cain Velasquez' situation, has the title.

Cain Velasquez

Junior Dos Santos

Brock Lesnar

Alistar Overeem

Frank Mir

Almost There

These are guys who are on the cusp of making it into contender conversation.  Just a few good performances and they would get into the upper echelon of the division.

Matt Mitrione

Shane Carwin

Minotauro Nogueira

Roy Nelson

Looks like a decent list, right?  Wrong.

The top tier will be doing a round robin for quite some time unless something miraculous happens in the almost-there division.  Shane Carwin, probably the best in that division, was beat soundly by two of the top tier.  The likelihood of any of the others making it any higher is slim to none.  That's what originates the top-heavy theory.  Can things change? Sure, but it doesn't look like it's going to change anytime soon.

2) Slow Plodding Fights

Another reason people don't get excited for the heavyweight fights is the pace.  

First let's acknowledge this: even the largest and most out of shape fighters in the UFC are still great athletes, however that's not what we look for when we watch a fight.

We wouldn't give Frankie Edgar or Gray Maynard a pass if they were huffing and puffing around the ring, so why should we cut the heavyweights slack?  We know it's hard, but this is what you train for, so when the lights come on, you shouldn't need an inhaler to make it through the second round.  

The picture above is a reference to the Ben Rothwell/Mark Hunt fight at UFC Live: Cruz vs Johnson.  The fight was far from exciting.  Conditioning almost knocked out Ben Rothwell in the third round.  Ben Rothwell literally had his hands on his knees in the third round to catch his breath.  I don't think we've seen anyone from the aforementioned, top tier, do anything like that.

3) Failure of the Eye Test

When watching a fight, we want to see the best fight possible.  We want to see guys who are in peak physical condition square in an explosive match.  Normally, you can tell from the weigh-ins what type of condition they are in.  

Excluding the top tier and perhaps a handful of fighters, every heavyweight weigh-in features a couple of pudgy guys who look like they just got off their couch and are about to fight over the last beer in the fridge.

Appearances don't always equal great results (for a good example look up Todd Duffee), but they do indicate dedication and commitment to training.  

Once again, not saying that they don't train hard, but the proof is in the pudding, and they look like they've had a lot of pudding.