5 reasons why the light heavyweight division is one of the most exciting in the UFC
This weekend sees UFC 267 take place in Abu Dhabi. In the main event, UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz will defend his title against Glover Teixeira.
Blachowiczβs title defense against Teixeira practically represents a new beginning for the UFC light heavyweight division. So, is 205 pounds now one of the promotionβs most exciting weight classes?
After years of the light heavyweight division being somewhat of a wasteland running on fumes, the answer is yes.
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205 pounds now feels fresher and more re-energised than it has for years. We may be about to enter the best era for the division since the heyday of Pride almost two decades ago.
Here are five reasons why the UFC light heavyweight division is now one of the promotionβs most exciting.
#5. The old men of the UFC light heavyweight division have finally faded away
If you rewind back to around 15 years ago, the light heavyweight division was seen as the glamor division not just in the UFC, but in MMA on the whole. Both the UFC and its biggest competitor Pride had plenty of top-level fighters at 205 pounds, with many of them also standing among the biggest stars in the sport too.
Unfortunately, many of those fighters ended up hanging around the UFC for far too long. It feels like only recently that they have really begun to fade away for good.
The likes of Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Wanderlei Silva and Randy Couture have been gone from the UFC for a long time now. However, Mauricio βShogunβ Rua remains an active member of the UFC roster, while his old rival Antonio Rogerio Nogueira only retired last year.
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Unfortunately, the reason those fighters ended up sticking around for so long is because unlike in divisions such as welterweight and lightweight, the new generation of fighters didnβt really live up to their potential to replace them.
Fighters such as Phil Davis, Jimi Manuwa and Marcos Rogerio de Lima, once considered the best 205-pound prospects in the world, simply didnβt do as well in the UFC as many observers expected them to. Now, though, not only are the generation of fighters who once competed in Pride largely gone, but so are the fighters who failed to replace them.
There are a number of high-level, exciting prospects in their place. While some of them arenβt exactly young, itβs safe to say that the UFC light heavyweight division is no longer a country for old men, which makes it far better overall.