The greatest problem the UFC has seen.
While scrolling through the official UFC website trying to spark an idea I stumbled upon the rankings for all top 15 ranked fighters in each respective division. I was looking and two certain divisions caught my eye, both men’s 170 and 155 pound divisions. These two divisions are staples in the UFC being home to some of the most iconic fighters ever like GSP, Khabib Nurmagamedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, and the list goes on and on. Both divisions have champions who are coming off of a very strong and convincing win that will be legacy fights when both Islam Makhachev and Leon Edwards retire. Each of them beat the “guy” who was supposedly the answer to each dominant reign. The problem starts with these two, the problem of these UFC fighters becoming “too good” for the division and slowing down the progression of fighters throughout the rankings.
Now I know… that sounds RIDICULOUS at first but just give me a second and hear me out. Throughout UFC history the threat of losing one’s belt or one’s shot at the belt is what strives people to be the best and that hunger is not a bad thing. It will never be a bad thing that the skill level in any sport rises, in fact, it just comes with time as more people figure out which ways work best and evolve the sport but what happens when multiple people put themselves in a spot for title contention? We get what happens in the 170 and 155-pound divisions in the UFC, a stalemate. What do you expect to happen when there is more than one contender in a division you have to make them fight right? Wrong.. Someone like Shavkat Rakhmonov should never have to fight an aging Stephen Thomspon while Colby Covington gets another undeserved title shot. Justin Gathje and Max Hollaway at 155 in 2024 for the BMF belt is not something that should be on my radar while the champion is just sitting back without a fight announced. The two champs shouldn’t be talking about fighting each other and make Veterans like Charles Olivera or Gilbert Burns step up to fight rising contenders in Arman Tsarukyan and Jack Della Maddalena.
If the problem is just how good they are why don’t the opponents “just get better”? It isn’t just that easy, and it isn’t the only solution to the problem because in some instances the most “talented” man is not the one who wins. Take Leon Edwards vs Colby Covington, Leon wanted this fight, he saw something that made him believe he could win and he did. On paper, the challenger Colby was the more “talented” man with accomplishments like 34-0 and JUCO champion at Iowa Central Community College, the highest ever freshman ranking at the Midlands Championships coming in 3rd, 2-time PAC-10 champion, All-American status at Oregon State, former interim UFC welterweight champ, etc. All of this and he just has to win a fight against a dude who has only been training MMA since he was 13? Then Leon comes out and virtually dominates Colby retaining his belt leaving the question of who’s next? Usman and Khamzat just fought at 185, Gilbert is booked, Shavkat just fought Stephen Thompson, and then next up in the rankings is Sean Brady, with all due respect to him a win over Kelvin Gastulum does not give you a title shot anymore and Dana White just refuses to give Belal Muhammad a title fight. The same can be said for Islam, he took the belt in a dominating win over Charles Olivera, then went on to have 2 fights with Alexander Volkanovski, winning both and getting a TKO victory in the second. Now what, fighters like Justin Gethje and Dustin Poirer have fights booked because they were just at home waiting, Olivera has a fight booked as well, then 4-6 all have fights booked (counting Chandler vs Mcgregor).
What is the answer to this problem then? Honestly, I just ask questions not provide answers. I know that is disappointing, but I honestly feel like Dana and the matchmakers are on the right path, if they just book Belal Muhammad vs Leon Edwards 2, and give Islam the winner of Gathje vs Holloway. The stalemates at the tops of the divisions just have to change. I mean 170 was taking so long that Khamzat left the division to join the most active weight class at 185. Some of the veterans use their age and former success to justify fighting once a year and keeping their ranking. It feels like it should be an unwritten rule that people ranked in the top 10 or top 5 have to fight X amount of times a year. I just hope Dana has something crazy cooking for UFC 300.
All Rankings provided from - https://www.ufc.com/rankings
Colby Covington accolades- https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/fighters/23634-colby-covington
