Mma weight classes ufc

Since then, the promotion has made waves and effectively taken over MMAbreeding some of the UFC's biggest stars with the weight system combined with rankings allowing for the best fights to be made.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship UFC is the biggest mixed martial arts promotion in the world with an estimated value of billion dollars. The promotion came into being in , and it has since revolutionized the fighting business. The UFC started its journey with an eight-man open weight tournament at UFC 1, but as the promotion grew popular, it started adding weight classes to its roster. The heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions were introduced first in , followed by the welterweight division in Three years later in , the promotion announced the lightweight and middleweight divisions. For almost a decade, the UFC relied on its big boys to give the fans the entertainment they were looking for, but after smaller fighters like Dominick Cruz, Demetrious Johnson, and Urijah Faber started making a lot of noise around , new UFC weight classes, namely the bantamweight and featherweight divisions, were introduced.

Mma weight classes ufc

Like all martial arts and combat sports, the UFC has several weight categories called divisions. In mixed martial arts, a weight class is a competition division that matches fighters against each other at their size. As we know, the primary purpose of weight categories is to equalize the battlefield and enable relatively similar opponents to face each other without anyone having a clear-cut advantage over the other. In this article, I will present to you the UFC weight divisions, as well as all the champions for each of them. There are not many — 8 for men and 4 for women — but that does not make it less attractive. Since it would be of no use for us to describe all the categories, I shall present them to you in one table, which is pretty self-explanatory:. The primary purpose of UFC weight classes is to equalize the playing field and enable relatively similar opponents to face each other without having a clear-cut advantage. UFC weight classes were first introduced in The Light Heavyweight and Welterweight Divisions soon followed in December and , respectively, with the Lightweight and Middleweight divisions being introduced in The most recent divisions were the Bantamweight and Featherweight, introduced in , and the Flyweight Division, introduced in The competition format for women is both newer in date and a lot smaller.

Each of his title defences resulted in decisive wins, earning Penn a reputation as one of the most respected fighters in UFC, mma weight classes ufc. Despite making it to the final bell this time, Usman was once again upset by Edwards, losing a majority decision to the Englishman. At UFCEdwards successfully defended the title for the second time after a grueling 5 round battle in the Octagon with Colby Covington.

When you sign-up through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Discover the best sites for betting on UFC matches:. Just like boxing , UFC is divided into different weight classes. Understanding these weight classes and which fighters compete in them is essential before you begin to bet on UFC. Fighting within a weight class means that a fair fight in physical terms at least is guaranteed, and the winner will be determined by the skill of the fighter as opposed any significant physical size advantage. The history of the weight class, notable fighters from the past and present, and the current champion.

In mixed martial arts, athletes compete in weight classes where they must weigh in at or around a specific weight the day before their fight at the UFC official weigh-ins. The UFC currently has 12 weight classes, all that require fighters to weigh in under a desired limit. Generally, fighters try to weigh in at the exact limit so they can lose the least amount of weight during the weight cutting process while still meeting the required number on the scale. Failure to reach the required weight results in either the athlete forfeiting a percentage of their fight purse to their opponent, an agreement between the two athletes to compete at a non-weight class specific weight catchweight or having the fight cancelled altogether. UFC official weigh-ins are held the day before fight night and require athletes to weigh-in between 9am and 11am local time. Sound confusing? So here is everything you need to know to understand UFC weight classes:. In , former strawweight champion Carla Esparza defeated Rose Namajunas to become the inaugural champion. For non-title bouts, strawweight athletes have a one-pound leeway on the scale, meaning they can weigh up to pounds. For title bouts, athletes must weigh in at or under pounds.

Mma weight classes ufc

While there are potentially several more weight classes UFC could use from the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts , these are the nine only that they stick with. Weight classes are needed to ensure a fair competition between two fighters. Though there can be a secret tenth weight class, known as Catchweight — so keep reading to learn more about it.

Rap concerts australia

After a dry patch for the division in recent times, a new breed of heavyweights has gripped the sport which is largely down to Jones' recent switch to become champion of the weight class, with the likes of Tom Aspinall, Ciryl Gane and Sergei Pavlovich waiting in the wings. In a back-and-forth fight the challenger gradually inflicted so much damage to the face of Tanner that the fight was stopped by the ringside doctor. Heavyweight — pounds. The major goal of UFC weight classes is to level the playing field and allow opponents who are reasonably similar to face one other without having a noticeable advantage. He studied print and broadcast journalism at Humber College and has been a lifelong fan of the sport of hockey and the NHL. Hughes soon regained the vacant title, defeating the younger challenger Georges St-Pierre via armbar. Early stoppages are common and fights which do last a long time tend to see fighters gas out quickly as the fight goes deeper. Pereira was crowned the winner after earning a second-round TKO win over Prochazka. The UFC heavyweight division has the most leeway of any division in the promotion, with athletes often weighing in several pounds under the required limit. Similar to strawweight, flyweight fighters are mostly associated with speed and technical skill. On the flip side, those moving down from light heavyweight will hope to overpower naturally smaller opponents with their superior striking. Speed and agility are still very important, but with slightly higher weight more powerful styles can be effective too. Most recently, Charles Oliveira was stripped of his lightweight title after missing weight by half a pound before his third title defense against Justin Gaethje at UFC Inaugural champion: Nicco Montana Nicco Montana won the inaugural flyweight title by beating Roxanne Modafferi in the flyweight tournament finale at The Ultimate Fighter Water loss is a way to lose weight staying dehydrated.

Rankings were generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound.

However, Jones again failed a doping test, testing positive for an anabolic steroid, and once again his title was stripped. Photo by Chr. Fantasy match-ups? The major goal of UFC weight classes is to level the playing field and allow opponents who are reasonably similar to face one other without having a noticeable advantage. Of his 6 UFC wins at that point, only one had gone the distance. The UFC added the weight class in season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter and signed Esparza along with 10 other fighters to compete in a tournament to determine the strawweight champion. She currently holds the record for the most title defenses by a woman in UFC history 7. The reigning defending champion is Amanda Nunes. Serra was plagued by back injuries in the coming year, allowing St-Pierre to capture an interim Welterweight title and set up a unification match at UFC Now in the modern era, a new superstar has been born in the shape of Israel Adesanya who has held down the title in spells for several years now ousting near enough every contender in his path.