The middleweight division was changed to having an upper limit of 185 lbs, welterweights had an upper limit of 170 lbs, light heavyweights at 205 lbs, and heavyweight at 265 lbs.Īfter this, the UFC didn’t adopt any additional divisions until its merger with World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) in 2010 when they added the bantamweight (135 lbs) and featherweight (145 lbs) divisions. This meant the introduction of the lightweight division, which was formerly the Bantamweight division, and had an upper weight limit of 155 lbs. BJ Penn and Caol Uno drew both times at UFC 39 & UFC 41.įollowing on from the table, the middleweight division was introduced in December 1997 at UFC Japan (which was actually today’s light heavyweight division), with the welterweight division and light heavyweight division in March 1998 at UFC 16.Īll weight class divisions were then revised and updated at UFC 31 (May 2001) as per the Official Unified Rules of MMA. Note: this table doesn’t include the ‘superfight’ winners which the UFC implemented since UFC 5. Here’s a table showing how the UFC’s tournaments started as openweight and gradually took on weight class divisions until the tournaments were eventually phased out: UFC Event Royce Gracie is famous for being the much lighter fighter, and showing the effectiveness of jiu-jitsu to beat fighters much heavier than him. The reason for this is the UFC was trying to identify the most effective martial art in a no holds barred format, meaning there were minimal rules and no weight classes. The UFC was founded in 1993, and until UFC 12 all UFC events were openweight tournaments meaning any fighter of any weight could compete. The two divisions were separated by 200 lbs, meaning you were in the lightweight division if you were under 200 lbs and in the heavyweight division if you were over. The UFC first used weight class divisions at UFC 12 in 1997, which were the lightweight division and the heavyweight division. When Did the UFC Start Using Weight Classes? They make it easy for fans to identify fighters by their divisions, and easily see the best within each weight class. Lastly, weight class divisions are used as a way to keep the promotion organized. The UFC also has weight classes because it allows them to have extra undisputed champions, interim champions, and division rosters, resulting in more fights, promotion, and revenue. The UFC has weight classes because they neutralize the advantage extra weight gives to one fighter over another, meaning UFC fights are determined by skill, intelligence, and natural ability. This is different from the UFC as they have a female atomweight division and a men’s strawweight division, but not a female featherweight division. Lastly, One Championship has 13 weight classes, separated into 4 women’s divisions and 9 men’s divisions.
Russia’s biggest MMA promotion, Absolute Championship Ahkmat, has 8 men’s divisions, while none for women. The UFC’s weight classes differ from Bellator, which has 9 weight class divisions, separated into 7 for men, and 2 for women.
In 2022, the UFC has 12 weight class divisions while the Official Rules Of MMA present 15 possible weight classes, and this is before separating them into men’s and women’s divisions.
UFC CROSS WEIGHT FREE
The UFC weight classes differ from other MMA promotions as although operating under the Official Unified Rules Of MMA, the rules don’t state a minimum or maximum amount of divisions an MMA promotion must have, meaning they’re free to pick the divisions they want. Do the UFC Weight Classes Differ From Other MMA Promotions? Despite there being only 9 divisions presented here, men’s and women’s divisions are separate (8+4) and make a total of 12 UFC weight classes. Here’s a table showing the UFC weight classes (divisions) for both men and women: Weight DivisionĪs can be seen, women fight in the 4 lightest divisions, while men fight in the 8 heavier divisions. There are a total of 12 weight class divisions in the UFC, 8 divisions for men, and 4 divisions for women. How Many UFC Weight Classes Are There (Divisions)?
In this article, we’ll look at the UFC weight classes, how they’ve changed over time, why they have them, how they compare to other MMA promotions and their use. Are you wondering what the UFC weight classes are and how they’ve changed over time?
0 kommentar(er)
