The UFC is the foremost MMA promotion company. As of recently, the sport has gained enormous interest and the UFC has been at the forefront of such growth. They have created the biggest name in combat sports in the last decade and they are responsible for creating the highest paid athlete in the world. Connor McGregor is the superstar that has been currently fighting in the 155lbs weight division. This division has been the most viewed weight class for some time now, but why? In contrast to boxing where the most viewed division is the heavyweight division, for MMA it comes in third after the middleweight division.
The reason being weight cuts. In the UFC there is no limit on how much water weight can be cut from one’s body. So in the week prior to the fight, the fighters begin a dehydration process that is very unhealthy. It places unhealthy amounts of stress on the kidney and the body in general. Nonetheless, this has allowed for truly big people to fight in a relatively low weight class. For example, Dustin Porier took a fight on short notice 3 weeks out from the weigh in. He claims to have been at 180 pounds the moment he received the call. In 3 weeks he made weight at 155 pounds. This is why, at this weight, we see all kinds of fighters. We see Khabib Nurmagomadof, a former 170 lbs fighter, and Connor Mcregor, a former 145 lbs. This creates a contrast of technique and power that envelopes all audiences. It has the highlight knockouts we see all the time and the technique of any fighter that can’t rely on pure strength. It lies at this beautiful middle point of power and technique.
This attracts fighters from all places and has one of the best roasters of fighters with names such as Cowboy Donald Cerrone, Mike Chandler, Charles Olivera (the current champion), and Justin Gathege. This class was dominated by Khabib Nurmagomadof until his underrated retirement at 29 wins and 0 losses. The list of famous fighters, currently in the 155lbs division, goes on and on. So for these and countless other reasons, the lighter fighters are the bigger spectacle.
