What the Recent Middleweight Exodus has Made Clear About the Light Heavyweight Division

What the Recent Middleweight Exodus has Made Clear About the Light Heavyweight Division

By Jack Maher

Last week in former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman became the latest middleweight to make the jump up to light heavyweight, facing Dominick Reyes in the main event of UFC Boston.

It did not go well for Weidman. A very skilled wrestler, Weidman tried to utilise this skill over Reyes, but once he had his man up against the fence, he couldn’t get him to the ground and keep him there, and once Reyes broke away from Weidman he put the brakes on the former champion’s light heavyweight adventure, with an explosive left hand as well as some follow up shots that seen the fight stopped less than two minutes in.

This fight came just over three months after another former UFC middleweight champion decided to test the waters at 205lbs, in the form of Luke Rockhold, who faced Jan Blachowicz at UFC 239 back in July.

Like Weidman, Rockhold was also unsuccessful. Rockhold started the fight trying to kick-box Blachowicz, throwing a number of left kicks, which didn’t seem to trouble the Polish slugger. Rockhold, who like Weidman is also a very capable grappler, tried to utilise this skill against Blachowicz. But once he had his opponent up against the cage he struggled to advance the position from there, and in the second round Blachowicz broke away from Rockhold, and used his opening to club the former champ with a brutal left hand, and then followed up with some ground strikes to make sure he was out.

While I didn’t describe the two fights I just mentioned in massive detail, the similarities are clear to see. Two former middleweight champions, who both rely on grappling as a primary skill, make the move up to light heavyweight and are faced off against an opponent who is very established at the weight, and has explosive knockout power.

Both Weidman and Rockhold tried to get there opponent to the ground, and failed, despite their obvious grappling ability. Once it became clear the fight was not going to the ground, they both suffered heavy knockouts at the hands of more dangerous standup fighters than themselves.

Being able to grapple at a high level is a skill, but a skill that becomes harder to utilise to its full capacity when your opponent has a clear strength advantage over you.

It seemed like for all their ability, both Weidman and Rockhold lacked the strength to truly assert grappling dominance over their opponent, and in Rockhold’s case, lacked the power in his strikes to give his opponent something to worry about. Very understandable given that the difference between the middleweight limit and light heavyweight limit stands at 20 pounds.

Some middleweights have had an easier time adjusting to life at light heavyweight however;

Last year fringe middleweight contenders Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos decided that the grass was greener at light heavyweight, making the move up to the weight class above not look like an impossible job.

Smith started his run at 205lbs with two first round knockouts over former light heavyweight champions Rashad Evans and Mauricio Rua. While Santos picked up notable knockout wins over top light heavyweight contenders Jimi Manuwa, and the previously mentioned Blachowicz.

The good form of both men saw them both challenge for the light heavyweight championship earlier this year. Although both men were unsuccessful, the fact that they were in a position to challenge for UFC gold is a clear sign that the impact they’ve made at light heavyweight in about a year is far greater than the impact they made in the years spent at middleweight.

So why have Smith and Santos flourished while Weidman and Rockhold have floundered, considering that the latter two had much more success at middleweight?

To answer this, it’s important to look at the fighting styles of all the men in question. Weidman and Rockhold both heavily rely on their grappling, which as I mentioned earlier was ineffective at the higher weight. While both have respectable ground games, it is on the feet where both men are at their most dangerous, especially Santos, who’s three wins at light heavyweight in the UFC have all come by KO/TKO.

Taking a look through the rankings at light heavyweight, it’s clear to see that fighter who can rely on one-punch knockout power are more suited to the division in its current landscape.

This isn’t to say that predominantly grappling-based fighters won’t see success at the weight, but being able to fall back on dangerous striking is a skill few can survive without at light heavyweight.

Santos, Smith, Reyes, Blachowicz, Volkan Oezdemir, Aleksandar Rakic, Johnny Walker, Glover Teixeira and the now retired Alexander Gustafsson are all ranked in the top 15. All can and will utilise the massive power they have in their hands.

This one punch knockout power that I keep referring to is something that both Weidman and Rockhold aren’t really known for, and this is something that came back to bite them when they were forced to stand with their opponent..

This isn’t to say that grappling isn’t effective at light heavyweight, Daniel Cormier became a champion at the weight, but he was an Olympian moving down from heavyweight, who also has very good boxing which gave his opponents something to worry about on the feet.

Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones isn’t known for his one-punch knockout power, but the fact that he has remained at the top of the division without being your traditional knockout artist is one of the reasons why he is considered the best in the world.

To summarise, the varying success of middleweights moving up to light heavyweight over the past year has shown that you stand a better chance of having success at the weight if you are a dangerous and explosive striker, or at least have the ability to give your opponent trouble on the feet.

Perhaps Jacare Souza can prove me wrong when he makes the move up to light heavyweight in the main event of UFC São Paulo on November 16th.