Is all this weight class jumping good or bad for the UFC?

Omoplataypus

Sonnen jumps to LHW to fight JBJ (who wouldn't take a free titleshot right?).

Jones himself has stated that he will eventually compete at HW.

The most feared finisher in MMA, Frankie Edgar, drops to FW after attaining gold at LW.

Damien Maia drops to WW and appears to be a much stronger and more formidible version of his MW self.

Daniel Cormier appears to be eyeing a drop to LHW, despite looking dangerous at HW and weight cut related threats to his health.

The Spider has bounced from MW to LHW over the years, while mainly crushing cans at what most believe is his "true" weight class.

Showtime is now dropping to FW to contend for the title there.

Aldo has considered a move to LW many times, and it now seems to only be a matter of time.

MM fought well in a tough title contest at BW, but has since gone undefeated and sits atop the FLW division.

Rousey dropped to 135 and steamrolled the field, propeling her to become the first ever woman to headline a UFC PPV, while her bitter rival, Roidborg, now has nowhere to fight at 145.

Then theres GSP who seems intent on remaining at WW and is well on his way to becoming the undisputed GOAT of the division.

So is all this jumping up, down, left, and right good or bad for the premiere organization in combat sports today?

Omoplataypus

Guess nobody gives a ****. Carry on.

juice64011

I think that it is good. You can create a lot more interesting matchups. At the same time they need to be careful with handing title shots to undeserving fighters.

TUF1

juice64011 said:

I think that it is good. You can create a lot more interesting matchups. At the same time they need to be careful with handing title shots to undeserving fighters.

this ^^^

I'm ok with edgar's title shot. Sonnen's not so much.

i personally love the cross divisional match ups but i'm a boxing fan so i'm a bit biased

boxing is notorious for catchweight fights or champ vs champ "superfights"

Omoplataypus

To be honest I was Ok with Frankies shot only because Im a Frankie fan, but it was a complete slap in the face to all the top contenders at FW. Its now exasperated even further with the Pettis situation.

Obviously champ vs champ makes sense, but if a non champ switches weight divisions they should have to win at least one fight before challenging for the title no matter how good they've been at their previous division.

Yesterdays_Hero

It's bad. They have these rankings now but how do they explain a guy that's not even top 10 in the division getting a title shot?

Muzzle_rousey_please

It's good in the sense imagine this guy vs this guy.....but it's bad if they want to have serious rankings, I think a fighter should go up a weight class if he struggles to make weight or is on a losing streak and if they want to go Down a weight size they must be one losing streak

trez1336

I think its good, even if a guy is good in a division maybe he decides well this weight cut is too hard or too easy and I can be better moving up or down in weight, and I have no problem with it.. and it can revitalize a career ala Damian Maia

najma

It's awesome. There are no weight classes in nature. A fight is a fight. And the best guys should meet each other, especially as in those fights it is more their choice of a weight division that seperates them than their actual size.
Sonnen is just as natural of a light heavyweight as he is a middleweight. And look at Edgar and Aldo - they belong in the same weight class more than Machida and Jones do.

And guys like Edgar, Silva or Pettis deserve a title shot in the other division right away, if they deserved it in another. And they should get ranked right away too.
Why?
Because the ranking is never a completely direct comparison between fighters in the first place.
Just look at the HW ranking:

1. Cain Velasquez
2. Junior dos Santos
3. Daniel Cormier
4. Fabricio Werdum
5. Frank Mir
6. Josh Barnett
7. Stefan Struve
8. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
9. Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva
10. Roy Nelson

Cain - the champ - has only fought 2 other top-10 fighters, Struve has fought 2 as well. Cormier and Barnett only fought 1 other top-10 figther (they fought each other), etc.
So, as you can see the rankings are always mostly an estimation.

Placing Frankie Edgar as the second best featherweight, with him having no fights at that division, seems more accurate then having Roy Nelson at position no. 10 in the HW ranking, despite him having fought there all his career.