UFC followers have voiced their shock and dismay this night, after numbers had been crunched concerning the roster breakdown per division within the Dana White-led promotion — which presently boasts simply 30 complete fighters on the heavyweight restrict.
As reported by veteran journalist, John Morgan — the UFC heavyweight division boasts only a slight 30 fighters competing within the Octagon, bested solely by the ladies’s bantamweight roster, which presently fields a small pool of 32 feminine opponents.
Present UFC roster dimension per division:
HW: 30LHW: 40MW: 68WW: 89LW: 102FW: 85BW: 84FlW: 50
WBW: 32WFlw: 45SW: 49
Complete: 674
* Numbers compiled utilizing UFC’s record of rankings eligible athletes.
— John Morgan (@JohnMorgan_MMA) February 11, 2025
The division, which presently options two championship — within the type of Jon Jones and his interim counterpart, Tom Aspinall — has largely been criticized for it’s numbers in current months, with veteran contenders, Derrick Lewis, Marcin Tybura, and Tai Tuivasa coming as standout names to have retained their place within the top-15 rankings.
Notably, in the present day’s numbers — and competitors inside the top-15 fails in comparisons to what many think about the ‘golden era’ of UFC heavyweight competitors, which featured names likes Cain Velasquez, Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos, Fabricio Werdum, Stipe Miocic, and a who’s who of expertise throughout a interval which noticed the championship belt fluctuate on many a contender’s waist.
Followers frightened by present state of UFC heavyweight division and numbers
Obligatory Credit score: Getty Photos
And notably identified by a social media person, given simply 30 fighters on the promotional books compete on the UFC heavyweight restrict — half of these are ranked inside the top-15 of the load class by default.
“More than half of the HW division (16/30) is ranked by default,” A person on X posted.
Greater than half of the HW division (16/30) is ranked by default 💀
— Borrachinha Depot (@FullContactMTWF) February 11, 2025
Besides, the present heavyweight champion, Jones simply joined the imaginative and prescient again in 2023 within the type of a vacant title success towards former interim gold holder, Ciryl Gane — and alongside British favourite, Aspinall sit atop the divisional throne.
“The heavyweight division is a mess right now and I’m not sure how you can fix it outside of bringing back Francis. Too many potential heavyweights just aren’t fighting anymore.”
“30 heavyweights and how many of them are even good?”
Of notice over the weekend in addition, the promotion parted methods with Suriname contender, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, with the perennial top-10 contender handing over a lacklustre efficiency towards Sergei Pavlovich at UFC Saudi Arabia — seeing a two-fight successful run halted.
