It’s becoming increasingly clear that the UFC can afford 165 and 175 divisions

At UFC 284, Alexander Volkanovski faces Islam Makachev, and Makachev is the overwhelming favorite. Despite the talk that Volk may be on track to earning his title as the featherweight GOAT, no one believes that a man of his size can weather the storm of a bigger elite wrestler.

Now imagine a lightweight trying to move up to welterweight, or a welterweight trying to move up to middleweight. The weight difference of the opponents you will face in the different divisions is theoretically 15 pounds, an even bigger jump than the seemingly unmovable mountain Volkanovski faces. In reality, the mountain is even bigger for this unnamed fighter, as bigger bodies can cut more weight in intense weightcuts, so the average welterweight may be 17 or 18 pounds above the average lightweight as opposed to 15.

The UFC doesn’t necessarily have a problem that needs to be fixed, however, splitting the welterweight division into two new divisions has a plethora of pros.

1. SIZE VARIATIONS ARE COMMON IN 155 AND 170

Arman entered his fight against Damir Ismagulov the clearly larger man. Justin Gaethje entered his bout with Tony Ferguson the clearly larger man. Khamzat Chimaev entered his bout with Gilbert Burns the clearly larger man.

Colby Covington and Shavkat Rakhmonov compete in the same weight class, as do Paddy Pimblet and Justin Gaethje. If a young fighter like Shavkat puts a little more weight on his frame as he gets older, he either becomes a huge weight bully or moves up. On the condition he moves up, he faces people like Alex Pereira or Jared Cannonier who are significantly larger. Likewise, if Justin Gaethje moves up, he then gets the pleasure of facing people the size of Gilbert Burns, who is considered small for the division, but he has a similar frame to Gaethje, just with so much muscle that his traps eat his neck. “Weight bullies” in 155 and 170 have no where to go. Fighters are faced with the dilemma of large, intense weight cuts which put their health and ability to even show up at risk, or, they go to a division where they are on the receiving end of weight bullying in any given top 15 match up.

1. THERES ENOUGH TALENT FOR SURE

The majority of men in the world fall under the height of 5’8 to 6’1 and an equal wingspan. An athlete with that sort of frame, will likely fall into the category of lightweight or welterweight. This likely contributes to why 155 is considered the most competitive division while 170 is gunning to be considered the 2nd: most men in general would fit into either of those two weight classes. If there is more than enough talent to saturate 135 and 145 (two insanely competitive divisions), where most men are either below average height or have little muscle on their frame, surely there is enough talent to fill 155, 175 and 165 completely.

You can even move the divisions around in your head. Poirier, ?Chandler?, McGregor, Covington, ?Masvidal?, and Burns may fit into the 165 pound division

Usman, Brady, Shavkat, Khamzat, ?Whittaker?, ?Imamov? could benefit from the creation of 175.

Many fighters in 155 would likely stay the same, and the division would be completely fine. Even if big names like Poirier or Covington don’t immediately flock to 165, the weightclass is a sweet spot that a lot of fighters who are small at welterweight or too big at lightweight can make.