UFC Edmonton: Lighter weight classes continue to dominate UFC landscape 

There is a long-held belief in boxing that the sport is at its best when there is a deep, thriving heavyweight division, as the biggest names in the division have historically been the most universally known competitors and the thunderous knockouts they deliver resonate in a different way with audiences that are casual and hardcore alike. 

While heavyweights have always and will always draw eyeballs inside the Octagon, the script has been flipped in the UFC — and mixed martial arts in general — as the lighter weight classes and the stars of those divisions have become the most consistently entertaining cadre of fighters on the roster. 

A look at the recent slate of action and the muted anticipation for the upcoming heavyweight title fight at Madison Square Garden later this month illustrates that reality perfectly.

Saturday’s event in Edmonton was closed out by not one, but two five-round fights in the flyweight division, both featuring former champions in critical matchups against top-ranked contenders, with fans in full throat for the walkouts of Rose Namajunas, Erin Blanchfield, Amir Albazi, and Brandon Moreno, and on the edge of their seats — if they were using them at all — as Blanchfield and Moreno closed out the show with crucial victories that cemented their standing as championship contenders.

The most exciting individual moments of the night were provided by Canadian bantamweight Charles Jourdain, surging featherweight finisher Youssef Zalal, and streaking flyweight Jasmine Jasudavicius, who closed out a dominant effort against Ariane da Silva by latching onto a third-round D’Arce choke. 

Conversely, the two fights on the card that took a little of the air out of the packed Rogers Place was the clash between Alexandr Romanov and Rodrigo Nascimento, lumbering heavies that struggled to maintain their output and effectiveness as their gas tanks began running dry after the opening five minutes, and the low-output affair between light heavyweights Brendson Ribeiro and Caio Machado, which earned oohs and ahhs when the big men threw, but far more groans than any other fight on the main card as well. 

It’s not just about Saturday night in Edmonton, though. 

The most anticipated fight of the last several months was the UFC 308 featherweight title bout between Ilia Topuria and Max Holloway, with Topuria establishing himself as the Fighter of the Year frontrunner by stopping the Hawaiian former champion in the third round to build upon his title-winning knockout of Alexander Volkanovski in February.

Earlier in October, flyweight standouts Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira clashed in one of the most electric back-and-forth battles of the year, with Royval coming out ahead on the scorecards to cement his standing as a legitimate title threat and the Japanese youngster proving he belongs in that conversation as well, despite landing on the wrong end of the results for the first time in his career. 

Throughout the year, the shows that have garnered the most buzz and created the most conversation post-fight have been those showcasing the lighter weight classes, with flyweight shining on both the men’s and women’s side of the roster, bantamweight continuing to be a wealth of excitement up and down the divisional ladder, and both featherweight and lightweight being hotbeds for outstanding action no matter the combatants. 

And while light heavyweight ruler Alex Pereira has been front-and-centre all year, saving cards on short notice and scoring stoppage wins, “Poatan” feels like more and more of an outlier in terms of the consistency of performance and excitement being delivered by the heavier weight classes in recent years. 

What is also illustrative of the shift towards the lighter weight classes becoming the leading lights for the UFC is the limited excitement surrounding the heavyweight championship clash between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic a couple weeks from now in New York City. 

This is a major legacy fight on both sides — arguably the greatest fighter of all time facing off with the best heavyweight in UFC history — and regardless of who wins, there will be massive resume points to discuss after the fact. 

But people just don’t seem all that keen on the colossal UFC 309 main event pairing.

Part of that is surely because the bout has been delayed since this time last year and Miocic’s overall lack of activity in recent years, but it feels bigger than that. It feels like there is a general apathy surrounding the heavyweight division at the moment, as many expect both combatants will hang up their gloves following the contest, leaving current interim champion Tom Aspinall as the de facto ruler of the division.

As good as Aspinall has been, he’s already fought just about everyone at or near the top of the division on his way to the interim belt, leaving few exciting, fresh options if he ascended to the throne. It’s honestly the same at light heavyweight, where for as consistently entertaining as Pereira has been throughout his reign, he’s already done away with the top contenders, and folks don’t seem all that keen on seeing him face Magomed Ankalaev next.

The shift can also be seen in the way fans and media react to Fight Night bookings and the construction of cards as well. 

Events heavy with bouts at 185 pounds and above generate far less excitement than those flush with contests from lightweight down, and heavyweight bouts serving as the main event or main card features have become a consistent target of criticism in recent years. There have only been three Fight Night cards headlined by heavyweights this year after there were five such events in 2023, and middling heavyweight bouts that had historically landed in the middle of the main card have more frequently appeared on the prelims in 2024. 

The depth of talent and skill level present the further down the divisions you go in the lighter weight classes is also a massive contributing factor, as you would expect.

Unranked fighters from lightweight down frequently deliver captivating fights with a diverse display of skill and technique while carrying the same potential to end fights in thrilling fashion on their feet, and an even greater propensity to do so on the ground. No matter how things play out — quick and vicious, drawn out and technical, or an old-fashioned slobberknocker — the output, the technique on display, and the entertainment being delivered rarely wane to the point that it frequently does in the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions.

These things tend to ebb and flow, and 10-15 years ago, the heavyweight division was home to many of the biggest names in the sport, the light heavyweight division was the marquee collection of talent in the UFC, and the best fighter on Earth was a Brazilian middleweight.

But it feels like we’re in the midst of a significant shift — a turn to where the men and women in the lighter weight classes are far and away the more consistently entertaining and in-demand talents on the roster, and it doesn’t feel like that is going to change again any time soon.