A Breakdown of the UFC Heavyweight Landscape
With the Upcoming Heavyweight title clash at UFC 260 and the past three of four main events containing the big boys of the roster, the heavyweight landscape holds intriguing potential. Historically, the heavyweight title is defended sparsely, you’d have to go back to 2018 to find the belt being defended more than twice in a year, UFC’s 265lbs division is the slowest moving in the company.
With the recent releases of Heavyweight stalwarts Junior Dos Santos and Alastair Overeem, Dana and company are clearly vying to blood new and exciting fighters. At the time of writing three of the last four UFC main events have been headlined by heavyweight fighters, Alexander Volkov (Vs Alastair Overeem), Derrick Lewis (Vs Curtis Blaydes) and Cyril Gane (Vs Jairzinho Rozenstruik). Where the division goes next is the question burning on the lips of fighters and fans alike.
On March 27th Francis Ngannou will have his second shot at UFC gold, when he takes on consensus greatest Heavyweight of all time, Stipe Miocic. The two time champion quelled the strength and power of the Cameroonian in their first bout, back in 2018, however, Ngannou has grown a lot since then, with four brutal KO wins to his name. The winner of the 260 main event is almost guaranteed to face former Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones, perhaps some time in August/September (based on the historical frequency the belt has been fought at.) And who knows whether the loser of the Jon Jones matchup may push for a rematch, with all these variables in place the title could be held up for the best part of 18 months. So what happens to the current pool of heavyweights who sit just outside of the title frame? On the one hand activity is pivotal, maintaining perspicacity and sharpness is key to consistent performances in the Octagon yet the risk of plummeting down the ranking and essentially losing your place in the queue is perhaps jeopardy far too frightening for many a competitor.
18 months is just too long a time to stay out of the Octagon, due to this I see the winners (and losers in some cases) of the three main events having at least one fight in that time. I think the most obvious thing to do is pair the two losers of the events, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, who put in a lacklustre performance against Frenchman Cyril Gane and Curtis Blaydes, who was brutally put to sleep by a menacing uppercut courtesy of the “The Black beast”, Derrick Lewis. Pitting Rozenstruik against such an accomplished wrestler seems like a death wish, yet the same was said prior to the Blaydes vs Lewis matchup, and we all know what happened there. The next bout I would lean towards would be Cyril Gane vs Alexander Volkov. On paper, this seems too soon for Gane, yet his rise in MMA has been meteoric, with the Frenchman holding wins over Junior dos Santos and Jairzinho Rozenstruik just 9 fights into his professional career. This is a matchup which would certainly put either fighter in line after Jones. Volkov has filled out exquisitely in the last 18 months and looks like a true blue 265lbs fighter, this paired with his brutal striking the Russian makes for a devastating opponent for even the best. On the other hand Cyril Gane showed he can box well and has crafty submission acumen, a well-rounded game that could throw of the potent stand up of Volkov. This leaves one fighter left, Derrick Lewis. I decided not to pair up the Texas native against Volkov as I don’t think that match up ends well for him, the Russian is tall and rangy and would pick him off all night. What is almost unfathomable but would be A LOT of fun, is Lewis vs Jonny “Bones” Jones. A perfect welcome to the UFC’s heaviest division, a 260lbs, hard hitting, no-nonsense, brawler in “The Black beast”. The likelihood of this fight is very slim, however a controversial ending to the main event of UFC 260 could result in a trilogy fight between Ngannou and Miocic, leaving Jones in the dark for much longer than he would have originally anticipated.
The UFC likely already have plans for the division, it is important that the conveyer belt is kept moving and stagnation does not occur. Along with the top 6 ranked fighters, new prospects Tom Aspinall and Chris Daukas lay in wait. We have seen it far too often that a division has become stale due to inactivity, with the title being dealt with far too sparsely.
