Four Gone

Two years ago (June 2013) it was a different time for the big boys in the UFC.

Every division from 170 pounds on up had a dominant champion.

The welterweight titlist was George St. Pierre, and he'd held the spot since 2008. The middleweight king was Anderson Silva, and he'd been there since 2006. Light heavyweight had Jon Jones, who took the belt early in 2011, and heavyweight had Cain Velasquez, the rookie who had come in six months earlier in 2012.

Since then all have fallen. St. Pierre won another defence, then retired. Silva lost two title fights, and after a minor win since is still trying to regain former glory. Jon Jones won 3 title defences, but was stripped of his championship after a run-in with the law.

Cain Velasquez, the heavyweight king, defended is title once late in 2013, but due to a rash of injuries didn't fight at all in 2014, or in the first half of 2015. Last night he took on Fabricio Werdum in Mexico City, and was stopped in the third round.

There still are some dominant champions in the lighter weight classes. Demetrious Johnson has ruled the flyweight division since 2012 in 6 title defences, while Jose Also has held the featherweight belt since 2010, and has made 7 title defences.

Interestingly, Ronda Rousey, the female bantamweight champion is the third-longest-reigning title holder. She got her belt in 2012, and has defended it 5 times.

Don't get me wrong. I do like a division with a bunch of gifted fighters all vying for top spot. The boxing heavyweight division in the Ali/Frazier/Foreman/Norton days comes to mind, but that's not what we've got.

The situation in the 4 heaviest male divisions is not exciting. Each pretty much has a knot of fighters who were never good enough to rise to the top while the dominant champions were around. They are getting pretty long in the tooth. The younger crop are having a hard time getting past them. Quite possibly, these older guys might end up in a champion role that they were unable to earn in their prime. Alternately, some younger fighters might manage to get passed them, and be just good enough to hold off their challenges. In either case, the champions could end up being the best of a sorry lot.

This is even assuming that a “best” fighter emerges at all. It could be that the titles rotate rapidly between these guys. This is about the same thing.

Perhaps this is unfair. There are a couple of interesting prospects coming up, and the middleweight champion, Chris Weidman, has already made 3 successful defences, although all of his challengers were pretty long in the tooth, being 38, 36, and 38 at the time of their fights. In his most recent fight, Weidman was 29.

None of the other men who has held any of the 4 heaviest division's belts since the fall of the dominant champions has made a successful defence.