MMA's Lightweight Division: Too Deep?

MMA's lightweight division (146-155lbs in most promotions) is arguably the most fast paced, dynamic, and exciting division in all of MMA. Not only is the lightweight division one of the most exciting divisions in MMA, it is absolutely stacked with outstanding fighters. Such a talent rich pool begs the question: Can a division be too deep with talent? In my opinion the answer is yes, but only in a few circumstances. One of the circumstances where a division could be too deep is when there are only a few promotions showcasing lightweight fighters. Two possible situations could arise from this scenario:

1. The promotion would match fighters up against one another to try and find a champion. Due to the fact that there are so many great fighters in the division it would be hard to determine contenders without a very strict ranking system (most promotions do not have a clear cut ranking system in place at this time). The situation could also be that fighter A who beat fighter B lost to fighter C who in turn had beaten fighter B. Sound confusing? It is. Having a convoluted mess like this may be a result of the division being too deep in talent. The other problem with this situation, and this is especially true in the United States, is that the fans want to see a champion crowned and fast! If the promotion takes too long to crown a champion the fan base may lose interest with the division altogether.

2. The second situation would be that a promotion decides to use a finite number of fighters from the division who would compete against each other to determine a champion. Right off the bat this would relegate some of the fighters in the division to little or no action for an extended period of time. Once a champion is crowned, the contenders from the first group would then be shoved to the back of the line while fresh talent is brought in as competition for the champion. Once again this means fighters will be left with little to no action for an extended period of time. A situation such as this one would solve the problem of crowning a champion quickly, but at the expense of fighters staying busy. In most promotions fighters are paid on a fight to fight basis, not fighting for an extended period of time would most likely mean not getting paid for an extended period of time. With the advent of the IFL (International Fight League) fighters are now beginning to be paid based on salary. Fighters being paid on a salary basis would solve half of the problem of this situation, the other half to the problem is that the fighters would not be as active and gain as much experience as they need to stay in top form.

One relatively simple solution to the problems listed above would be for the promotion to hold tournament style elimination bouts to determine its contenders. Initially the winner of the tournament could be crowned champion and would then be excluded from the next tournament which would be held to find the number one, two, and three contenders. Tournaments would be held regularly to determine contenders for the champion to face. If a champion loses to a contender he would then be entered into the upcoming tournament or be relegated to number one or two contender status and get a bye into the semi-final of the next tournament. This solution however is not without its problems. The first problem is that tournaments are usually stretched out over a period of time and fighters that are eliminated early may not have a match in the following rounds of the tournament. The second problem is that tournaments of this type usually have a lot of fighters involved which means that the promotion is paying a lot of fighters at one time which may become a burden on the promotion.

The situations and scenarios above do not necessarily pertain to MMA in this day in age now that there are a number of promotions in the U.S. and worldwide. There are plenty of MMA promotions these days from the larger more well established promotions such as Pride Fighting Championships, K-1 Heros, and the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC), to upstart promotions like StrikeForce, the World Fighting Alliance (WFA), and the International Fight League (IFL). Along with larger MMA promotions there are also grass roots promotions which act as somewhat of a minor league for the bigger shows. Some of these grass roots promotions include: Superbrawl/Icon Sports, Ring of Fire, Extreme Challenge, World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), King of the Cage, Shooto, Cage Rage, and many others. With so many promotions now in existence, lightweight fighters are sure to have a place to fight.

The sheer number of quality lightweight fighters makes an MMA fan's mouth water just thinking about some of the possible match-ups. Below is a list of some of the talent in the lightweight division:

MMA's lightweight division has had a very tumultuous past. Since the inception of weight divisions in MMA, the lightweight division has had the reputation of being a "weak" division. This perception assumably comes from the boxing fan's mentality that lighter fighters do not have the power to knock each other out. The reality of the situation is that the lightweight division has produced some of the greatest knockouts in all of MMA:
Jens Pulver vs. John Lewis, Duane Ludwig vs. Jens Pulver, BJ Penn vs. Caol Uno, Joachim Hansen vs. Masakazu Imanari, Takanori Gomi vs. Luiz Azeredo, and many more.

There are a few glaring differences between lightweight boxers and lightweight MMA fighters. The first difference is that the gloves used in boxing are usually 8 ounce boxing gloves whereas MMA fighters use a fingerless glove specially designed for MMA that are only 4 ounces. The difference in padding means that a punch from a fighter with an MMA glove will deliver much more force per square inch than a punch from an 8 ounce boxing glove. The result of more force per square inch would mean that a fighter is more likely to be knocked out or dazed if receiving a punch from a 4 ounce glove. Another difference is that an MMA fighter has the ability to also knock his or her opponent out with kicks. The power generated from a kick can be greater than that of a punch in some cases. Along with an MMA fighter being able to knock his or her opponent out with punches and kicks, the fighter also has the opportunity to submit his or her opponent with various submission holds such as armbars (usually a hold where the elbow joint is on the verge of hyper-extension and can lead to dislocation or bone breakage if the fighter does not submit), choke holds (usually in the form of carotid artery chokes where pressure to the carotid arteries cuts off the flow of blood to the brain causing a fighter to be rendered unconscious if he or she does not submit), or a myriad of other submission holds.

For a time one of the largest MMA promotions in the world, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), was promoting a very highly marketable lightweight fighter named BJ Penn. Penn had gained the moniker of "The Prodigy" due to the fact that he had received his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Blackbelt faster than any other American at the time. Penn not only possessed amazing submission skills, he also possessed extraordinary speed and power with his punches. All of these traits made Penn a very dynamic fighter which the UFC looked to market. Penn had ripped through all of his previous competition and was setup for a fight with the lightweight champion at the time, Jens Pulver. The UFC was setup to have their star win the belt from the current champion and usher in a new era of lightweight fighters. The plan backfired as Pulver was not only able to withstand Penn's attacks, but also dish out his own offense. Pulver retained the title and believed he should be the person the UFC looked to market and promote. A contract dispute ensued which resulted in Jens Pulver leaving the promotion and being stripped of the title. Now that the UFC's lightweight title was vacant, the UFC held a lightweight tournament to crown a new champion. Two finalists emerged: BJ Penn and Coal Uno. The fight for the vacant title was now in place. In a strange twist of fate, the two fighters fought to a draw and neither fighter came out as champion. For a period of time following the Uno vs. Penn fight the UFC decided to do away with the lightweight division entirely, allowing some of its signed lightweight fighters to compete in other organizations, allowing some of their contracts to expire, or allowing some of the fighters to move up in weight class to the Welterweight division (156-170lbs). Recently the UFC has brought the lightweight division back but has still to crown a champion in the division.

Elsewhere in the MMA world, other promotions have had their own lightweight champions. After leaving the UFC, BJ Penn competed in the Rumble on the Rock promotion operated by his brother Jay Penn. The Penn brothers decided to call upon Japan's newest rising star Takanori Gomi for a championship fight. Penn was able to dominate Gomi and was crowned the Rumble on the Rock lightweight world champion. Since then Gomi has improved and gone on to claim the Pride Fighting Championships lightweight world champion title and establish himself as one of the top lightweights in the world. Gomi claimed his lightweight title in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships by winning one of the most competitive tournaments of all time in the Pride Bushido Lightweight Grand Prix. Entered in the tournament were some of the top lightweight fighters in the world. Gomi put on a display of power, skill, and heart to win the entire tournament. Penn has moved up in weight class from welterweight, to middleweight, and even light heavyweight. It is unlikely that Penn will return to the lightweight division.

Another Japanese promotion, K-1 Hero's, has crowned its own champion in Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto. In the finals of a lightweight tournament Yamamoto defeated perennial lightweight contender Caol Uno to win the title. Upstart promotion StrikeForce of California has already had two lightweight champions, the first being Clayton Guida as he pulled off one of the biggest upsets in MMA history when he defeated the overwhelming favorite Josh "The Punk" Thomson at the very first StrikeForce event held in March of 2006 in San Jose. In the second StrikeForce event Clayton Guida was to defend his title against top ten ranked lightweight Gilbert Melendez. In what has to be one of the greatest lightweight matches ever, Melendez pounded his way to victory over the super tough Guida to win the title.

The landscape of MMA's lightweight division looks to be set for years worth of great match-ups. In a perfect world we could have fighters fighting in other promotions to determine an undisputed world champion. This could be a very real possibility as seen with the recent announcement of Pride FC's Middleweight champion (Lightheavyweight in the U.S.) Wanderlei Silva to face the UFC's Lightheavyweight champion Chuck Liddell in November.