UFC heavyweight division in crisis? Fans shocked by alarmingly low roster count
UFC fans have voiced their shock and dismay this evening, after numbers were crunched regarding the roster breakdown per division in the Dana White-led promotion — which currently boasts just 30 total fighters at the heavyweight limit.
As reported by veteran journalist, John Morgan — the UFC heavyweight division boasts just a slight 30 fighters competing in the Octagon, bested only by the women’s bantamweight roster, which currently fields a small pool of 32 female competitors.
The division, which currently features two championship — in the form of Jon Jones and his interim counterpart, Tom Aspinall — has largely been criticized for it’s numbers in recent months, with veteran contenders, Derrick Lewis, Marcin Tybura, and Tai Tuivasa coming as standout names to have retained their position in the top-15 rankings.
Notably, today’s numbers — and competition within the top-15 fails in comparisons to what many consider the ‘golden era’ of UFC heavyweight competition, which featured names likes Cain Velasquez, Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos, Fabricio Werdum, Stipe Miocic, and a who’s who of talent during a period which saw the championship belt fluctuate on many a contender’s waist.
Fans worried by current state of UFC heavyweight division and numbers
And notably pointed out by a social media user, given just 30 fighters on the promotional books compete at the UFC heavyweight limit — half of those are ranked within the top-15 of the weight class by default.
“More than half of the HW division (16/30) is ranked by default,” A user on X posted.
To boot, the current heavyweight champion, Jones just joined the vision back in 2023 in the form of a vacant title success against former interim gold holder, Ciryl Gane — and alongside British favorite, Aspinall sit atop the divisional throne.
“The heavyweight division is a mess right now and I’m not sure how you can fix it outside of bringing back Francis. Too many potential heavyweights just aren’t fighting anymore.”
“30 heavyweights and how many of them are even good?”
Of note over the weekend to boot, the promotion parted ways with Suriname contender, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, with the perennial top-10 contender turning in a lacklustre performance against Sergei Pavlovich at UFC Saudi Arabia — seeing a two-fight winning run halted.
