Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight MMA Aren't the Best, Just the Oldest (Patreon)

MMA fans tend to rank heavyweight and light heavyweight fighters higher on their pound for pound lists not because these are the most technical divisions but because they're the oldest.

For a very long time, both the UFC and Pride only had these two divisions. By default, these fighters became the stars. Even when other weight classes began to appear, PPVs and promotional money was still spent on their established divisions. For all these reasons plus nostalgia, MMA fans weigh these divisions heavily in their minds. This is very similar to pro wrestling. Whoever is world champion is directly in a lineal line to Hulk Hogan. Does this mean Brock Lesnar is the most technical wrestler? No. Does it make him the best showman? No. It does, however, make him the most famous.

The UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champions are not only the champions of the two most famous divisions but also beat people who beat the MMA stars of the past. But pound for pound is not supposed to be about fame; it's about the most skilled and talented. Welterweight and below are catching up in building those stars, but they are still overlooked because of their age. There was also a long period when MMA lost a lot of its popularity. Unfortunately, this was also when MMA was building their lower weight classes. In many ways, the old generation stars are still more famous than the current stars, with some exceptions like Conor McGregor.

Is Jon Jones beating a shopworn Maurício Rua a better accomplishment than Frankie Edgar beating a prime BJ Penn? No, but Rua still had his Pride fame. Jones beat a guy we know. Jones beat a lot of old guys we know.

Is there any victory that Jon Jones has had that tops Georges St-Pierre beating Matt Hughes? But unfortunately, Tito Ortiz was far more famous than Matt Hughes.

Does any current or past heavyweight or light heavyweight fighter have the skills and talent of anyone in the UFC bantamweight division? Is prime Fedor Emelianenko more technical than prime Jose Aldo? Who in either of those divisions can compete at the level of Max Holloway and Alexander Volkanovski? Is beating famous fighters the same as beating the most-skilled and athletic fighters? The best big athletes ARE NOT going to MMA; they're going into other sports. But smaller athletes will try MMA, like Henry Cejudo.

Frank Shamrock left the UFC as an undefeated champion. Tito Ortiz beat Wanderlei Silva for the vacant title. From Tito on, it's all famous fighters, including Jon Jones. You can't say every champion was notable in any other division, including heavyweight. Because of this lineal line of names we recognize, Jon Jones is considered the best. He reigned over arguably the most famous division for the longest time. But is that a testament to that division or more an indictment about MMA fans because they don't know Jens Pulver, Sean Sherk, Pat Miletich, Carlos Newton, Gilbert Melendez, Dave Menne, Rich Franklin, Evan Tanner, or Murilo Bustamante? Or what about all the forgotten stars when lower weight MMA only existed in Japan? What about Alexandre Franca Nogueira, Vítor Ribeiro, Takanori Gomi, or Joachim Hansen? What about when the best fought the best, and BJ Penn beat Takanori Gomi? What even comes close to that as far as the best fighting the best? What about when Yves Edwards beat Josh Thomson, the two best lightweights at the time, in a non-title match because the UFC was scrapping the lightweight division?  What about the forgotten stars of WEC like Miguel Torres?

Is a light heavyweight really the GOAT, or do people only say that because that's the only division they remember?