Current ufc heavyweight champion. UFC weight categories. Does it make sense to make wishes, and what are the limitations?

Until recently, professional boxing had no competitors in popularity in the world of martial arts. However, relatively recently a sports organization has appeared that conducts mixed-style fights and conquers all larger number fans - UFC. What this abbreviation is, what is the secret of the success of the promotional organization - this will be discussed below.

Decisive fighting championship

There are several organizations in the world that organize mixed style fights. Each of them has its own rules, famous fighters, and audience of fans. However, thanks to the aggressive and daring advertising campaign, the most authoritative and significant among them is the UFC. What this mysterious abbreviation means follows from the translation - “Decisive Fighting Championship”, or “Absolute Fighting Championship”.

Originally created for a one-off TV show in which representatives were supposed to fight different types martial arts, however, under the influence of success, it was reorganized into a permanent promotion company holding tournaments on an ongoing basis.

After a series of reforms and a long evolution, the tournament system was reorganized. It was decided to abandon the round-robin competition. Now a UFC tournament or event is similar in its structure to a big boxing evening, when a number of individual fights are held, among which one central one stands out.

Today, each event attracts a huge audience of spectators, providing fierce competition to professional boxing.

The number of orders from users of paid channels sometimes exceeds a million. UFC fighters are among the top of all MMA ratings. However, this was not always the case. Before Khabib Nurmagomedov and other characters appeared in the UFC, many events happened.

What can come of one TV show?

One Californian businessman, Art Davey, decided to organize a tournament in which fighters from different types of martial arts could compete with each other in fights to clarify the eternal debate about which type of martial arts is the most effective. This fascinating spectacle was to be called “War of the Worlds.” For this purpose, the television company WOW Promotions was created, which would organize this tournament in a TV show format.

Most cable companies refused this unexpected offer; only the SEG television network agreed to broadcast the event. She also came up with the original name for the action - Ultimate Fighting Championship.

The competition took place in Denver, Colorado in 1993. Eight fighters representing kickboxing, boxing, savata, sumo, shootboxing, karate, and jiu-jitsu took part in the tournament. Jiu-jitsu fighter Royce Gracie won - younger brother one of the organizers of the tournament, also a famous fighter in this style.

This show was supposed to be a one-off event, but after the success and huge interest from the audience, it was decided to continue organizing such fights.

First fights

Not at all what the first UFC fights looked like today. What were the martial arts tournaments of the early nineties? This follows from the slogan of those years “No rules!” If today there are a number of restrictions on the actions of fighters, then in those years almost everything was allowed. Groin strikes, headbutts, even hair pulling - these techniques were allowed in those fights. It was only forbidden to use teeth and gouge out the eyes of the enemy.

On the other hand, many UFC fighters, not wanting to use dirty tricks, agreed in advance among themselves that, for example, hair pulling and groin strikes would not be tolerated. Such vile tricks were still the exception rather than the rule.

There was no division into weight categories. IN in some cases the difference between the fighters could be more than a hundred kilograms. Time was also not limited and was not divided into rounds. The fight ended either with a knockout or the submission of one of the opponents.

Pressure from the authorities

Not everything was foreseen by the UFC founders. What is pressure from the authorities - they had to find out for themselves. Thanks to the freshness of the idea and novelty, the first tournaments aroused widespread interest and were widely covered in the media. However, such interest played a cruel joke. The fights of those years were very brutal, and many legislators took up arms against such spectacles.

The campaign against mixed style fighting was led by the well-known Senator John McCain. According to him, UFC fights were superior in terms of cruelty cock-fights, and he demanded that all state legislatures completely ban fighting. This was done in 36 regions of the country out of 50. In addition, the broadcast of fights was prohibited on public television channels and most cable channels. So I had to experience the UFC, what a semi-underground state is.

Reforms

To prove the UFC's right to exist, the organizers decided to undertake reforms and cooperate with state sports organizations. We decided to start with changes to the rules. Many dirty tricks were prohibited - grabbing the cheek, hitting the back, hitting a prone opponent. In addition, athletes were required to perform in special lightweight gloves to reduce the risk of injury.

The changes also affected the time limit of fights. Starting with UFC 21, fights were split into five rounds. To avoid situations where athletes whose weight difference could reach hundreds of kilograms could compete in one fight, a division into weight categories was introduced. In addition, the organizers began to actively cooperate with state sports committees to promote tournaments in all corners of the country.

Renaissance

Yet key point, thanks to UFC rating grew significantly due to the purchase of this sports organization by Zuffa. Under this name lies a business alliance between former boxer promoter Dana White and the heads of a large casino chain, Frank and Lorenzo Fertita. Thanks to Lorenzo's connections with the Nevada Athletic Commission, permission was obtained to hold fights in this state. Soon the UFC returned to paid cable channels.

After this, the UFC gradually began to gain popularity. What aggressive advertising is and what it is capable of - this became clear after the fights began to be held in the large halls of the MGM Grand and Taj Mahal. An agreement followed with the FSN channel, releasing the fights on DVD. The popularity of the project was also facilitated by the reality show The Ultimate Fighter, which was shown on Spike TV. UFC champions become popular, their images appear on the pages of magazines.

An important aspect of the activities of UFC owners was the absorption of competitors. Organizations conducting mixed style fights were acquired - PFC, WEG. After this, they have no real opponents left, the UFC rating becomes the main thing for determining the strongest fighter.

Earnings

Today, the UFC is the most successful organization involved in holding mixed style fights. Fighters usually do not receive a certain wages. UFC participants independently earn their name and reputation. Remuneration amounts are specified in individual contracts. Little-known and up-and-coming athletes can earn around $40,000 per fight. In this case, coaches and team members are paid exclusively by the fighter himself.

UFC champions and top stars can earn up to a million per fight. The first athlete to cross the 1,000,000 mark was Conor McGregor. That same year, he achieved an even more impressive result, earning 3,000,000 per fight.

Sponsorship contracts are another source of income for an athlete. They often exceed the rewards for the fights themselves.

Rule optimization

For its time, the idea of ​​UFC attracted viewers with its freshness and novelty. The absence of rules, time restrictions, division into weight categories - all this made it possible to clearly compare the effectiveness of various types of martial arts. However, pressure from politicians and public opinion forced the organizers to make changes to the rules to avoid unnecessary cruelty in fights. Many dirty techniques were prohibited - hitting the groin, grabbing hair, twisting fingers, hitting the back and beating a prone athlete.

Light gloves have become mandatory to reduce the likelihood of injury to the athlete. A time limit was introduced - fights began to be divided into segments of five-minute rounds. Changes also affected the format of the tournament. The tournament bracket was cancelled, and separate individual fights began to be held, just like in professional boxing.

UFC fights began to move closer to sports and ceased to be a mere spectacle.

Irish star

Conor McGregor is arguably the most popular UFC fighter today. He managed to cross the boundaries of his weight category and become a champion in both lightweight and featherweight. His fights attract spectators with his non-standard fighting technique. He is equally proficient in both striking and wrestling techniques. In martial arts jiu jitsu, he even achieved the right to a brown belt.

His “turnarounds” - roundhouse kicks - are especially spectacular. Conor McGregor, after a successful attempt to go beyond his weight limit, also tried to become a champion in the welterweight category. However, the fight against American Nate Diaz turned out to be depressing for him. After this, the Irishman even announced his retirement. However, after the emotions subsided, McGregor changed his mind. Considering that he is at the peak of his form, you can expect more than one spectacular fight from him.

Fighter from Dagestan

The list of UFC star participants is not limited to McGregor alone. Khabib Nurmagomedov is a Russian fighter who is undefeated to date. He competes in the lightweight category, and the whole world of mixed martial arts is waiting for the fight between him and Conor McGregor for the title of the strongest to finally take place.

Khabib is a specialist in combat sambo and grappling, who has become a multiple winner of various tournaments in these types of martial arts. He fought his first MMA fight in 2008.

Since 2011, the athlete has been competing in fights under the auspices of the UFC. On this moment he fought 21 fights, winning all of them. Dagestani is in the top 15 best fighters UFC of all categories and is the second in lightweight (after McGregor). Khabib was supposed to meet Eddie Alvarez for the world title, but this right was taken away from him by Conor McGregor, who decided to try his luck in another weight category.

Heavyweight Champion

Stipe Miocic - American fighter, UFC champion heavyweight. He trains at the Strong Style Fight Team club, for which Russian fighter Maxim Grishin also competes. He began collaborating with the UFC in 2011.

The first fight was against Joey Beltran, which lasted all the required time and ended in favor of Stipe.

The most important fight that Stipe Miocic had in his life was the fight against Fabricio Werdum. It was in this fight in May 2016 that he won the world title. In the same year, he held his first defense against Alistair Overeem.

Daniel Cormier

In the light heavyweight category, a fighter who is among the top 5 best UFC participants, regardless of category, terrifies his opponents. Daniel Cormier began his sports career as a representative of freestyle wrestling. As a member of the US team, he took part in Olympic Games 2004, 2008.

After finishing his career in amateur sports, he decided to try his hand at mixed martial arts. Cormier initially collaborated with the promotion company Strikeforce. After its closure, he moved to the UFC. He fought his first fight in this division in 2013, defeating Frank Mir.

After some time, Daniel Cormier moved to the light heavyweight category, where he was able to take the championship belt by defeating Anthony Johnson.

Despite his wrestling background, the athlete prefers to fight in a standing position, crushing his opponent with the hardest blows.

However, he is always ready to fight on the ground, where he has an advantage over almost all opponents. Cormier's dignified, respectful behavior outside the ring also sets him apart. He treats all his opponents with emphatic correctness and does not show too much joy after victories.

UFC today is a spectacle, the best mixed style fighters, intense and exciting fights. For every martial arts fan there will be reasons to stay in front of the screens.

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Fabricio Werdum is one of the many representatives of the Brazilian MMA school. His nickname is Vai Cavalo Portuguese language translated as “forward, horse.” He was born on July 30, 1977 in Porto Allegri in Brazil, but currently lives in San Jose, America, where he trains at Kings MMA. Fabricio's fighting background is Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai.

Werdum earned his championship belt in the summer of 2015. On June 13, as part of the UFC 188 tournament, he met with Cain Velasquez, who at that time held the title. The Brazilian dominated throughout the fight and eventually caught his opponent in a guillotine in the third round. In February 2016, he was supposed to meet Velasquez in a rematch, but his opponent pulled out of the fight due to injury. Werdum's next appearance in the octagon is scheduled for May 14, 2016 as part of the UFC 198 show. During the first defense, Fabricio's opponent will be top contender Stipe Miocic.

UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier

Daniel Cormier was born on March 20, 1979 in American city Lafayette. He currently resides in San Jose and trains at the American Kickboxing Academy. His background is freestyle wrestling and kickboxing. In addition, Daniel boasts a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Cormier's main problem at the moment is that many do not consider him a true champion. The best UFC fighter, regardless of weight categories, Jon Jones, as a title holder, met with Daniel and won. Jones later got into trouble with the law, causing the promotion to take the belt from him. The latter was soon played out by Cormier and Anthony Johnson. On May 23, 2015, at UFC 187, Cormier defeated Johnson and sat on the light heavyweight throne, after which he made his first title defense in a battle with Alexander Gustafsson. The long-awaited rematch with Jon Jones will take place on April 23, 2016 as part of the UFC 197 tournament.

UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold

Luke Rockhold was born on October 17, 1984 in Santa Cruz, California, is a citizen of the United States of America and trains with Daniel Cormier at the American Kickboxing Academy. He has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but in addition to this type of martial arts, he is well acquainted with kickboxing and freestyle wrestling.

Rockhold won the UFC championship belt relatively recently, when he defeated the previously undefeated Chris Weidman in dominant style. Initially, the battle, which took place as part of the co-main event of the UFC 194 show, proceeded to the accompaniment of attacks by the current champion, but later Rockhold managed to seize the initiative due to the fact that he retained more strength. He pinned Weidman to the ground and began beating his helpless opponent until the match was stopped by the referee. Despite the fact that Rokhkold had a serious advantage during the fight, the promotion bosses scheduled an immediate rematch, which will take place on June 4, 2016 at the UFC 199 show.

UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler

Robbie Lawler is one of the most courageous UFC champions. This guy was born in San Diego on March 20, 1982, and currently lives in Coconut Creek and trains at the American Top Team fight club. The fighter came to mixed martial arts from karate, and often his fights take place in a standing position and are nominated for the title of the best battles of the year.

He earned the UFC welterweight title on December 6, 2014 in a confrontation with Johny Hendricks. The Ruthless (Lawler's nickname) won the game as a result of a split decision of the judges. Since then, Robbie has made two defenses of his title. First, at UFC 189, he defeated Rory MacDonald by TKO, after which he will meet Carlos Condit at UFC 195, which took place on January 2, 2016. It is still unknown who Lawler's next opponent will be.

UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos

Rafael dos Anjos was born on October 26, 1984 in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This is where he currently resides, training under Rafael Cordeiro at Kings MMA. The basis of the fighter's fighting is Thai boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Rafael dos Anjos became the champion following the title battle with Anthony Pettis. On March 15, 2015, at UFC 185, Rafael won thanks to a unanimous decision of the judges. In December 2015, he made his first defense of the belt against Donald Cerrone. While many expected this fight to be a competitive battle, dos Anjos showed in the first seconds of the opening round that he would not give Cowboy a chance, destroying him by technical knockout. The fighter's next appearance in the cage was scheduled for March 5, 2016. Rafal had to defend his belt from the attacks of UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor. However, the Brazilian broke his leg and withdrew from the fight.

UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor

Conor McGregor is one of the most popular figures in the world of mixed martial arts. In addition, he brings the UFC the greatest income, and therefore enjoys leniency from the promotion’s management. The fighter was born on July 14, 1988 in Dublin, Ireland, where he currently lives. His background is diverse: karate, taekwondo, boxing and even capoeira. In addition, Conor has a brown belt in jiu-jitsu, but has not yet proven that he can be called successful in this type of martial arts.

McGregor has long attracted the attention of the whole world to his person, although he took possession of the championship belt relatively recently. It took him only 13 seconds to dethrone former title holder, Brazilian Jose Aldo. The exact gift of the jaw raised the Irishman's fame to even higher heights. high altitudes, and disgraced the former champion. In his next fight, McGregor was supposed to fight for a second belt against lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, but the latter was injured and withdrew from the fight. His replacement, Nate Diaz, caught “golden boy” Dana White in a submission in the second round. It is still unknown who Notorious will fight with now, but a lot says that his opponent will again be Jose Aldo.

UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz

Dominick Cruz is another representative American school mixed martial arts. Dominator was born on September 3, 1985 in Tucson, Arizona. Currently, his place of residence is the Californian city of Chula Vista. This guy trains with the Alliance MMA team and his basic MMA techniques are boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and wrestling.

Dominick Cruz has only lost once in his long career and is one of two men to defeat current flyweight titleholder Demetrious Johnson. However, injuries prevented Dominque from fully revealing his talents. On July 7, 2012, Cruz was supposed to fight with Uriah Faber, but this fight did not take place because Dominic suffered a cruciate ligament injury. A series of injuries kept him out of the octagon until the fall of 2014, when he met with Takeya Mizugaki and won, and then went into downtime again due to further health problems. On January 7, 2016, the fighter triumphantly returned to the UFC, taking the belt from then-champion TJ Dillashaw. Cruz will again fight his next fight against Urij Faber at UFC 199 on June 4, 2016.

UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson

History of the emergence and transformation of UFC weight categories

If you look back at the history of the development of mixed martial arts, you can see that initially MMA fights had practically no rules, and the first UFC show was started by the organizers as a kind of tournament designed to determine best fighter And the best technology. That is, there were no established standards for fighting, no UFC weight categories, and the competitions themselves had little in common with sports and were more like a bloodbath of gladiators destroying each other. In 1993, the debut UFC fight night took place in Denver, after which officials in the state of Nevada called on the organizers to give such tournaments a more sporting component and, above all, limit cruelty.

This applies not only to the UFC, but to mixed martial arts in general. Previously, this discipline of fighting sports was called fighting without rules. In such competitions, a sumo wrestler weighing 120 kilograms could find himself in a cage with a karate master who weighed 75 or even 70 kilograms. Gradually, this sport became more loyal to the human body, the first rules appeared, and with them divisions. Some states of America opposed the legalization of mixed martial arts even when they gained modern form. The most recent such example was the New York mixfight ban, which only legalized MMA in 2016.

It is important to know! In the fall of 2016, the long-awaited UFC 205 tournament took place in New York, during which the promotion received its first champion of two weight categories - featherweight and lightweight. It was the phenomenal Irishman Conor McGregor, who in the central fight of the show knocked out Eddie Alvarez and took possession of his 155-pound championship belt.

True, later the featherweight title. In order to avoid derailing the decapitated UFC 206 event, UFC officials announced that the 145-pound belt McGregor won in a 13-second bout with Jose Aldo was returning to the Brazilian, who at the time held the interim title in the same category. The remaining vacant interim title was played between Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis in the central battle of the UFC 206 tournament already mentioned above.

The only one in UFC history“one-time” UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor

A lot has changed in the UFC's more than 20-year history. It is immediately worth noting that it was this organization that became the locomotive that pulled behind it all other promotions involved in organizing fights according to mixed rules. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that those divisions that were introduced into the UFC are currently used by lesser-status organizations. In this case we are talking about Bellator, WSOF, regional American and Asian promotions.

Currently, the planet's leading promotion features eight men's weight categories and three women's.

UFC men's weight classes

1. Heavy weight
2. Light Heavyweight
3. Average weight
4. Welterweight
5. A light weight
6. Feather-weight
7. Bantamweight
8. Flyweight

UFC weight categories for women

1. Feather-weight
2. Bantamweight
3. Minimum weight

Below you can find a table detailing each UFC weight class.

Prerequisites for the development of UFC weight categories?

The need to divide fighters into weight categories was due to the global process of universalization of athletes, when each of them began to improve themselves in all styles. The weight classes in the UFC originally looked completely different from what they look like today. Back in 1997, the UFC 12 tournament was held, where only two weight echelons were presented - heavy and light. The first included all athletes who weighed more than 200 pounds, the second included those athletes who weighed less than 199 pounds.

The Most Dominant Champion in UFC History Anderson Silva

Before the UFC 14 show, it was decided to call the lightweight division middleweight, and the new lightweight division was already introduced as part of UFC 16. At that time, any fighter whose body weight did not exceed 170 pounds could call himself a lightweight, that is, today he would be a welterweight. A couple more years passed, and the UFC added a bantamweight division that included athletes weighing up to 155 pounds.

By the time of UFC 31, the promotion had changed its weight classes to comply with New Jersey State Athletic Commission regulations. At this tournament, fighters competed in five echelons: light, welterweight, medium, light heavy and heavy.

The next stage of expansion had to wait about ten years. In 2010, the promotion announced the creation of a UFC featherweight and bantamweight division. Two years later, the lightest weight class appeared, and a little later, women's divisions were introduced - first the lightest, and then the minimum. The weight categories have acquired their final form, which you can see accurately and in detail in the table below.

Table of modern UFC men's and women's categories

IN Lately champions of weight categories change regularly. So, in 2016, TJ Dillashaw, Fabricio Werdum, Holly Holm, Miesha Tate, Luke Rockhold, Robbie Lawler, Rafael dos Anjos, Eddie Alvarez, Dominick Cruz resigned from their royal duties. The most interesting and highly anticipated showdown at the end of the year was the bantamweight clash, with former division queen Ronda Ruosi as the challenger. Unfortunately, there was no intrigue in this clash: Rowdy weakly lost to the Brazilian Lioness at the very beginning of the first round. This year, the UFC has replaced champions of two divisions. Thus, the featherweight title was again given to Jose Aldo, but as part of the show, the Brazilian lost it to Max Holloway. In addition, the promotion bosses took the belt from women's featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie, citing the fact that the Dutch athlete refuses to sign a contract for a fight with Christiane Justino.

List of current UFC champions and champions by category

• heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic;
• light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier;
• middleweight champion Michael Bisping;
• welterweight champion Tyron Woodley;
• lightweight champion Conor McGregor;
• featherweight champion Max Holloway;
• bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt;
• flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson;
• The women's featherweight champion will be determined by the result of the meeting between Christiana Justino and Megan Anderson at UFC 214 (07.29.2017).
• women's bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes;
• champion of the women's minimum category Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

UFC women's featherweight division. Cyborg category

UFC executives cannot create divisions just like that: in order for a weight category to exist, they need stars who could perform in it and bring in good money on PPV sales. The company's latest experience has shown that you don't even need fighters filling the division to make money.

Ronda Rousey's success has inspired the promotion's owners to look for new celebrities in women's mixed martial arts. After all, in fact, we can say that due to her popularity, Rowdy supported many other fighters not only on the female, but also on the male roster.

In 2016, the famous Brazilian Christiana Justino, nicknamed Cyborg. She is still considered the featherweight queen of the all-female fighting organization Invicta FC, which has a 145-pound class. However, due to her too large dimensions, Christiana never competed in the largest UFC 135-pound echelon at that time. On the contrary, the athletes who wanted to fight her gained weight and fought at the intermediate 140 pounds, and certainly lost.

Justino's popularity and financial potential prompted the organization's bosses to establish a new weight category. As part of the UFC 208 tournament in February of this year ( full results tournament see) the corresponding belt was competed by Dutch striker Germaine de Randamie and former 135-pound division champion Holly Holm. Ironically, Cristana Justino did not fight in the first title fight of the category that was actually created specifically for her. Various reasons are given. Representatives of the promotion claim that they offered such a fight to the Brazilian, and the latter says that her body was unable to recover after losing weight in preparation for the previous fight. If we add to the above the fact that Justino, then this whole story becomes even more confusing.

One way or another, the result of the main fight of UFC 208 was the victory of Germaine de Randamie by unanimous decision. It was the Dutch athlete who became the first title holder in the women's 145-pound weight class. However, there is no women's featherweight in the official rankings, since, with the exception of two or three girls, there are no fighters in it.

Later, promotion bosses took the belt from Randamie due to the latter's reluctance to defend in the battle with Christiane Justino. The new category champion will be determined in Justino's fight with Megan Anderson on July 29, 2017 at UFC 214.