MMA Spotlight 7.10.08: Weighing Your Options

Posted by Reuel Mante on 07.10.2008

Is going up in weight a good idea for a fighter? It depends on who you are.




Recent news has announced that fighters like Anderson Silva, Rich Franklin, and B.J. Penn are all going up in weight in the near future. We've seen this before with Randy Couture and Penn who had great success but never before have three top fighters risk so much in short period of time. When fighters drop to a lower weight class, it happens to ensure greater success in areas where they may have had problems before. Just look at the list of those who have staked their claim to greatness in the past by dropping weight:

Evan Tanner
Sean Sherk
Kenny Florian
Rich Franklin
Randy Couture
Dan Henderson
Nick Diaz

All but save for two of these fighters have become champions and cemented themselves in the annals of MMA history.

When a fighter goes up in a weight class the risks are greater in terms of being successful. Men like Wanderlei Silva, Murilo Rua, Michael Bisping, and even B.J. Penn have become victims to a stronger man who is fighting in class that is natural to them. Let's take Sherk as an example. When the Muscle Shark was fighting as a welterweight, he ran into problems dealing with Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes because they were bigger which in turn gave them better leverage in their fights. The fact that Sean is freakishly strong and still was overpowered is an attest to how dramatic of a difference fifteen pounds can make. When B.J. also fought GSP and Hughes, his flexibility and BJJ technique weren't enough to overcome the power and size advantages that both men had.

One shining example in all of this is Randy Couture. The man had been plying his trade as a light heavyweight after suffering two losses to much bigger grapplers Ricco Rodriguez and Josh Barnett. After one year of retirement, The Natural returned to face Tim Sylvia for the heavyweight championship. Five dominating rounds later, and he was the champ for the third time. This shining example lends itself to the fact the Randy is a freak of nature. The best of the best. It takes a special man to do what he did.

I believe that Silva, Franklin, and Penn are all capable of doing well in a higher weight class. But to make an impact the way Randy did? It's questionable. B.J. Penn, at best, had little success going up in weight. One remarkable victory over Matt Hughes doesn't account for losses to GSP, Hughes, and Machida. Now the Prodigy has high hopes of winning the welterweight championship by year's end. Whether it is Jon Fitch or St. Pierre, it doesn't seem to matter. He's already suffered a loss to GSP and has fought wrestlers of Fitch's pedigree. Even though Penn has shown a new committment to being the best, I'm pretty certain that neither man will give him an easy night.

Rich Franklin only suffered one loss at light heavyweight and that was to Lyoto Machida as well. He dropped in weight after beating Ken Shamrock, knowing full well that his size would lend itself well to middleweight success. He has now spent the last few years taking out men of smaller size, I'm not confident that he'll be ready to take it to much bigger fighters. I mean, come on, the man he's fighting is Matt Hamill. Not exactly the easiest task for the former champion. Personally, I feel bad for Rich. He went up in weight because he lost two straight fights against Anderson Silva and just when he's ready to move on, Silva is right there in front of him again.

Anderson Silva has the most to lose considering he's undefeated in the UFC and the reigning middleweight champion. James Irvin has shown that his power is explosive and quick. It took one punch for him to knock out Houston Alexander and one knee for him to knockout Terry Martin. Silva is taking the biggest risk out of all three fighters because the middleweight division seemed perfect for him. Who knows if his power and pinpoint accuracy will make difference against men who are used to getting by bigger fighters? Who knows if he will still be quick at light heavyweight as he was at middleweight? We'll find out next Saturday.

Is going up in weight a bad idea? Not really. It just takes a special fighter with that little something extra to give that elevates them to greatness. Randy's got it. Do they?

Well, I'm back from my honeymoon and I will be giving you more of these weekly columns. Thank you all for wishing me well. See you next time!