UFC News & FeaturesOpinion: UFC 319 Brings Latest Glamor Division to Forefront
Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.
Each division tends to have a particular identity. There’s often a weight class that’s seen as the glamor division. Back in the mid- to late 2000s, the light heavyweight division maintained that title due to the sheer number of high-profile names at the top of its ranks. Chuck Liddell. Randy Couture. Vitor Belfort. Wanderlei Silva. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Rashad Evans. Forrest Griffin. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Tito Ortiz. Forrest Griffin. Dan Henderson. Lyoto Machida. There was no shortage of fan favorites or contenders.
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However, this isn’t about who will be in the next wave of lightweight contenders. This is about the division that appears to be on the verge of becoming the new glamor division. Those who’ve followed the sport for a while may be surprised to learn it’s the 185-pound weight class. Middleweight has often felt like the island of misfit toys. Sure, there have been some dominant champions at the top—Anderson Silva and Israel Adesanya come to mind—but it has frequently been a crapshoot to figure out the next title challenger. Rather than stirring arguments about who should challenge for the title next, it has often taken on a “well, there’s no one else available” resignation. That’s how Thales Leites and Patrick Cote challenged Silva and how Marvin Vettori and Jared Cannonier challenged Adesanya. Even if they were the most deserving contenders, they weren’t exciting anyone about their ability to make headway.
Given that
UFC 319 will see Dricus Du
Plessis defend the undisputed middleweight title against
Khamzat
Chimaev this Saturday in Chicago, it’s as good a time as any to
point out the great uncertainty of the middleweight division.
Typically, uncertainty is a bad thing. In this case, it’s
marvelous. Why? It’s due to the amount of potential title
challengers that appear on the horizon. It’s a rare problem of too
much of a good thing, as there are plenty of directions that
matchmakers Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard could go following Du
Plessis-Chimaev. Regardless, one question is always on the minds of
fight fans after the conclusion of a high-stakes championship
fight: “What’s next?”
There’s always the possibility Du Plessis and Chimaev have a controversial conclusion to their contest that requires an immediate rematch. Given the fighting styles of both men, I see that as unlikely but won’t discount the possibility. A rematch would be a bit of a bummer, too. There are so many possibilities that it seems implausible that fight fans wouldn’t want to explore them.
One name that is top of mind to most is Anthony Hernandez, fresh off his one-sided drubbing of Roman Dolidze. Presently on an eight-fight winning streak, it isn’t like Hernandez is just squeaking by his opposition, either. He broke down Brendan Allen earlier this year and put together Sherdog’s “Beatdown of the Year” against Michel Pereira in 2024. Then again, two weeks prior to Hernandez’s performance, Reinier de Ridder secured a close decision over former champion Robert Whittaker. De Ridder’s 4-0 record in the UFC isn’t quite as impressive as Hernandez’s streak, but Whittaker is a superior name to anyone “Fluffy” has defeated. Either of them would be a viable option to challenge for the championship.
Of course, that’s neglecting the September showdown in Paris between Nassourdine Imavov and Caio Borralho. According to the UFC’s official rankings, Imavov is the top-ranked contender, but he rarely seems to be mentioned as the next possible opponent for either Du Plessis or Chimaev. As for Borralho, he’s 7-0 in the UFC, and a win over Imavov may very well make him the new No. 1 contender. Plus, at 29 and 32 respectively, it seems unlikely a loss would permanently eliminate them from title contention. There’s time for them to recover from a setback.
The old standbys of the division aren’t completely gone, either. Adesanya has lost four of his last five, but he has also only been fighting the best the division has to offer. Some time off and some rejiggering could see Adesanya re-enter the picture. It would be a bit more difficult for Whittaker to do so, as he doesn’t have quite the sway of Adesanya, in addition to losing his last two. However, I wouldn’t completely disregard the possibility. Sean Strickland is largely forgotten about right now, but the chips could very well fall for him in a way that puts him right back in the middle of things. Even Paulo Costa has shown signs of reviving his career and fulfilling his potential.
There are also those who may not be ready now but could be primetime players before too long. The aforementioned Allen often isn’t thought of in those terms, but it’s easy to forget he’s not even 30 yet despite 17 fights with the organization. Bo Nickal may have been derailed by de Ridder earlier this year, but he’s still quite young in his career. If he finds the right training situation, it would be a shock if he doesn’t develop into a contender. Mansour Abdul-Malik and Ateba Gautier are exceptionally raw, but it doesn’t take much to see that they have the physical tools necessary to be major players if handled correctly.
Perhaps we’re on the verge of seeing the “that’s so middleweight” phrase take on a completely different meaning than it has in the past. It has been indicative of a division where the most skilled competitors were often on an island and dumb luck played a bigger role than skill outside of the Top 5. Right now, I could list at least five guys I realistically believe could be the middleweight champion by the end of 2026. A major pecking order has finally developed.
As the final vestiges of lightweight division’s glory years age out, it very well could be time for middleweight to be the glamor division. That’s a phrase I never thought I would utter.
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