The UFC heavyweight division has always been synonymous with heavy-hitters, but UFC 146 will usher in a new era of heavyweight fighters.
The UFC held a press conference to promote UFC 146 and featured some of the card’s top stars, including UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem. This will be the first time the company has featured five heavyweight bouts on the main card.
UFC President Dana White has billed this event as a main card “stacked with heavyweights” and although the heavyweight division traditionally has not been entertaining to watch, the UFC boss thinks otherwise.
“The heavyweights bring that excitement that you’re probably gonna see a knockout but I think this fight there could be knockouts or submissions,” White said. “The fight with Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem, these guys have out-struck everyone lately. Frank Mir showed what he’s capable of doing with his last win.”
The heavyweight division has undergone a makeover recently, as familiar names like Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia have been replaced with stars like Cain Velasquez, Frank Mir and Junior Dos Santos. What was once perceived as a weak division has now turned into one of the more skilled and talented weight classes in mixed martial arts.
Heavyweight fighters are able to finally gain the recognition that they had hoped for and begin to create their respective legacies, something that seemed impossible to accomplish due to PRIDE FC overshadowing the rest of the heavyweight competition.
“Pride’s heavyweight division was awesome. They had a lot of legends built there. Our division is right on that level,” White said.
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