Andrei Arlovski, ranked No. 14, stunned then No. 4-ranked Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva on Saturday in a heavyweight upset.
The win moves Arlovski back up the divisional ladder but also highlights the struggles of the division.
Neither of the two headliners are spring chickens. Silva is 34 years old, and Arlovski is 35. That is above the the typical peak for athletic greatness. In fact, when breaking down the heavyweight division’s Top 10 you will see how old the division is.
Arlovski’s victory continued to highlight the current wasteland that is the heavyweight division. We know that Arlovski is not a realistic title contender. To take out a Top 5 fighter with relative ease shows the parity in the division after the champion and top contender.
And look at the other fighters who are ranked. Alistair Overeem was just knocked out this month, and he is still in the Top 10. The last time Overeem looked like a contender of any sort was his destruction of Brock Lesnar.
Frank Mir, Gabriel Gonzaga and Minotauro Nogueira are all still ranked. Josh Barnett is ranked at No. 6 in spite of not fighting since 2013 in a KO loss to Travis Browne. All of these men were once excellent fighters, but their time at the top has clearly come and gone. Yet they remain ranked as some of the very best because the division is so terribly bad at this point in time.
There aren’t enough good, young, talented heavyweights who can replace them, and they remain on the rankings even though it is obvious that they are not elite anymore.
Things do not get much better after the Top 15.
The vast majority of fighters who are not currently ranked are not young prospects who have a future as a top-tier fighter. They are either lackluster fighters who have struggled to find consistent success, or they are just as over-the-hill as those who are ranked.
This is a massive issue for the UFC. There is a significant drop-off in talent.
The youngest heavyweight with some perceived upside is Stefan Struve. The 26-year-old has not fought since March of 2013 in a TKO loss to Mark Hunt. He attempted to come back from a heart condition at UFC 175, but Struve fainted backstage prior to action. His health is a serious question, and he never looked the part of a future champion.
There are only two listed fighters under 25. One of those is Antonio Carlos Junior from The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, but he was formerly a light heavyweight. Expect him to drop down for his next fight. That leaves one sub-25 fighter. Viktor Pesta is 0-1 inside the Octagon.
How can the UFC fix this issue?
It is clear that heavyweights around the world are choosing other sports to play. The talent pool for MMA is remarkably low. There is no shortage of heavyweight athletes in sports today, but there is a shortage of those athletes making the move to MMA.
The UFC needs to think outside of the box to generate interest.
What if the UFC were to hold open workouts around the world to identify athletic heavyweights and work alongside several of the notable training camps to sign fighters and immediately place them in said camps? What if they were to work alongside regional promotions such as the RFA to have these fighters immediately signed to those organizations to help foster their development?
That may be too far outside the box for the UFC. Perhaps it raises more conflicts than solutions. But it is apparent that the world of MMA has to do something to build a new crop of heavyweights. A new season of TUF is not going to do the trick.
UFC Fight Night 51, Andrei Arlovski and Bigfoot Silva just continued to highlight the problems of the division. Looking at the schedule, there is no end in sight. There are no premiere contenders for Cain Velasquez, and no young prospects who will excite fans about the future of the division.
The heavyweight division is a pit with no escape from the doldrums in sight.
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