The UFC currently has eight weight classes for men. They start at 125 pounds and go all the way up to heavyweight. While most divisions have a 10-pound difference between them, there is a huge gap between some divisions. Likewise, several fighters including Conor McGregor and Daniel Cormier have called for a new division between lightweight and welterweight. More recently, Dan Hooker joined in on the cause and explained why a new division would make a lot of sense.
Dan Hooker is currently looking for a fight after his win over Jailin Turner last year. In the meantime, he sat down with ‘The AllStar‘ for an interview, during which he was asked for his thoughts on a super lightweight division. To this Hooker said,
“Yeah, that is cool. I think because 55 and 70 are such deep divisions, to have three around the same will be pretty cool. Like if you’re going to introduce a new weight class especially in terms of men, that is head and shoulders. Just move it to 55,65,75. That is a huge motivation for me for getting on the card. That is the biggest fight in MMA, that is the biggest fight in the UFC.”
In a similar turn of events, Daniel Cormier recently urged the UFC to start a super lightweight division through a YouTube video. He also stated that the fight between McGregor and Chandler at UFC 303 should be for the belt in the new division. Interestingly, there is a 15-pound gap between lightweight and welterweight, and ‘DC’ opined that such a gap is not beneficial for fighters.
Is a super lightweight division in the UFC a possibility?
Daniel Cormier is not the first person to advocate for a new division, nor will he be the last. The lightweight and welterweight divisions are the most stacked in the UFC in terms of top talent as well as numbers. However, a lot of fighters fighting at either weight class would be better off fighting in the middle at 165 pounds.
While the idea of a 165-pound bracket was also supported by Conor McGregor, it has been rejected multiple times by Dana White himself. Hence, even though such a change appears impossible at this moment, we cannot rule it out as Dana White has often backtracked on several statements he made in the past.
