With the time of the old guard at lightweight coming to an end, veteran MMA scribe Luke Thomas is struggling to see how the new generation of 155-pounders will ever match up to their predecessors.
For about 10 years now, the UFC’s lightweight division has been its most celebrated roster. Once regularly featuring fighters like Dustin Poirier, Justin Gaethje, Conor McGregor, Charles Oliveira, and Khabib Nurmagomedov, among others, the division is now facing a dearth of stars.
Khabib retired in 2020, and McGregor has not fought since 2021. Poirier is awaiting an official announcement for his retirement fight, and Gaethje, despite asking for a title shot at 38, by his own admission, is one bad day away from calling it quits. Islam is 32 as we speak and already plans on moving along to welterweight before hanging up his gloves.
With time running out to find replacements, it only seems apt to be concerned about a lack of concentrated effort by the UFC to find suitable replacements. Adding to the concern already are reports about declining PPV buys to an extent where the ‘PPV model’ of payments for fighters is becoming irrelevant.
“When this generation of lightweights fully go, the Eddies, the Dustins, the Justins, to an extent Islam himself, the RDAs, Hooker…When they go, the next generation will not be able to fill their shoes.” Thomas has claimed with great concern on Morning Kombat.
Explaining that the spots will somehow be filled but only trigger by the compulsion of ‘someone must do it’, Thomas adds,”This class of lightweights play the last of the Mohicans, guys, because when they go, the next generation, they’ll replace them in the sense that someone’s got to be the fifth-ranked guy.”
Together, this generation has managed to carry not just the division but the promotion on their backs. Even with most of these fighters being in their twilight years, they remain way ahead of the next generation in terms of sheer talent and a penchant for putting on all-time classics.
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Make no mistake, the 155 division still has a few fighters with fan followings to be envious of, but with the exception of their new recruit Ilia Topuria, their in-octagon prowess has left a lot to be desired.
This is not to say it’s all doom and gloom for the 155ers. Hope is around, but it seems to be skipping a generation.
Who’s the emerging talent at lightweight?
The current ranks – particularly 10 to 15 may be struggling to dislodge the current breed above them. But the next batch of emerging talents are certainly chomping at the bit for a go of their own.
Namely, Brazilian star Mauricio Ruffy has been tipped as a massive threat to contenders above him. Most recently featuring at UFC 313, the Fighting Nerds ace landed a wheel kick knockout of King Green.
Furthermore, Spanish ace Joel Alvarez is surging through his peers following his bloody loss to Arman Tsarukyan in recent years.
Another emerging contender is Chilean force, Ignacio Bahamondes. Again tipped to bring in the new breed, the surging challenger forced Jalin Turner into retirement with a submission win.
Then, there’s Paddy Pimblett, who, if he continues to perform as well as he talks, could very well take center stage.
Tasked with the biggest test of his career at UFC 314 next month, Paddy will aim to dislodge Michael Chandler. Do note that despite recent losses, Chandler (4-4 in the UFC) is still ranked 7th on the list and poses a considerable threat as a once-elite champion at Bellator.
Paddy, on the other hand, recently broke into the rankings and hopes to make a big jump into the top 10 with a win over the American. The UFC seems to be betting its money on the Scouser in hopes of building him up as the next top prospect, partly due to his self-started feuds with the likes of Topuria and Poirier.
But how he will fare in the top echelon of the division remains debatable at this point in time.
