UFC lightweight contender Rafael Fiziev said in an interview with Ushatayka that the UFC may seriously be looking into a 165 pound division.
“It’s not a rumor, I’m hearing that it’s already for sure, as far as I know. I’ve heard that they’ve already identified something there,” Fiziev told Ushatayka.
Rafael Fiziev Says UFC Are Starting a New Weight Class
The illustrious 165 lbs division has been a rumor surrounding the UFC for quite some time now. Many fighters have been vocal about wanting a medium point between the current 155 lbs and 170 lbs, with struggles of making the lightweight limit while also forfeiting a lot of size to fight in welterweight. With these new rumors circulating for the past two months, it is said that the current welterweight threshold would be raised to 175lbs. However every time this rumor seems to pop up, UFC president, Dana White, is usually quick to shut down the talks of a new weight class.
A New Division Needs a Big Star
As aforementioned there are a lot of fighters who struggle to make 155 lbs and are too small to effectively fight at 170 lbs. For former UFC champion Daniel Cormier there is only one name that would benefit above the rest and that the UFC should build the division around.
“If you do 165, it has to be Conor [McGregor],” Cormier said on Funky and the Champ. “You’re introducing a new weight class, it has to mean something. You can’t have two normal fighters introducing the weight.”
Cormier also alluded to a weight class that was introduced and now ceases to exist:
“Look, it didn’t work at 145 when they did it for the women. It ended up being two people, but if you recall, Germaine de Randamie fought Holly Holm for that championship in Brooklyn,” Cormier continued. “It wasn’t a great fight, but Germaine de Randamie won the fight and refused to fight Cris Cyborg. Nobody took it serious until Cris Cyborg became the champion, and when Cyborg became the champion, it wasn’t a problem. The only reason why it worked was because it was Cris Cyborg. That would be the same thing if you add this belt with a guy without a name.”
As for now only time will tell if the UFC do truly decide to open a new division.
Is a 165lbs division a good idea? Who would you want to see fight at the new weight class? Let us know in the comments!
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
