The state of HW division

[Schnitzl]

Let's talk about the current state of HW.

We've got Ngannou possibly returning early '23 and there's two obvious fights for him. Gane again or JBJ. I think they will give Bones a tune-up fight against someone like Rozenstruik or Volkov before throwing him in with the big boys but who the fuk knows as Francis vs JBJ will be 1 mil+ PPV. I'm not counting on JBJ returning at all, same with Conor.

You could argue that Stipe could get JBJ but I think he is too old and hasn't fought that often recently to have an impact even though he was arguably the best HW in the game. I just think age 40 and only having fought 2x Ngannou and 3x Cormier in the past 5 years will mean he comes in with a bit of ring rust. I'd say he fights 1 more time unless his contract is longer and then retires.

Aspinall is out until at least mid '23 so 2024 he'll take the crown, most likely from Gane or Francis (if he beats Gane again).

Blaydes is the dark horse in the division and this might be a hot take but I think he will hold the belt at some point. His wrestling is way above anyone else's so he can grind on even the likes of Ngannou for 5 rounds.

[DrewDarden]

I'd like to see Jones vs. Stipe and Gane vs. Ngannou II (assuming Francis doesn't figure out a way out of his contract to go off and fight Fury, which is unlikely). Maybe call Jones vs Stipe an interim title fight if it takes place before Ngannou comes back lmao. Not that I'm a huge fan of the interim titles, but it is what it is.

Then maybe Tai vs Aspinall since they're both coming off a loss.

And Blaydes should probably be just talking as much chit as he can right now to disrupt the order of things, or he's going to get overlooked.

[Gringo12]

Jbj vs ngannou doesn't do 1 mil ppv, maybe 700-800k. Ngannou isn't that huge yet and Jones probably maxes out at 700k buys

Aspinal will be out for a while but it's a bad injury for this Weight class. Gonna be a flip of the coin for how he comes back. But he would have lost to blaydes. He did not look good in the short time that the fight was going on.

Gane will take this division and run it for a long time. Let's be real, there's no way he lost that last round against ngannou. You don't score more by laying on someone and landing nothing and attempting nothing. Meanwhile, gane did more damage and actuslly git the take down and almost had a sub which is the definition of both effective striking and grappling which is what weighs on your score the most. He wins the rematch.

Ngannou coming back after double knee ops, at 260lbs or whatever he fights at lol, gane is gonna run rings around him.

Jbj is done, he lost his last fight against Reyes and that was 2 years ago, he ain't getting better.

Blaydes vs gane is an interesting fight.

Stipe , not sure where he fits in this

[CellyTech]

Jones will do big numbers on return but he’s not clearing 1m.

Down the line the fight I’m most interested in is Tom Vs Gane. The division is in absolute shambles atm though.

[achtungpanzer]

It's crazy how there is almost no talk about a trilogy between Stipe & Francis.

[akmerle]

You guys think Francis is going to re-sign? I doubt it. All indications I’ve seen are he is waiting his contract out at the end of the year, becoming a free agent, and then mega money fight with Tyson Fury.

Then it will be a 4 man tournament for the title. Gane vs. Blaydes (possible interim title), and JBJ vs. Stipe.

While I like Aspinal, he looked awful in the short time against Blaydes, and this time off to recover may be really good for him to develop more.

[FAPhaggot]

Ngannou proved that he's at the top of the division for sure, now that he has a ground game.

Ciril Gane is the kind of rare athlete that HW doesn't get often, and he will be a problem for as long as Dana keeps signing immobile 260 lb sluggers.

Other than that, the division is super god damn empty. Stipe and Lewis are out of it, they're just too old. Jon Bones Jones is old and has never fought at HW before. Tuivasa showed last night that he's not going to overtake Gane or Ngannou.

Blaydes is the only guy I would watch out for, because he is a wrestler in a division nearly devoid of ground game. IMO he doesn't have the raw talent to overtake Ngannou or Gane, but he is a bad matchup for a lot of HWs.

[MyBaddBrah]

Gane destroys Ngannou if he finds his balls that day. He has a tendency to go docile in the octagon.


He loses to Jones easy. Jones cleans up everybody in the HW division.

[DrewDarden]

It's crazy how there is almost no talk about a trilogy between Stipe & Francis.

If the fight had taken place six months later, that would have been fine. But it’s almost two years now.

It’s hard to make a title fight with Stipe coming off a loss two years ago. Let Stipe/Francis both win and then the trilogy fight is huge.

[sooby]

It's crazy how there is almost no talk about a trilogy between Stipe & Francis.

but why tho? Stipe hasn't fought in 2 years and got knocked out brutally. Plus he's old. Nobody wants to see that fight especially when you have new prospects in the division.