In combined martial arts, athletes compete in weight lessons where they should weigh in at or around a particular weight the day earlier than their combat at the UFC authentic weigh-ins.
The UFC currently has 12 weight classes, all that require combatants to weigh in below a desired limit. Generally, fighters attempt to weigh in at the precise restriction so as to lose the least amount of weight at some stage in the load cutting system at the same time as nonetheless meeting the specified range on the scale.
Failure to attain the required weight consequences in both the athlete forfeiting a percentage of their combat purse to their opponent, an settlement among the 2 athletes to compete at a non-weight elegance precise weight (catchweight) or having the combat cancelled altogether.
MMA Weight Classes Explained: What Indian Beginners Need to Know?
UFC authentic weigh-ins are held the day before combat night time and require athletes to weigh-in among 9am and 11am nearby time. Depending on the State Athletic Commission regulating the bout, and / or the amount of weight required to be made, an athlete who misses weight can be given one extra hour from the time in their weigh-in to try to lose the remaining weight and attempt once more.
For non-name bouts, athletes can weigh one pound above the division’s weight restrict, while identify fights require athletes to weigh in at exactly, or underneath, the specific weight. Sound confusing? That’s due to the fact it's miles! So right here is the whole lot you need to know to understand UFC weight classes:
Strawweight – a hundred and fifteen kilos
The strawweight division is the lightest department currently within the UFC and one of the 4 women’s weight instructions. In 2014, former strawweight champion Carla Esparza defeated Rose Namajunas to grow to be the inaugural champion.
Since then, the department has seen its honest proportion of UFC legends, like Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Rose Namajunas. Zhang Weili is the cutting-edge champion after including another name defense to her reign at UFC 300.
For non-title bouts, strawweight athletes have a one-pound leeway on the size, which means they are able to weigh as much as 116 kilos. For identify bouts, athletes ought to weigh in at or beneath a hundred and fifteen pounds.
Flyweight – one hundred twenty five pounds
The flyweight division is the primary of three weight instructions to host both a guys’s and girls’s department. These divisions have visible new champions in 2023, with Alexa Grasso prevailing the ladies's belt at UFC 285 in March and Alexandre Pantoja taking the throne at the guys's facet at UFC 290 in July.
Pantoja correctly retained the flyweight identify with a unanimous decision win over contender Brandon Royval at UFC 296 and Steve Erceg at UFC 301. For non-title bouts, flyweight athletes can weigh in as much as 126 kilos, whilst title fights require athletes to weigh in at or underneath a hundred twenty five kilos.
Order UFC 302: Makhachev vs Poirier
In 2020, former division champion Deiveson Figueiredo became scheduled to combat in a flyweight championship bout against Joseph Benavidez. However, Figueiredo weighed in at 127.Five pounds, 2.Five pounds over the championship restrict. Despite winning the fight, Figueiredo did now not emerge as champion due to the fact he missed weight, and alternatively become given a rematch 5 months later.
Bantamweight – 135 kilos
Another weight class to have both a guys’s and girls’s division, the bantamweight divisions have held some of the maximum iconic athletes and epic fights of this era. One of the pioneers of girls’s MMA, Ronda Rousey, constructed her legacy inside the bantamweight division, amassing six successful title defenses as the division’s first champion.
Suga Sean O’Malley holds the name on the men’s facet after securing a 2nd-round TKO against former champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292. The champion defended his identify for the primary time at UFC 299 in opposition to Marlon “Chito” Vera. For non-identify bouts, bantamweight athletes can weigh in up to 136 pounds, whilst identify fights require a a hundred thirty five-pound restriction.
Featherweight – a hundred forty five pounds
The final weight elegance to characteristic each a men’s and girls’s division is featherweight. Originating in 2010, after absorbing WEC’s 145-pound weight elegance, the UFC featherweight department has been the house to some of the maximum quite predicted matchups in UFC history, inclusive of an iconic title bout among inaugural department champion José Aldo and Irish celebrity Conor McGregor.
In the featherweight name bout at UFC 298: Volkanovski vs Topuria, Ilia Topuria, the modern-day featherweight champion, defeated Alexander Volkanovski, who had formerly defended his identify successfully 5 times.
The now-retired Amanda Nunes is the maximum recent champion on the ladies's facet. For non-name bouts, featherweight athletes can weigh in up to 146 kilos, while title fights require athletes to weigh in at or beneath 145 kilos.
Lightweight – 155 kilos
Known as one of the private divisions in terms of expertise, the UFC lightweight department has been the center of interest in current years after the retirement of UFC Hall of Famer and previous light-weight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
At UFC 280: Oliveira vs Makhachev, cutting-edge lightweight champion Islam Makhachev defeated Charles Oliveira of their lightweight title bout, a name that became vacant due to former champion Oliveira missing weight by way of half a pound (a hundred and fifty five.Five) ahead of his championship bout in opposition to Justin Gaethje at UFC 274.
Makhachev has had two successful name defenses seeing that taking the pinnacle spot, both towards Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 and UFC 294. For non-identify bouts, light-weight athletes can weigh in up to 156 kilos, while name fights require athletes to weigh in at or underneath 155 pounds.
Middleweight – 185 pounds
Sean Strickland claimed the UFC middleweight championship inside the primary occasion of UFC 293 in Sydney by using Defeating Israel Adesanya in a grueling 5-spherical come across.
Dricus Du Plessis now holds the belt after defeating Sean Strickland at UFC 297 by means of Split Decision. For non-identify bouts, middleweight athletes can weigh in as much as 186 kilos, at the same time as title fights require athletes to weigh in at or beneath 185 kilos.
