The statistics don’t paint a fairly picture of the UFC’s light heavyweight division.
On Saturday night, Magomed Ankalaev stopped Bogdan Guskov to return to the win column in what was a dull principal event in Abu Dhabi.
The Russian showed that he’s each still levels ahead of other contenders within the division and unlikely to receive the promotion’s backing.
With Ankalaev himself calling the matchup a “tuneup”, the division that he recently sat at the highest of is in need of energy and movement that simply doesn’t exist right away.
After returning to winning ways at UFC Abu Dhabi, what’s next for Magomed Ankalaev? 🤔
The Dagestani former champion finished Bogdan Guskov in a lackluster principal event 😴
Magomed Ankalaev embodies the UFC’s light heavyweight division during this stagnant period
Other than him returning to the win column, little or no modified at light heavyweight in consequence of Magomed Ankalaev’s win on Saturday night.
The vast majority of the sunshine heavyweight division has experienced the identical type of small but relatively insignificant updates for a while now within the grand scheme of things.
Before UFC Abu Dhabi took place, MMA Junkie’s Mike Bohn read out several stats regarding the landscape at 205 kilos on ‘The Bohnfire‘.
While the division has definitely seen a large turnover in talent, there simply isn’t enough movement and significant matchups to make things more interesting.
The next UFC Stats from Michael Carroll track the division dating back to January, 2024 and exclude this past Saturday’s event.
- 64 fighters have fought in UFC light heavyweight bouts on this timeframe
- 38 of those fighters remain within the division (others have been released or moved divisions)
- 17 of the 38 are currently coming off wins
- Of those 38, 18 of them are currently booked
- Only five of the 18 which are currently booked are ranked (Ankalaev, Bogdan Guskov, and Dustin Jacoby all fought in Abu Dhabi)
Carlos Ulberg being champion does create fresh matchups once he’s back, however it’s clear to see from these stats why many would rank it as one among the promotion’s least compelling divisions right away.
Ankalaev going out and stopping Bogdan Guskov in one-sided fashion, as many expected him to, wouldn’t have modified that.
Nevertheless, the way in which the fight played out is just one other example of sunshine heavyweight currently feeling prefer it’s lacking movement and significance outside of a small handful of matchups per yr.
Will Magomed Ankalaev ever hold UFC gold again? 👑
The UFC Abu Dhabi headliner was light heavyweight champion for just 7 months 😳
Light heavyweight isn’t without several positives despite being in a rough position
As has been previously mentioned, that doesn’t mean that the sunshine heavyweight division is all bad.
You’re all the time guaranteed to get a number of fun fights per yr when a division has fighters like Jiri Prochazka and Khalil Rountree Jr. in it.
Adding names into the highest 15 mix like Paulo Costa, Robert Whittaker and the surging Navajo Stirling, who returns next weekend, will help give the highest end of the division more depth.
Rising potential stars for the long run like Abdul Rakhman Yakhyaev are there, they only need more time.
Nevertheless, all of those names stand out a lot due to how much of the division looks like it’s stagnant.
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