Why the UFC Needs to Fix Its Heavyweight Division
The UFC Heavyweight Division is stuck in no man’s land. The stagnation didn’t start with the current Heavyweight Champion, Jon Jones - it started with Francis Ngannou walking away from the company in early 2023. That exit stripped the Heavyweight Division of its most dangerous champion in years, and instead of using that moment to push the next generation, the UFC doubled down on legacy fights. Jones returned in March of 2023 and won the vacant title against Ciryl Gane dominantly. Then Jones called out a semi-retired legend, Stipe Miocic, for a fight later that year; however, Jones would tear his pec, forcing the fight to be rescheduled a whole year later. Jones would ultimately face Miocic at UFC 309 and win dominantly, but that didn’t spark the division back to life.
Instead, we’ve had a dominant Interim Heavyweight Champion in Tom Aspinall left in limbo. After blasting through Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295 in November of 2023, Aspinall was positioned to be the fresh face of the Heavyweight Division. However, here we are nearly half a year after Jones vs Miocic, and the UFC has yet to book the unification fight between Jones and Aspinall. The problem isn’t just at the top of the Heavyweight Division either - the division is the thinnest in the company with only 30 fighters. Not to mention there hasn’t been a single ranked Heavyweight fight since March 22nd and there won’t be one until June 7th.
Fighters like Jailton Almeida, Sergei Pavlovich, and even Tom Aspinall, have been spinning their wheels for over a year now. No clear contender roadmap. No consistent title schedule. No urgency. The UFC used to treat the Heavyweight Championship like the sport’s crown jewel. The division typically draws the most money and is often crowned, “the baddest man on the planet”, however, in recent years it’s had quite the fall from grace. If the UFC wants the division to matter again, they need to act like it. Book Jones vs Aspinall, or strip the belt and let the new guard take over. Otherwise, the most dangerous division in MMA will continue to be its most disappointing.
