
The history of weight classes in combat sports: why they matter
You’ve probably heard terms like “featherweight,” “middleweight,” and “heavyweight” if you’ve ever watched combat sports or competed in tournaments. Weight classes have become central to modern combat sports, making competitions more balanced.
The history of weight classes in combat sports
We explore the history behind the weight classes used in combat sports and how dividing athletes by their weight leads to fairer, safer and more technical competitions.
The dawn of combat sports: no weight classes and lots of chaos
Weight classes didn’t exist in ’19th century, leading to crazy, unbalanced matches where one competitor was bigger and stronger than the other. As you can imagine, these led to some pretty brutal results as smaller fighters often found themselves overwhelmed.
It also made the contests less technical as larger fighters could dominate most opponents with their strength. The smaller fighters had to rely on their speed and technique, but this was not always enough against much larger opponents.
Without weight classes, fights were lopsided in favor of bigger, stronger fighters, leading to bouts that were neither fair nor safe.
The birth of weight classes in boxing
Boxing was the first sport to recognize that weight classes were necessary to make matches fair as it began to gain popularity in the late 1990s.th century. The Marquess of Queensberry Rules were introduced in 1867 to give much-needed structure to the first combat sport to enjoy considerable popularity.
The Queensberry Rules introduced boxing gloves and established weight divisions to make bouts more fair.
By 1909, the National Sporting Club in London had formalized the first set of weight classes, dividing fighters into eight divisions: flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight.
The introduction of weight classes led to more balanced fights that allowed fighters to showcase their skills instead of relying on brute strength. These changes were necessary to make boxing the sweet science it has evolved into today.
The evolution of weight classes in MMA
Weight classes had already been established when mixed martial arts appeared in the late 1920sth century, but there weren’t enough competitors for early MMA promoters to use the weight classes. The new combat sport also marketed itself as a no-holds-barred combat sport in which different martial artists tested their skills against each other.
The lack of weight classes has likely helped the growth of MMA and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as it has led to some iconic bouts that didn’t go as fans had predicted, such as Royce Gracie vs. Kimo Leopoldo, which ended abruptly when Gracie secured an armbar. Kimo weighed 250 pounds for the race, while Royce weighed 176 pounds.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship introduced weight classes in 1997, dividing fighters into two categories: heavyweight and lightweight. Heavyweights were fighters who weighed more than 200 pounds, while lightweights weighed less than 200 pounds. Over the years, more divisions were added, creating the divisions we see today.
The introduction of weight classes into MMA leveled the playing field, increased fighter safety, and helped legitimize the sport, allowing it to gain mainstream status a decade later.
Why weight classes matter
Weight classes were developed to approach fights evenly, so results are determined by skill and strategy, not brute strength.
1) Equity
Fighting someone twice your size is not the same as competing against someone twice your size. Your older training partners will typically take things easy on you, but you can’t expect this treatment from strangers.
Fighting someone significantly bigger than you nullifies many of your techniques. Typically you would have to be considerably more skilled than your opponent to overcome his strength advantage over you.
2) Security
Combat sports are dangerous enough when your opponent is no more than 50 pounds bigger than you. The risk increases exponentially when there is a significant discrepancy between dimensions. Heavier fighters tend to hit harder than smaller fighters and can absorb more hits.
This is why ONE Championship’s heavyweight division sees many more knockouts than the flyweight division. Weight classes help reduce the risk of fighters getting injured during fights.
3) Strategy
Weight classes force fighters to rely more on strategy instead of trying to overwhelm opponents. Weight classes ensure you are not significantly stronger than your opponents and vice versa. You may be taller or have longer limbs, but your strength levels will be close together, forcing you to work on implementing game plans that allow you to take advantage of your other attributes.
Weight classes lead to more entertaining contests where the more technically skilled fighter is more likely to emerge victorious.
The art of weight loss
If you’re a combat sports enthusiast, you’ve probably noticed that many fighters appear much bigger on fight days than during weigh-ins. Weight cutting is a sometimes controversial practice that involves fighters losing significant water weight before their fights to compete in lower divisions where they may have a strength advantage. These fighters rehydrate after weighing themselves and can weigh up to 30 pounds more by the next day.
While cutting weight gives fighters an advantage that allows them to compete in lower divisions, it is not always done safely. Too much weight reduction can lead to problems such as kidney failure, which can be fatal. It can also leave fighters dehydrated, more prone to fatigue and easier to knock out during fights because their bodies haven’t fully recovered from the weight cut.
Major MMA promotions like ONE Championship have added hydration testing as part of the weigh-in process to ensure fighters are not cutting excessive amounts of water weight. The sure way to reduce weight leading up to competition is to burn excess fat on your body to make it leaner and tighter.
The future of weight classes
Weight classes have continued to evolve as combat sports do the same. There has been a discussion in MMA circles for years about adding more weight classes to eliminate the vast array of middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions.
There has also been talk of adding a new weight class between the lightweight and welterweight divisions.
Ready to find your weight class?
Weight classes play a role in how you train and compete. Many gyms will pair you with training partners of different sizes to make you feel comfortable with different body types, but you will spend the majority of your time working with training partners of similar size.
You’re forced to focus on technique, timing and speed when training with people of similar size, which helps develop your skills.
At Evolve MMA we offer classes that can help you find the right balance between skill, strategy and technique as you develop your fighting style. Come to one of our free classes to work with our world-class instructors.
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