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* * *
It takes a long time to build up the prestige of a division. It
doesn’t take very long at all for those efforts to go to waste.
On a night when two longtime stars of the division and former
champions retired in
Mauricio Rua
and
Glover
Teixeira, it only accentuated what a chaotic and unresolved
state the
Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight division is
currently in. There’s a champion again at least, and
Jamahal
Hill turned in a terrific performance on his way to a wide
unanimous decision over Teixeira in the
UFC
283 main event on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro. Unfortunately,
the UFC light heavyweight championship means the least it has in
years, if not ever, due to the lack of clarity as to the best
fighter in the division and the lack of star power in what was once
upon a time the sport’s marquee division.
The light heavyweight division was once inhabited by some of the
sport’s best fighters and biggest stars: Rua,
Wanderlei
Silva,
Chuck
Liddell,
Tito Ortiz and
Quinton
Jackson. Rua’s career somehow feels even longer than it was
because he burst onto the scene in
Pride Fighting Championships at only 21 years old. His
performance in the 2005 Pride middleweight grand prix remains one
of the most impressive feats in the history of the sport, as he
beat four elite fighters consecutively: Jackson,
Antonio
Rogerio Nogueira,
Alistair
Overeem and
Ricardo
Arona.
That was the peak of Rua’s career, but he had the second big run
when he knocked out Liddell and
Lyoto
Machida to capture UFC gold. What made “Shogun” a beloved
figure to this day, though, was less about his accomplishments and
more about the way he fought. Like Silva, his friend and mentor, he
fought with persistent aggression and effort to finish. His persona
was less than that of a marauder because of his warm smile, but he
still fought like one. He was also the last bridge from Pride to
the UFC.
Teixeira took a very different path, removed from the limelight for
much of his prime due to visa issues. Yet like “Shogun,” his career
was defined by prolonged excellence; he was able to sustain at the
top level for longer. His late career run to the title will be
remembered alongside
Randy
Couture as one of the best such surges in the history of the
sport.
The relative parity defined by the light heavyweight division of
the 2000s gave way to a different era when “Shogun” lost the UFC
title to
Jon Jones.
“Bones” dominated the division for nearly a decade afterwards, with
his stiffest competition coming from
Daniel
Cormier. The division still hasn’t recovered from Jones
vacating the title.
It’s difficult enough to escape the shadow of a fighter who was as
dominant as Jones, but the UFC was at least working towards that
goal until
Jiri
Prochazka was forced to relinquish the championship in
November. Now, there were two former champions who vacated without
losing their titles. In the case of Prochazka, he wasn’t even given
time to see how his shoulder would recover following surgery. That
of course led to the debacle of
Magomed
Ankalaev-
Jan
Blachowicz—a dull fight resulting in a heavily disputed
draw—and the UFC basically pretending it didn’t happen and going to
yet another title fight with two different fighters.
We’re left with the current champion, the former champion as of two
months ago who never lost the belt, two championship challengers
who fought to a draw for the title and didn’t get another
opportunity, plus the lingering shadow of the greatest fighter in
the history of the division who’s now fighting in a different
weight class. It’s a mess. Worse, there’s no clear way to
ameliorate the situation anytime soon absent Jones returning, which
is not going to happen given all the muscle mass he has added going
up to heavyweight.
The ideal progression is probably to have Hill fight Ankalaev and
then hope Prochazka is ready to fight the winner. Even if that can
be pulled off, it’s still going to be a while before there’s a
light heavyweight fight that feels like a big deal. None of those
three have been a major part of a big pay-per-view yet, which is
the easiest way to raise one’s profile. It’s difficult to become a
star without beating a star. It usually takes sustained excellence
otherwise, absent a particularly big personality. Hill and
Prochazka have engaging styles, particularly Prochazka, and that
helps. Still, it’s going to be an uphill climb, and that’s if
Prochazka or Hill emerges as the best. Ankalaev lingers and seems
the least likely to take off with fans.
The most realistic aspiration for UFC is to use 2023 as a
rebuilding year and to hope that by 2024 there are some light
heavyweight fights that can start to move the needle a little. That
would at least be a step up from where things stand now, but for
the once mighty light heavyweight division, it’s a disappointing
state of affairs.