Dana White thinks heavyweight could be in a good place sooner rather than later.
Long one of the marquee divisions in combat sports, the UFC’s heavyweight roster has fallen on hard times in recent years due to a dearth of promising talent, veterans aging out of contention, and even the very top of the division stuck in limbo due to undisputed champion Tom Aspinall being sidelined since this past October due to eye injuries suffered in his fight with Ciryl Gane that ended in a no-contest.
A handful
of intriguing big men have stepped forward to make a name for themselves, including Josh Hokit, Valter Walker, Rizvan Kuniev, and NCAA wrestling star Gable Steveson, and according to White, it’s not a coincidence that the fans have been noticing an influx of talent.
“We agree,” White said at the UFC Sacramento post-fight press conference when asked if he felt the heavyweight roster was improving. “We’ve got a lot of divisions that are shaking up right now and getting fun.
“The boys have been working hard on a few of the different divisions that we thought were a little stale, I’ll say.”
There were three heavyweight bouts on Saturday’s UFC Sacramento lineup, and each showed promise in one way or another. Vitor Petrino’s win over Serghei Spivac didn’t electrify the crowd, but it did establish a new top 10 contender with Petrino improving to 4-0 after moving up from light heavyweight. Shamil Gaziev had one of the best knockouts of the night, needing one punch to drop a defensively suspect Kennedy Nzechuwku.
And then there was the debuting Anthony Wint, a former pro football player just beginning his MMA journey. The hulking Wint scored a first-round submission of Terrance Chatman to improve to 8-0 as a pro. Even more impressive, he did this less than two weeks after earning a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series.
“Eleven days,” White said. “Yeah, I love guys that—You know, if you look at what the Contender Series has done for the UFC, and for the business, and when you have these guys who come in and make a big impact and then want to turn right around and fight. I mean, look at Khamzat Chimaev on Fight Island, he’s like, ‘I want to fight again next weekend.’ Tell me you want to fight again next weekend, you’re fighting next weekend. I love it and it’s the right thing to do.
“First of all, if you’re a fighter, more people know who you are, your name gets out there faster, more people are talking about you on Sunday and Monday and you make more money. I mean, it’s a no-brainer. I’d love to see more guys do it.”
