UFC

Top ranked fighter claims 165-pound division is happening: “Not a rumor”

Published

February 28, 2024

Rafael Fiziev wants a 165-pound division. Photo via Instagram: (@rafael_ataman_fiziev)

Fighters have pushed for the inclusion of a 165-pound division for a long time.

Since lightweight (155 pounds) and welterweight (170 pounds) are two of the more talent-rich divisions in the promotion.

Since the gap between lightweight and welterweight is the biggest between any divisions, many fighters and experts reason that a 155-, 165-, and 175-pounds would be better than the current 155- and 170-pounds divisions.

According to No. 8 ranked lightweight Rafael Fiziev, the promotion is in fact already working towards adding the 165-pound class.

“This is not a rumor, this is already for sure as far as I know. I heard that this is already true and even they have already fought, they even identified something there, I heard. Yes,” Fiziev told Russian outlet Ushatayka (via SportsKeeda).

165-pound division

A UFC 165-pound division would be the perfect option for big lightweights like Dustin Poirier and Islam Makhachev, as well as smaller welterweights such as Rafael dos Anjos.

A 175 pound division would also be great for fighters like Khamzat Chimaev, who struggled to make 170 pounds.

Check out the current champions in every UFC division below!

Flyweight (125 pounds): Alexandre Pantoja
Bantamweight (135 pounds): Sean O’Malley
Featherweight (145 pounds): Ilia Topuria
Lightweight (155 pounds): Islam Makhachev
Welterweight (170 pounds): Leon Edwards
Middleweight (185 pounds): Dricus du Plessis
Light heavyweight (205 pounds): Alex Pereira
Heavyweight (265 pounds): Jon Jones
Women’s strawweight (115 pounds): Zhang Weili
Women’s flyweight (125 pounds): Alexa Grasso
Women’s bantamweight (135 pounds): Raquel Pennington
Women’s featherweight: VACANT

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