Heavies: Bigger Not Always Better

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Sometimes when watching heavyweights, I think to myself, “You’d never see that happen in a lightweight fight.” That is precisely what I thought while watching Travis Browne blast out Stefan Struve and then Frank Mir huff and puff his way to a decision over Roy Nelson at UFC 130 on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

You do not see a lot of one-shot knockouts at 155 pounds, and you sure as hell do not see fights like Mir-Nelson too often, at least not often enough for the winner to be legitimately considered a Top 10 contender.

Try it sometime, and you will get the gist.

Heavyweights score a hugely disproportionate share of sudden, shocking knockouts, and the bigger the body, the more attention and money they are going to get. Perhaps there is something eternally curious about our human nature that draws us closer to huge men fighting than smaller guys. My theory is this: basic caveman instinct, in order to get into the good graces of the winner.

Still, heavyweights carry their own baggage, which is precisely why they seem so different from the lighter weights, especially the 155-pounders. They regularly gas out. Their technique often falls apart by the second round. And like the old woman on the Medic Alert Badge commercial, they often fall and can’t get up. Heavyweights are the designated hitters of MMA; grinding out victory by hitting singles may work for the little guys, but it just does not cut it among the big boys.

That radically altered strategy changes everything, turning fights from tactical to all-out blitzkriegs in the opening minutes, often leaving one guy hopelessly out of gas. Browne’s victory was fun to watch, but Mir-Nelson was a reminder that being close to the 265-pound class limit is not necessarily a must. Three of the top heavyweights in the world -- UFC champion Cain Velasquez, Junior dos Santos and Strikeforce titleholder Alistair Overeem -- fight well south of the threshold. Mir and Nelson should take note.