Fans look to have had enough of one division that was once among the most star-studded in MMA after UFC Abu Dhabi.
Saturday’s event in the Middle East had plenty of memorable action, including Reinier de Ridder’s win over Robert Whittaker in a main event that saw both men rocked at certain points.
Elsewhere, Petr Yan delivered in his return, Shara Magomedov fought through a gruesome nose break to get back in the winner’s circle, Bogdan Guskov needed just 42 seconds to put away a top-10 opponent, and Tabatha Ricci left Amanda Ribas needing surgery.
But things did not exactly start on an entertaining note at UFC Abu Dhabi…
Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida’s debut fell flat in heavyweight snoozer at UFC Abu Dhabi
Not many have arrived on MMA’s biggest stage with the kind of credentials that Marcus ‘Buchecha’ Almeida has on the ground. The 35-year-old, who holds a 4th-degree black belt, cemented himself as a Brazilian jiu-jitsu legend by becoming a multi-time world jiu-jitsu and ADCC submission fighting champion.
After ‘Buchecha’ signed with ONE Championship in 2020, he went 5-1 in the Circle, only losing to then-future heavyweight champion Oumar ‘Reug Reug’ Kane in a memorable three-round war in Bangkok.
But while he had hoped to repeat his quick start to life under the ONE banner after jumping ship to the UFC, Almeida was ‘fraud checked’ by Martin Buday at UFC Abu Dhabi.
The Slovak, who occupies the No. 13 spot inside the heavyweight rankings, got the job done in a sluggish heavyweight affair that saw both men fatigue.
Suffice to say, it was not the start to the card that the fans were after.
Fans have had enough of the UFC heavyweight division
More than just a disappointing debut for a highly credentialed BJJ legend in ‘Buchecha’, that fight may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back when it comes to how the fans view the heavyweight division.
Beyond the elites of the weight class, such as champion Tom Aspinall, upcoming challenger Ciryl Gane, and the often destructive Jailton Almeida, there has long been much to be desired across the rest of the roster.
And the latest slog between low-level heavyweights left many going as far as to call on Dana White and the UFC to eliminate the division entirely.
“Feel bad for Tom Aspinall but they gotta delete the heavyweight division for the good of the fans.”
“If it wasn’t for Aspinall I would totally be in favor of getting rid of heavyweight.”
“It’s like watching a different sport. Horrendous slop.”
“You’re telling me this guy is only 13 slots below Tom Aspinall? This is the state of the Heavyweight division in the UFC?”
“They need to cut like half of the heavyweight division.”
“This fight is exactly why heavyweight is the most boring division in the @ufc.”
“Pls remove the heavyweight division!”
“Heavyweight is so a–. Delete this division.”
“That was a ranked HW fight by the way. Whole division needs to be shut down.”
Others, meanwhile, made alternative suggestions…
“Division having a 245lb weight limit would fix all this — so these guys at least show up in shape.”
“Bring back women’s featherweight,” MMA legend Cris Cyborg wrote.
“I think we should just have Ngannou and Aspinall fight every few months until Ngannou retires and just call that the heavyweight division.”
“Just let them juice.”