As someone who has been watching since 2005, Jones's era lasting entire generations spoiled the perception of the division. Champs were playing hot potato with the belt before Jon, and hot potato after. Jones truly is special.
Ik ppl are gonna see this comment and cry about him being juiced but you still have to give Jon his props. He’s one of the greatest fighters who’ve walked this earth.
Jones' run from 2011 to 2015 was his best years, making up 90% of his legacy. Everything after 2015 though, was asterisks after asterisks and tarnished his legacy.
Jon jones casts a long shadow. Its hard for people to get invested in the division when "yeah but jones would still beat him" is on the tip of so many tongues. Perhaps people will find it easier to move on as he fights more at heavyweight Its funny because on paper (get it?) LHW should probably be the most marketable division. These are the biggest, scariest guys that still look like what most people think athletes look like.
Well it always has been the favorite division by the ufc, it’s just that after such a long reign of terror by jones the ufc shifted onto lightweight with great and exciting athletes who are marketable and known to the casual fans
@Djangorechained12 there's plenty of fluffy ufc fighters who are super disciplined. Very few people can make it to the ufc without working exceptionally hard. Some people are just built big and perform at their best athletically at 25% bodyfat or more. If Tai tuivasa decided to lose 30 lbs, I don't think that would necessarily make him better at fighting
Thanks for this TJ, ngl I’m a super casual and only got into combat sports because of ksi vs logan Paul to be honest, but after getting into ufc and ONE fc I’m really enjoying it, and your videos help a lot with filling me in on things I didn’t know about. Had no idea who ankalaev or jiri were before this video I had just heard and seen them, but long story short ur videos on MMA are amazing and thank you for all the amazing breakdowns. One piece of advice is use some different backround music every so often, this common one is getting annoying lol but regardless thanks for the goated content
Not sure if you’re aware of this but UFC puts out a ton of old fights for free on their TH-cam. would be a great way to watch old and recent fights you may have missed !!
No kidding, just typing in UFC free fights you can see a lot of good fights that the UFC channel and UFC Eurasia have put up, definitely recommend. Also people put out documentary/hype videos of path to a title and championship reign for a ton of different fighters.
Hey just want to say it's awesome you got into combat sports watching KSI vs Logan! Even if it's maybe not what the hardcore fanbase might think, at the end of the day shenanigans like that fight are the perfect way to get more people interested in the more serious side of MMA. Hope you enjoy going down the rabbit hole 😂
I think young, prime Glover would have been stopped by that much damage, but this Glover, knowing he's done, you would have to kill him to stop him in that fight with Jamahal
I've always loved the chaos that is 205. Hearing stuff like "Welcome to the Machida era" and other poorly aged statements make that division special lol
Historically, lightheavyweight was the most popular and competitive division. Unfortunately, with drug scandals and Jones' dominance, it eventually died
Jiri is a beast. He has such a wild, "unscientific" technique yet he kept getting away with it through sheer physicality. But Perreira is a clean, super efficient knockout machine and kickboxing legend. Possibly bad matchup for Jiri but we'll see, it will be fun.
Honestly The LHW division is actually more back to form then anything, before Jon Jones, the LHW division was very chaotic. I still wish the champs got beaten rather then injuired
Glover become the oldest first time champ. Randy Couture already had been champion two times in past, but still holds the title of oldest man ever to hold a belt
The light heavy division had such a fall from grace, it used to be the best division in the whole ufc, then jbj came around and destroyed everyone, and produced one of the best rivalries ever with jones vs DC, so everyone tuned in to watch it But now it's just a shadow of it former self
The light heavyweight division is a whole movie storyline. Jon Jones is the first movie, the fallout of Jon Jones leaving is the sequel, and the build up to Pereira and Jiri is the trilogy
The thing is MMA fans have very different opinions on who is a weight bully Are you a weight bully when you don't fight at your natural weight aka cut weight? If yes, isn't everybody a weight bully then I think that word is often use against guys who are not very well liked like all the dagestani fighters to find some cringe argument to discredit them somehow
@@kja6336 Why so angry now? I mean define what a weight bully is Izzy's walk around weight was like 20 pounds less than Pereira's and both fought at 185 Big difference on who is the weight bully by that logic
@@STiergoofballthis is true however when I think of weight bullies I think of pereira and Khamzat. I still like pereira but he’s a weight bully and gets praised for it
Lmao nah. That fight is gonna rock these two are both of my favorite fighters and i watch and imitate them the most stylistically. Jiri is way better than i think most people realize he is. So excited for this fight fr
I think most people look for a reigning champion in a division but remember, these are light heavyweights and they hit hard so anything can happen when they fight.
So true, the light heavyweight division is the most brutal division. The top-ranked fighters in this division are a dangerous mixture of strength; Too bad it has been set back
Thank you for telling the truth about the izzy jan fight. So many people bought Joe Rogan's bullshit that "jan was too big" when Jan beat him most exchanges on the feet. That fight was nearly pure headhunting too.
Jan had to take the fight down in the championship rounds because he was getting tired (his gas tank has always been dog-shit) and the momentum of the fight was starting to shift in Izzy's favor.
The TJlovesfights curse strikes again, Alex Pereira finally has a title defense vs Jamahal Hill and Jiri is back on track after beating Rakic at ufc 300
Having no true defense since Liddell till jones. I called it the light heavyweight curse yrs ago. It went, rampage,forest,Evan's, machida, rua(shogun) then Jones tear. Now this,
I wish this was an interim match. I think jamahal deserves to be recognized as champ on his return and the winner should have to take the belt from him. I dont like the ideq of vacant belt fights as much
@@Lamborghini1YT i wouldn't say pfp skill wise but on paper, the best in terms of being a good balance of power, speed, iq, cardio, ect. Id say the best division of fighters would have to be a split between middle and welter. I like middleweight more personally.
Lhw division ruined by UFC itself. They wanted a perfect American champ like Jon Jones to rule the division, in this case Jamahal Hill, while robbing other contenders of their belt (Ankalaev).
Nah too one dimensional, Lhw’s who were around 5-10 years ago would easily take him down & beat him. 205 has gone to shit ever since Jones & DC left also your Rashad evans, Phil Davis, Rumble etc. The fact Jan became a champion & top 5 ranked if proof of how bad 205 has gotten.
Honestly think hills gonna dominant the division he beat tf outta glover which say what you want about glover being old he js had a war with jiri and dog walked Jan plus Jamalh had no camp basically on two weeks while Glover had the camp with jiri I js like hill and I think he’s gonna be a dominant champion
Go to buyraycon.com/tjlfights and use code BIRTHDAY to get 20 to 40% off sitewide during Raycon's Anniversary Sale! Brought to you by Raycon.
@@PovertyDeadlifter😂😂😂😂😂
This division might be as cursed as Tony vs Khabib.
nothing is more cursed than that 😂
Nothing is more cursed than that
nothing is more cursed than that
something is more cursed than that
@@BoxingFan699 what is that
As someone who has been watching since 2005, Jones's era lasting entire generations spoiled the perception of the division. Champs were playing hot potato with the belt before Jon, and hot potato after. Jones truly is special.
Ik ppl are gonna see this comment and cry about him being juiced but you still have to give Jon his props. He’s one of the greatest fighters who’ve walked this earth.
The Machida era was truly special, though
Tito orziz and chuck lidell both had long reigns and even frank shamrock
Jones' run from 2011 to 2015 was his best years, making up 90% of his legacy. Everything after 2015 though, was asterisks after asterisks and tarnished his legacy.
@@Herbert_Rudolf everyone recognized that Pride had better fighters than the UFC back then.
Jon jones casts a long shadow. Its hard for people to get invested in the division when "yeah but jones would still beat him" is on the tip of so many tongues. Perhaps people will find it easier to move on as he fights more at heavyweight
Its funny because on paper (get it?) LHW should probably be the most marketable division. These are the biggest, scariest guys that still look like what most people think athletes look like.
Well it always has been the favorite division by the ufc, it’s just that after such a long reign of terror by jones the ufc shifted onto lightweight with great and exciting athletes who are marketable and known to the casual fans
LHW was the most popular division over a decade ago.
Aspinal and pavlovich actually look good for HW. No more fat undisciplined fighters.
@Djangorechained12 there's plenty of fluffy ufc fighters who are super disciplined. Very few people can make it to the ufc without working exceptionally hard. Some people are just built big and perform at their best athletically at 25% bodyfat or more. If Tai tuivasa decided to lose 30 lbs, I don't think that would necessarily make him better at fighting
Alex is one of the best additions in UFC recent history
100% him and chandler
Wish we could’ve saw him vs Jon. Jones would’ve just strangled him but the exchanges on the feet would be insane
@@alext399i honestly think alex would sleep jon in a striking match, but we are in mma and in mma alex will choked out probably or lose a decision
@@iljagro772jones has the best chin of all time
@@italianstalian331 yes he has a great chin, but he doesn’t get hit clean most of the time
This video has aged brilliantly following the Walker vs Ankalaev fight. The division truly is cursed.
The fact that Jon was able to hold on to that belt for so long while no one can defend it successfully shows how far above everyone Jon actually was.
every man to win that belt is yet to beat another middleweight.
@@smoothcast6940DC was a welterweight?
@@gokulgandhi6027DC was a heavyweight at heart
L take
bro was juicing against bloated middleweights chill
Crazy how the most chaotic guy kept the belt for the longest almost like you have to be crazy to be immune to the curse
Thanks for this TJ, ngl I’m a super casual and only got into combat sports because of ksi vs logan Paul to be honest, but after getting into ufc and ONE fc I’m really enjoying it, and your videos help a lot with filling me in on things I didn’t know about. Had no idea who ankalaev or jiri were before this video I had just heard and seen them, but long story short ur videos on MMA are amazing and thank you for all the amazing breakdowns. One piece of advice is use some different backround music every so often, this common one is getting annoying lol but regardless thanks for the goated content
This is really wholesome bro, Im sure Tj was kicking his feet in the air reading this 😭😭
not ksi vs Logan 😂
but ay man you should watch Jiris fights. They are pretty entertaining, especially his fight with Reyes 👍
Not sure if you’re aware of this but UFC puts out a ton of old fights for free on their TH-cam. would be a great way to watch old and recent fights you may have missed !!
No kidding, just typing in UFC free fights you can see a lot of good fights that the UFC channel and UFC Eurasia have put up, definitely recommend. Also people put out documentary/hype videos of path to a title and championship reign for a ton of different fighters.
Hey just want to say it's awesome you got into combat sports watching KSI vs Logan! Even if it's maybe not what the hardcore fanbase might think, at the end of the day shenanigans like that fight are the perfect way to get more people interested in the more serious side of MMA. Hope you enjoy going down the rabbit hole 😂
As a casual fan of combat sports, your division breakdowns are really helpful and i look forward to seeing more
I think young, prime Glover would have been stopped by that much damage, but this Glover, knowing he's done, you would have to kill him to stop him in that fight with Jamahal
1:35 whoa! really cool to see that you were able to get conor to make an appearance in the video!
I've always loved the chaos that is 205. Hearing stuff like "Welcome to the Machida era" and other poorly aged statements make that division special lol
Historically, lightheavyweight was the most popular and competitive division. Unfortunately, with drug scandals and Jones' dominance, it eventually died
2:48 Joe was actually standing in this interview
I believe the curse originates from Glover. Whoever beats him, gets a gruesome injury as a prize. Good thing he retired!
Jiri is a beast. He has such a wild, "unscientific" technique yet he kept getting away with it through sheer physicality. But Perreira is a clean, super efficient knockout machine and kickboxing legend. Possibly bad matchup for Jiri but we'll see, it will be fun.
Vacant is a multitime , multidivison champ, even successfully retaining the lhw title.
Glad you got sponsored but come on bro almost every Bluetooth headphone is easy to pair 😂
Damn some UFC fighters really go 120% during camp. They treat sparring lessons like the actual fights💀
The Connor impression was on point😂
8:52 I just noticed Jiri sounds like The Heavy from TF2 😂😂😂
The recent chaos makes DC’s reign look good too. He held it down for three defense while Jon was away.
You guys know the ref literally missed a tap in this fight, jiri tapped in round 1 smh.
This is one of my favourite divisions fighters wise.Jiri,Jan,Pereira,Walker,Ankalaev and Rakic straight up killers i love it
Honestly The LHW division is actually more back to form then anything, before Jon Jones, the LHW division was very chaotic. I still wish the champs got beaten rather then injuired
Love you videos.Keep going man.
Love your videos, keep doing what you’re doing mahn.
Now it's the most entertaining ddivision
In 5:25 you said that Glover became the oldest champ, but isnt it Randy Couture who was 45 years old?
Glover become the oldest first time champ. Randy Couture already had been champion two times in past, but still holds the title of oldest man ever to hold a belt
The light heavy division had such a fall from grace, it used to be the best division in the whole ufc, then jbj came around and destroyed everyone, and produced one of the best rivalries ever with jones vs DC, so everyone tuned in to watch it
But now it's just a shadow of it former self
The light heavyweight division is a whole movie storyline. Jon Jones is the first movie, the fallout of Jon Jones leaving is the sequel, and the build up to Pereira and Jiri is the trilogy
You should've labeled Pereira as a weight bully lol and Jan is old too
The thing is
MMA fans have very different opinions on who is a weight bully
Are you a weight bully when you don't fight at your natural weight aka cut weight?
If yes, isn't everybody a weight bully then
I think that word is often use against guys who are not very well liked like all the dagestani fighters to find some cringe argument to discredit them somehow
Same size as izzy who is now 1-2 in the same division. 🧂
@@kja6336
Why so angry now?
I mean define what a weight bully is
Izzy's walk around weight was like 20 pounds less than Pereira's and both fought at 185
Big difference on who is the weight bully by that logic
@@QuandaleMonkeyI mean he's like 4-3 in his last seven as well which isn't great
@@STiergoofballthis is true however when I think of weight bullies I think of pereira and Khamzat. I still like pereira but he’s a weight bully and gets praised for it
Unfortunately I don't think Jiri V Alex will even be close. I think Jiri's shoulder will fail him, or it will just never "be right" again.
Lmao nah. That fight is gonna rock these two are both of my favorite fighters and i watch and imitate them the most stylistically. Jiri is way better than i think most people realize he is. So excited for this fight fr
1:41 😂😂😂😂 lmao did you just do the Connor McGregor meme? Love it / new sub
I think most people look for a reigning champion in a division but remember, these are light heavyweights and they hit hard so anything can happen when they fight.
You know Jiří vs Alex is gonna have a weird ending.
I feel so blessed to have found your channel- every time I see you’ve posted it’s an instaclick!! 🎉🎉
Babe wake up, new tj loves fights just dropped
Anyway tjvid and drake drop perfect Friday best way to spend a Friday
Love this dudes videos
So true, the light heavyweight division is the most brutal division. The top-ranked fighters in this division are a dangerous mixture of strength; Too bad it has been set back
Thank you for telling the truth about the izzy jan fight. So many people bought Joe Rogan's bullshit that "jan was too big" when Jan beat him most exchanges on the feet. That fight was nearly pure headhunting too.
Jan had to take the fight down in the championship rounds because he was getting tired (his gas tank has always been dog-shit) and the momentum of the fight was starting to shift in Izzy's favor.
@@madgavin7568cry more
Izzy was at the peak of his career during that time, everyone was root for him to beat up Jan. Although the fight said otherwise
@@madgavin7568 bullshit and cope.
6:08 Jon jones vs lyoto machida at home
it’s crazy how competitive this division is and how amazing jon jones was at lhw
John ran as fast as possible from LHW
You're going to have to have a better bait than that
8:58 ambatukam
The TJlovesfights curse strikes again, Alex Pereira finally has a title defense vs Jamahal Hill and Jiri is back on track after beating Rakic at ufc 300
1:34 only real ones know ;)
mcgregor bit in the ad was cheeky
Jamahal hills fight was so dominant we have to see him against whoever’s champ when he can fight
Imagine if Jiri v Poatan ends in a draw
Jiri definitely going to have a freak injury in this one, I can feel it comin
1:35 jab slip uppercut backhand roll
i want to fight lucas tracy
That Hill Texeria fight was elder abuse lol
Kinda feels like we won't ever see a GOAT of this division because we already have
The universe can't handle a non Jones champion in this division
That's what happen when you have a goat dominating the division and leaving
Look at that shadow boxing. Get this man on misfits
I think i can speak for everyone when i say this is the craziest year we’ve had in mma
Biggest upsets that’s for sure
Did bro just hit the mcgregor “jab slip uppercut” in the raycon ad 😭😭
Love your vids
Imagine...just imagine, jiri vs Alex ends in a NC due to illegal eye poke 11 seconds into the fight...
When a champ gets stripped it doesnt take effect until the next title fight starts I believe. So Hill will technically be champ until then
*POATAN DOES NOT CLAIM ANY NEGATIVE ENERGY FROM THIS VIDEO*
Magomed ankalaev enters the chat
20% off everything = company failing
Cursed as bantamweight in the cruise era
Real life Mortal Kombat fight 🔥 🏹⚔
Bro did the Conor during the promo 😂
Jab,slip, uppercut,backhand1:36 😍
Ngl this division has been in shambles ever since Jones left
Quick reminder that Chael Sonnen was 30 seconds away from becoming the LHW champion thanks to a broken toe… 😂
too bad you didnt add jamahal's response to the video from jiri, that would've been great :D
So it didn’t have order with DC? The glazing
I'm kinda sad you didn't show Jamahal's response video to Jiri 😂
The belt is cursed cause is hungry for blood, an amount only Jones can provide
Ankalaev should have gotten the belt rightfully! That would have solved all this problems
THAT'S WHAT SHE SAIIIID 😂😂😂
2 warriors going to battle
Having no true defense since Liddell till jones. I called it the light heavyweight curse yrs ago. It went, rampage,forest,Evan's, machida, rua(shogun) then Jones tear. Now this,
more boxing content baby
I wish this was an interim match. I think jamahal deserves to be recognized as champ on his return and the winner should have to take the belt from him. I dont like the ideq of vacant belt fights as much
Jamahal vacated it himself because Jiri left it vacated before him. So he felt he had to do so
Jiri was losing that fight brother lol
“Old” you mean, retired? lol
Its kinda crazy how the best division in my opinion just can't get the ball rolling. Very unfortunate
Best division ?
Fr power and cardio of heavyweights, but skills and iq of middleweights every LHW fighter is special man
@@Lamborghini1YT i wouldn't say pfp skill wise but on paper, the best in terms of being a good balance of power, speed, iq, cardio, ect. Id say the best division of fighters would have to be a split between middle and welter. I like middleweight more personally.
Its just MMA's spiritual body rejecting Jon Jones looming and complicated legacy.
Jab slip uppercut back hand roll
This is you bouncing
Lol did you forget that welterweight exist? Nobody wants to fight anyone in that division😂
Getvonta tank Davis would be Mighty Mouse in mma
I think what Will happen is
Alex becomes champ
Ankalaev Beats Alex
Ankalaev defends against Jamahal Hill
Jan is coming back
Lhw division ruined by UFC itself. They wanted a perfect American champ like Jon Jones to rule the division, in this case Jamahal Hill, while robbing other contenders of their belt (Ankalaev).
TJ we saw you how you rolling, slipping and throwing combos right there. Fine, we don't want that smoke.
Already liked and subscribed.
ngl alex pereira carrying the entire division on his back
Nah too one dimensional, Lhw’s who were around 5-10 years ago would easily take him down & beat him. 205 has gone to shit ever since Jones & DC left also your Rashad evans, Phil Davis, Rumble etc.
The fact Jan became a champion & top 5 ranked if proof of how bad 205 has gotten.
If you wanna talk cursed Can u make a video on Tony and Khabib
I hope Pereira wins. For sure it will bring some excitment for the division
Oh wow TJ I didn't know you were Asian. That explains a lot.
Honestly think hills gonna dominant the division he beat tf outta glover which say what you want about glover being old he js had a war with jiri and dog walked Jan plus Jamalh had no camp basically on two weeks while Glover had the camp with jiri I js like hill and I think he’s gonna be a dominant champion