5 reasons why the light heavyweight division is one of the most exciting in the UFC

#4. Jon Jones no longer rules over the UFC light heavyweight division with an iron fist

Jon Jones no longer rules over the UFC light-heavyweight division Jan Blachowicz is the very definition of a fighting champion

There’s no disputing the idea that Jon Jones is one of the greatest fighters to ever compete in the UFC. ‘Bones’ has never truly lost a fight in the octagon, held the UFC light heavyweight title on and off for the best part of a decade and holds the record for the most successful title defenses in the division’s history with eleven. However, it’s also probably fair to say that seeing the division absolutely dominated by Jones had become extremely dull in recent years.

Not only did ‘Bones’ look almost disinterested in his fights with contenders like Anthony Smith and Thiago Santos, but his personal issues outside of the octagon made him difficult to root for, too. A weight class being completely dominated by an unlikeable champion is basically no fun for the fans and so the UFC light heavyweight division felt like a hard watch at times.

In 2020, though, Jones decided to vacate his title in order to move up to heavyweight. So when Jan Blachowicz defeated Dominick Reyes to claim the vacant crown at UFC 253, it genuinely felt like a black cloud had been lifted from the division.

Without Jones, it now feels like far more fighters have a shot at actually winning the UFC light heavyweight title, making it much more like the promotion’s most popular weight classes such as lightweight.

With a sense of jeopardy existing for the first time since Jones’ initial title win in 2011, it’s hard to dispute that the UFC light heavyweight division is now one of the promotion’s most exciting.

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#3. Current UFC light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz seemingly has no designs on “money fights”

The UFC’s most exciting weight classes tend to have one thing in common and that’s a champion who is willing to fight the best that the division has to offer.

Unfortunately, over the last few years the opposite has often tended to happen in the promotion. Ever since the rise of Conor McGregor around half a decade ago, fighters, particularly UFC champions, looking for so-called “money fights” rather than clashes with deserving contenders has been the trend.

We saw this with former UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo, who seemed uninterested in clashes with top contenders like Petr Yan, preferring to call out heavier fighters or aging stars such as Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz. Other champions, meanwhile, have chosen to sit out completely in order to attempt to get a bigger paycheck from the UFC.

Jan Blachowicz, on the other hand, clearly has no designs on such things. The native of Poland appears to be the very definition of a fighting champion. Sure, his first defense was a “superfight” of sorts against UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, but after turning back that challenge, he was quick to accept a fight with Glover Teixeira next.

And although that fight has yet to happen, Blachowicz has already expressed interest in fighting another of the division’s top contenders in Jiri Prochazka.

Essentially, having a champion like Blachowicz, who is willing to fight top contenders on a regular basis and can keep the division moving, can ensure that a weight class in the UFC stays at the forefront of things and never really becomes dull.