| Division | Estimated # | 12/2011 | 5/2014 | 8/2016 |
| Heavyweight | 757 | 8.3% | 6.9% | 6.2% |
| Light Heavyweight | 758 | 8.8% | 6.7% | 6.2% |
| Middleweight | 1285 | 14.7% | 12.7% | 10.6% |
| Welterweight | 2070 | 20.4% | 18.3% | 17.0% |
| Lightweight | 2453 | 21.8% | 20.2% | 20.2% |
| Featherweight | 2114 | 14.4% | 17.4% | 17.4% |
| Bantamweight | 1600 | 9.0% | 11.4% | 13.2% |
| Fly+Straw | 1109 | 2.7% | 6.4% | 9.1% |
– Male Only
The eligible pool (all active fighters over the “starter” rating) has increased only 1.4% in the past 2.25 years, after jumping over 13% in the previous 2.5 years. The growth of MMA has seemed to come to a halt on the global scale.
The divisional trend is simple. Less fighters in the heavier divisions, more fighters in the lighter divisions, especially at the very bottom of the weights.
Using some updated info, I have to make a slight revision to the “average fighter” weights in the past two studies. In 2011, the average male fighter weighed in at roughly 171 pounds. In 2014, this went down to 166 and now, it is about 163 pounds.