The heavyweight division best represents what we all love about Mixed Martial Arts: big, strong, athletic men who can easily separate their opponents from consciousness with just one strike. While the fighters in lower weight classes are often perceived as being more skilled, the heavyweights have plenty of technique to go along with their raw power. In the early days of MMA, when there were no weight divisions, every fighter was forced to potentially take on opponents far larger than themselves.

The light heavyweight division, contested at 205lbs, has long been the marquee division of MMA. Who can forget the early UFC rivalries of Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz and Vitor Belfort? Or their contemporaries in Pride FC – Wanderlei Silva, Shogun Rua, Rampage and Alistair Overeem. These names came to define MMA for an entire decade.

The middleweight division, as it’s name might indicate, sits roughly in the middle of the MMA spectrum of speed and athleticism vs strength and stopping power. Fighting at 185lbs, middleweights are generally still big and strong enough to be able to put most men to sleep, yet quick and skilled enough to put on exciting five-round wars.

Welterweight, or 170lbs, is the hypothetical cut-off between large men and average-or-below sized individuals. At this level, technique cardio and athleticism become paramount factors, over strength and knockout power. Not to say that these don’t also help – just ask the two-time champion Matt Hughes, who was known for his freakish ‘farmer’ strength. Or the current champion Kamaru Usman, whose punching power can be envied by fighters in any weight class.

Lightweight has always been one of the most exciting weight classes in MMA. From the beginnings with Jens Pulver and BJ Penn, through a brief hiatus following Pulver’s dispute with UFC, to Penn’s triumphant return and title reign, the 155-pounders have consistently delivered awesome fights. And who can forget Frankie Edgar, WEC’s Benson Henderson and Anthony ‘Showtime’ Pettis, to Pride’s Takanori Gomi.

The featherweight division is a relative newcomer to the UFC; however the lineage goes back to the early days of MMA with names probably not very familiar to today’s fans: Noboru Asahi and Alexandre Franca Nogueira.

The flyweight, or 115 lbs, is the lightest men’s division in today’s UFC and the second lightest in MMA overall. It is also the newest men’s weight class in the UFC, and historically, flyweights have not received a lot of love from MMA fans. And that’s too bad, because the pace these guys can put up and consistently keep is not matched by any other division.

The second-to-lightest men’s division in the UFC is contested at 135 lbs, and bantamweight fights didn’t always take place in an Octagon. Similarly to featherweights, bantamweight division was once cultivated by WEC, which was purchased by UFC in 2010 and the lighter weight classes were brought under UFC’s banner.