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Former UFC Middleweight champion Chris Weidman will embark on a new phase of his career this weekend, as he moves up to 205lbs for the first time to take on dangerous Light-Heavyweight contender Dominick Reyes in the main event of UFC on ESPN 6.
Weidman has spoken about a potential move to 205lbs – a jump of 20lbs up from his usual 185lbs – for years now, dating back to his Middleweight title reign from 2013 to 2015. But it’s only now – after losing four of his past five fights – that ‘The All-American’ has chosen to make the jump.
Will he succeed? Only time will tell – but there’s no doubt that judging on history, it’s probably a risk worth taking. These 5 UFC fighters did the same thing, moving from a lower weight class into a higher one, and reaped the rewards.
#1 Robert Whittaker
Australia’s Robert Whittaker entered into the conscience of UFC fans through one of the more underrated editions of The Ultimate Fighter, the UK vs. Australia-themed Smashes of late 2012. Whittaker ended up winning the season at Welterweight, and at just 22 years old, most fans expected ‘The Reaper’ to have a bright future ahead of him.
Whittaker made good on his first post-TUF outing, defeating fellow reality show champion Colton Smith, but he soon ran into some problems. First, another former TUF champion in Court McGee was able to grind him out for a decision, and then in a somewhat embarrassing performance, Whittaker was knocked out by the pinpoint striking accuracy of Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson.
That loss left Whittaker with a lot to think about – and after a workmanlike win over Mike Rhodes set him back on track, he decided to change things up by moving up to Middleweight.
The Aussie hadn’t seemed to be the biggest 170lber, but the move to 185lbs seemed to suit him; he kept all the striking power he had at Welterweight, but suddenly gained a speed advantage over most of his opponents.
The results were immediate; Whittaker knocked out Clint Hester and Brad Tavares to kick off a run of 7 wins in a row at 185lbs that culminated in him defeating top contender Yoel Romero for the Interim UFC Middleweight title in July 2017.
Although Whittaker has since lost his title to Israel Adesanya, few would argue that his move up in weight was not a successful one.
#2 Dustin Poirier
It seems hard to believe now, but back in 2011 when he debuted in the UFC after going 1-1 in the WEC, Dustin Poirier was a big underdog in his first Octagon outing. Making the move to 145lbs for the first time to take on the #1 contender at UFC Featherweight in Josh Grispi, Poirier defied the odds to defeat ‘The Fluke’ handily, and then went on a run of four wins to cement himself as a title contender.
A loss to Chan Sung Jung derailed his title hopes though, and from there Poirier settled into a role as a high-level action fighter, picking up some major wins that were offset by losses to Cub Swanson and Conor McGregor. By 2015 though, Poirier had clearly had enough of both his reputation as an action fighter and also of the cut to 145lbs.
‘The Diamond’ moved back up to 155lbs and the results were instant – he reeled off four impressive wins, and after rebounding from a surprising loss to Michael Johnson, put together another run of dominance, beating Jim Miller, Anthony Pettis, Justin Gaethje and Eddie Alvarez to cement himself as a top contender at UFC Lightweight.
2019 saw him achieve the biggest win of his career – defeating Max Holloway to claim the Interim UFC Lightweight title – and while he failed in his attempt to unify the titles in a fight with kingpin Khabib Nurmagomedov, Poirier is still clearly a top contender at 155lbs, meaning his move up in weight definitely paid off.
#3 Thiago Santos
A number of fighters have seen success after moving from a lighter weight class to a heavier one, but few fighters have succeeded after moving up twice. One of those few is Brazil’s Thiago ‘Marreta’ Santos, who most recently fought Jon Jones for the UFC Light Heavyweight title – and came as close as anyone else has before to dethroning the dominant champion.
Santos actually emerged in the UFC at 170lbs during the second series of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil. Always a big Welterweight, Santos defeated Gil Freitas and Pedro Irie during the reality show tapings, but lost handily to both William Macario and Leonardo Santos, and was seen by many fans as a poor man’s version of UFC contender Edson Barboza.
Following TUF it didn’t appear that Santos would be picked up by the UFC, but instead he stepped in on late notice to face Cezar Ferreira in a Middleweight fight at UFC 163. He was defeated in just 47 seconds, but followed that fight by showing a flash of his potential in a nasty win over Ronny Markes in his second Octagon appearance.
From there, Santos went onto claim 9 wins at Middleweight – going the distance just twice – but also lost 4 times, and it seemed that while he wouldn’t become a title contender, he’d be a staple in the UFC for years to come.
A surprising move to 205lbs came in late 2018 though, and from there ‘Marreta’ won three fights, including two over top contenders Jimi Manuwa and Jan Blachowicz, to claim his title shot against Jones. Not bad for a man expected to wash out of the UFC at 170lbs!
#4 BJ Penn
One of the original weight class surfers, Hawaiian legend BJ Penn first burst onto the UFC scene at Lightweight way back in 2001, beginning his MMA career with quite a bang. He defeated Joey Gilbert, Din Thomas and Caol Uno to claim a title shot at 155lbs, but came up short against then-champion Jens Pulver.
Two more wins gave Penn another crack at UFC gold, but this time he went to a split draw in a five-round rematch with Uno, leaving him beltless again.
Penn would get another title shot in his next UFC fight though, and surprisingly, it came at Welterweight as he faced dominant champion Matt Hughes, who had run through a list of top contenders and was looking for his sixth successful title defence.
And despite clearly giving up size having moved up by 15lbs, ‘The Prodigy’ shocked the world by choking Hughes out to claim the gold.
Following the fight, a contract dispute sent Penn out of the UFC – meaning he would never defend his title – and the Hawaiian went on a fascinating path, moving across weight classes again and even fighting once at 205lbs. A return to the UFC came in 2006, but this time Penn failed in an attempt to reclaim gold at 170lbs, losing to Hughes in a rematch.
Later, ‘The Prodigy’ went onto finally claim the UFC Lightweight title – this time beating Joe Stevenson for the vacant title before making three successful title defences – but staying in a single weight class was never for Penn.
Another move to 170lbs saw mixed results while a move down to 145lbs – albeit in the twilight of his career – was disastrous. However you feel about Penn’s jumping around weight classes, though, it’s hard not to call his first move to 170lbs a success.
#5 Daniel Cormier
When former StrikeForce Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier debuted in the UFC in 2013 with a win at Heavyweight over former UFC champion Frank Mir, his run in the heaviest weight category was always supposed to be temporary. At the time, Cormier’s friend and training partner Cain Velasquez held the UFC Heavyweight title, and the plan was for ‘DC’ – an undersized Heavyweight – to move to 205lbs to attempt to claim UFC gold there.
It came as no surprise in early 2014 then when Cormier made the move down in weight, shellacking Patrick Cummins before impressively submitting legendary veteran Dan Henderson. Those wins were enough to give him a title shot against Light-Heavyweight champ Jon Jones, and while he came up short, Cormier claimed the title with a win over top contender Anthony Johnson when personal issues forced Jones to vacate.
Cormier’s subsequent run at 205lbs would’ve been enough alone to make him a UFC legend; he defeated Alexander Gustafsson, Anderson Silva, Johnson in a rematch and Volkan Oezdemir, with his only loss coming to a doped-up Jones in a rematch. By 2018 though, Velasquez no longer held the Heavyweight title, and champion Stipe Miocic was largely without a top contender to face.
So Cormier made the move back up to Heavyweight, and despite remaining undersized, he knocked out Miocic at UFC 226 to become a double champion. Cormier then defended his title successfully against Derrick Lewis, and while he has since been dethroned by Miocic in a rematch, it’s still very debatable as to whether ‘DC’ is better off at Light-Heavyweight or Heavyweight.
