UFC 225: Will middleweight remain chaotic or find stability?

Two years after the middleweight ranks felt deeper than they had in years, Saturday’s UFC 225 main event is poised to push the reset button on the division and start moving things in the 185-pound weight class into the future.

On the night that Michael Bisping surprised everyone but himself and his head coach Jason Parillo by knocking out Luke Rockhold to claim the UFC middleweight title, the future of the division looked bright.

There were seemingly endless possibilities to explore going forward and a collection of talented contenders and emerging talents to mix and match in any number of interesting and intriguing pairings.

Rockhold appeared destined to get a trilogy bout with Bisping and former champ Chris Weidman was waiting in the wings after a scary neck injury forced him out of his UFC 199 rematch with Rockhold. Yoel Romero and Jacare Souza were both still in the thick of the chase, Gegard Mousasi was in the mix and finally getting comfortable in the UFC cage, and Robert Whittaker was starting to look like a potential contender, having collected four straight wins since moving to the division.

There were legends like Lyoto Machica, Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson hanging around the Top 15 and sturdy veterans Brad Tavares, Uriah Hall and Thales Leites adding further depth. While there weren’t a ton of promising young names making noise in the division at the time (other than Whittaker), it didn’t really matter because there was an abundance of talent to contend with at the top.

All that optimism surrounding the future of the division that existed when Bisping ascended to the throne faded during his time atop the middleweight ranks.

He first defended the title against retiring veteran Dan Henderson before losing the strap to the returning Georges St-Pierre a year later and along the way, that deep list of contenders was whittled down until there was next to nothing left.

Rockhold couldn’t get healthy or stay healthy, competing only once, while Weidman lost twice more before finally getting back in the win column last summer. He hasn’t competed since.

Whittaker climbed to the top of the division, taking out Souza and Derek Brunson along the way, while Romero advanced to fight for the interim title last summer by knocking out Weidman and Mousasi was allowed to depart for Bellator after amassing five consecutive victories and turning himself into a fresh, intriguing championship threat.

Many of the veterans fizzled and fell in the rankings and suddenly all that wonderful depth that had everyone excited was gone, replaced by a stalled, stale division and an undisputed champion who rose to that position without having to punch anyone in the face.

Saturday’s UFC 225 main event was supposed to be a chance to hit the reset button; to put all the missteps and miscues of the last two years behind us and move forward with an undisputed champion everyone can get behind and collection of contenders that is beginning to grow once again.

But then Romero couldn’t make the 185-pound limit, initially stepping on the scale at 186 pounds before returning an hour later to clock in at 185.2 pounds.

While it’s only a fraction off the championship limit and his camp is upset about Romero being forced to step back on the scales an hour into what was initially stated as a two-hour window to drop the remaining pound, the simple fact that things didn’t go off without incident has a chaotic ripple effect on everything else going forward.

Romero missing weight changes how this fight is perceived regardless of the outcomes this weekend.

If he wins, what becomes of a middleweight title? Does it become vacant? Does Whittaker remain champion, despite having just been defeated?

If he loses, how much will this second consecutive instance of the hulking Cuban missing weight detract from Whittaker’s performance and place atop the division? Not only will he have ascended to undisputed status without having to beat anyone, but he would then have solidified that standing by beating an opponent who appeared to be in agony less than 36 hours before they stepped into the cage together.

As much as that is Romero’s own doing, don’t put it passed MMA fans to suggest that Whittaker is somehow a lesser talent because Romero wasn’t able to get himself to the fight in optimum condition.

Additionally, an injured Whittaker was able to rally and beat an on-weight, “no problems to report” Romero last summer at UFC 213, so hopefully if Whittaker gets the win, everyone skips the nonsense and moves straight to being excited about the future of the division because despite the present situation, there is hope on the horizon.

Whittaker has the potential to be a stabilizing force at the top of the division; a fighting champion willing to give each and every challenger their shot at the crown.

Kelvin Gastelum has emerged as a potential contender with wins over Bisping and Souza, and Weidman earned a stoppage win over the former Ultimate Fighter winner last summer to stop his three-fight skid, so he’s still right there too whenever he returns to action.

David Branch turned in a dominant effort last time out against Thiago Santos, who was settling fools before that and perhaps most importantly of all, there is actually a host of promising new names climbing the ranks, closing in on establishing themselves as contenders.

Antonio Carlos Junior has earned five straight victories, including three straight stoppages, and Paulo Costa emerged as a potential threat with three consecutive finishes in 2017 to run his record to 11-0. Eryk Anders dropped a close decision to Lyoto Machida in just his third UFC appearance and Tom Breese returned following a two-year hiatus to collect a first-round stoppage win a couple weeks back in Liverpool.

Oskar Piechota is a perfect 2-for-2 in the Octagon with a pair of finishes, Julian Marquez has shown some promise and 25-year-old Trevin Giles is 11-0 with a pair of stoppages in his first two Octagon appearances.

And then there is Israel Adesanya, “The Last Stylebender,” who has emerged over the last six months as one of the most intriguing new additions to the middleweight ranks since Whittaker relocated to the division a little under four years ago.

The 29-year-old kickboxer has collected victories in each of his first two UFC starts and has earned a headlining assignment for his third fight on the big stage. While his fight with Brad Tavares is up in the air after Tavares suffered a broken foot, whomever Adesanya ends up facing will be a serious litmus test for the flamboyant Australian fighter and regardless of who wins, that individual will enter the mix as things get moving in the second half of the year.

As frustrating as the last two years have been with the bad championship fights, injuries, unnecessary departure of Mousasi and more, here we are, a couple days away from potentially hitting reset on the entire division and commencing to move in a positive direction once again.

Or Romero wins on Saturday and chaos reigns supreme.

Guess we’ll find out tomorrow.