Strength difference between a 50kg and 55kg fighter 

If you have questions for the next Q&A just leave them in the comments below!

"Size and strength don't matter in a fight." Says all the people that don't actually fight.

Ramsey is reaching his final form as Agent 47

If size doesn't matter, why would it be impressive when a smaller guy defeats a bigger guy? The truth is it matters and we know it. Some of us just don't like admitting it.

Ramsey: Size does matter in a fight. The Internet: But this one time I saw a fight and the smaller person won so size doesn't matter.

WhenI was 9, I was 50kg now I'm 55kg, I would totally destroy my 9 year old self in a fight

*"Weight doesn't matter"* The Mountain: _Are you sure about that_

Idk but the image of a 50kg strongman just made me chuckle lol

Next video: the reach difference between a 5'7 guy and a 5'8 guy

As a relatively small guy (59kg) who has trained wrestling, krav, kick boxing and bjj, I can tell you size matters. It can be overcome and countered to an extent, but it definitely matters.

Simple math: the larger the numbers get, the less percentage difference any number of pounds makes. i.e. 150 lbs. is a 7.14% increase from 140, but 230 lbs. is only 4.55% more than 220. Toss in the law of diminishing returns and it makes perfect sense to have larger margins in the higher weight classes.

People keep mistaking height for size not realizing MASS is size, a 5'7 220 lb guy will usually crush a 6'2 150 lb guy

Difference between 50 and 55 is 10%, between 100 and 105 is only 5%. Super heavy UFC, fun to watch but too many anabolics

Size does matter.Once you are over 6'3 and 240lbs i have a 'I'm only fighting you with a baseball bat' rule.... Lol

I did a college BJJ class one semester and one experience really taught me how big of a difference weight can be. Normally we had weight divisions, but one day the teacher said we were going to intermingle weight classes so everyone could see what it was like to grapple people of different weights. I was in the heavyweight division, so had been used to grappling guys bigger than me. I'm not a huge guy by any means, but I was now grappling against guys and girls who were 50-100 pounds lighter than me and I could just destroy them. This wasn't due to me being any better at grappling, since we were all the same level, it was entirely a size issue. With enough training you can overcome someone bigger than you, but it's not gonna be as easy as many people make it sound.

UFC: *Introduces superheavyweight division* -Sumoka- Rikishi: "It's free real estate"

I’ve seen and experienced in real life that size matters. One of my best friends is currently playing hockey professionally, but used to box while training hockey, and could’ve gone professional either way, this was before I knew ‘im though, but he once had a spar with the national champion in Tae Kwon Do and knocked him out cold almost immediately, that was a long ass time ago though. And since it was such a long time ago and he had put on weight for playing enforcer and I’d been doing Muay Thai and boxing I thought “he’s bigger and slower, and outta practice, I should have a chance” so I was a cocky little shit and said that. Boy did I regret it, simply difference in reach makes a difference, but the fact that he had more weight to put into his punch compared to the other people I sparred with was something I’d not prepared for. I was already rattled from the first hit, and he was the one to call it quits for my sake. So any time someone says “size does not matter” I cringe.

Ramsey looking 8 different kinds of sharp today.

Thats why Butterbean vs Genki Sudo is epic

Original boxing weight classes "Old School 8" Heavyweight 175lbs + Light Heavyweight 175lbs Middleweight 160lbs Welterweight 147lb Lightweight 135lbs Featherweight 126lbs Bantamweight 118lbs Flyweight 112lbs Weight classes get closer together as you go down because each pound represents a bigger percentage of total mass. A ten pound difference at 125 is huge at 205 not so much.

A super heavyweight division would be pretty cool. Boxing having no upper weight limit in the heavyweight division makes it so much more interesting

That's not how to pronounce it. It's "Nietzsche".

This came right as I'm struggling to find my healthiest weight class. Thank you for the video.

Kyokushin Knockdown tournaments only have three weight classes -70KG, 70-80Kg and 80KG. Size matters.

i am a 176 pound(80kg) that regular rolls with a guy who is 330 pounds(150kg). Id invite anyone who says weight dosent matter in a fight to come visit our gym, or find a gym with a guy twice your size and try rolling with him and tell me that weight aint a factor

My first MMA fight I had an almost 4kg weight advantage (weighed just shy of 62kg). I'm pretty sure it helped me out and I'd rather be the heavier guy (especially in lighter weight categories).

I wondered this also. When I used too compete in powerlifting there was a weight class every 5-7 kgs, the strength differences between one class not being much. Yet there was 4 weight classes over 100kgs being 100, 110, 125 and SHW (over 140). But the lighter classes were 50,55,60 etc. Obviously the differences in the larger classes where greater, but also not a contact sport just always seemed weird how sports differentiate weight or height.

I think that one of the dangerous things about the popular portrayal of martial arts and the experiences some gyms provide is that it gives people unfounded confidence that they can protect themselves adequately in dangerous situations i.e. against larger opponents or armed opponents. All martial arts programs should include a significant amount of instruction on proper humility.

I competed in Muay Thai at 170lbs. I held pads once for a 6ft 7 280lbs fighter. Before his kick had even landed on the pad, I could feel a puff of air like when truck goes past. As it struck upwards into the pad, the force was sufficient to literally raise me off the floor! We have weight classes for a reason folks!

Bro what an amazing video you seem so professional and much-knowing

5kg of muscle is a fair bit of a difference but strength is measured in numerous of ways. The 50kg/55kg fighter might have better core / chest / arms / back / leg / grip strenght than the other one, we're all built differently. When it comes to 2 trained fighters I don't think you could flat out say the 55kg fighter is stronger due to just the extra mass. Technique, fight iq , backgrounds.... Is the more important thing when comparing 2 similar weighted fighters, imo.

More size matters until around 240lbs, above that it seems the diminishing returns start to outweigh the strength benefits of more weight/muscle mass. The best HW champs in MMA and boxing seem to have been around that weight.

This guy's voice is incredible.

Im 55 kg and I am a 16 year old myself and when I get in a wrestling match with my 78 kg taller friend I toy with him and lift him easily but when I wrestle my 110 kg and 130 kg friends I get squished. They are both super strong

Great video! The size doesn't matter comments sound like somebody is feeling inadequate. Everything matters in a fight. There are just fewer decisive factors then people think. Dempsey beat some giants but being smaller in the fight is generally a disadvantage that has to be overcome with strategy, skill, other attributes or luck. An implement is also useful. Also pronounce niche however you want as long as we are getting what you're talking about it works. I use both niche and niche personally.😁 Again thanks for the video.

In short yes weight classes does matter. Overall strength has many factors, physiological strength “muscle size”, neurological strength “motor neuron”, mechanical strength “leverages/technique.” You can work on neurological strength and mechanical strength without getting heavier but there will be a limit to your strength development without getting bigger.

Reminded me of a rather amusing situation when I tried the Wrestling Team one year. At that point, I had about a decade of training in TKD and about 3 years of fencing (which I blended into my sparring technique), so I was/am a dedicated striker. I figured I'd try to expand my horizons with something different. I found I was terrible at wrestling. I only won my first match and was pinned all the others. Anyway, I was at the 190 lb range, which was right before heavy weight. I had a reputation at being a skilled fighter, but it was not evident when I wrestled. So, during a training session, the others in my weight were not there, so I tried working with the heavyweights (I want to say one was about 250 lbs or 275, and the other was right below him). Anyway, they decided to try actually attacking me during the practice with punches and kicks and I was able to block both without really paying attention to them, which sort of freaked them out (came back later when they along with another threatened to triple team a buddy of mine, I was able to cow all three). Another issue I dealt with was being mocked a lot by the team, so I challenged one of the other guys in my weight class to a fight. I made it explicitly clear that he could use any technique, whether wrestling or striking he wanted to and I would do the same. So, we square off and he immediately tries to shoot for my legs, which I expected, so I simply sidestepped and kicked him in the shin really, really hard. I was surprised I did not break anything (I was trying to break his tibia), but it did give him a decent bone bruise. He could not stand for about 10 minutes, so I walked over, squatted down and asked if he would like to continue or yield. He yielded and the rest of the team shut up after that. The point of this was that I had trained so much in martial arts that I developed specific muscle mass related to my techniques, and in wrestling, theirs is dedicated too, but not nearly for as long a period (I started when I was 4), so their level of proficiency was less and more generalized. So my weight was less of a factor because my muscles were all useful and theirs were not. Due to the nature of how I trained, I never had any pacing, which was why I lost, as I was and am unaccustomed for fights to last so long. My top running speed was timed at 21.6 mph and I am 5'7" and I was always at max effort. Weight-wise, this was right after the season ended, so I was about 210. Back then, I looked like I was only 140 lbs, which confused people who were dumb enough to try to hit me and realized how dense I was (I actually had my teacher in Gifted English slam her hands on my shoulder since I was tired and zoned out. It sort of frightened her when she found it was like slapping a stone)

Also 10 percent difference in mass even iff it comes from fat not muscle when used correctly is lot of difference in impact of a strike.

As 138lb pounder, I fought a 180lb guy recently in a BJJ competition, I was stuck in side control and mount for a pretty long time and was getting picked up and tossed around quite a bit. The guy couldn’t tap me but it was one hell of a tough bout. Size most definitely matters

I feel like getting out there and train after watching this video. Great talk!

Things that make Ramsey angry: 1. People telling him WHAT his faith is, or WHAT he believes. 2. People correcting his pronounciation of "niche" 3. ? Sorry, but that's the shortest list I've written.

Great video Ramsey! Lots of great info as usual! Thanks for sharing!

Well considered, well said & grounded in stark reality. Thanks I enjoy your viewpoints.

Would like to one day see a cruiserweight div in MMA - 104KG. And make the Heavyweight Div Open mass like boxing. Or even increase the cap to 130KG.

How did RU-vid know i was 55kg?

My man sounds like John wick

I personally think the reason why the spread is bigger in heavier weight in boxing is fighter pool.. Especially in asia, most fighter never go above 75kg.. so there are tons of fighter in the world whom can be a champion if he were to get closer in his ideal weight class.. But once you get above 75kg, the fighter pool around the world is getting smaller n smaller.. And remember, most boxer came from poor family, so they are mostly smaller in size compared to the general population. It would less interesting to see a fighter pool of just few hundred people around the world n all came from several western countries in a specifict weight class..

Totaly agree. A superheavyweight divition would open the door to the smaller heavyweights to try to hold the the championship titles and see exactly how much difference the weight gap makes with over 250lbs guys. I am a 200lbs guy that can easily beat a much more expirienced 265lbs guy in my gym and I know for a fact I woulve been broken in half by him if I wouldve fought him when I was 150 no matter my strength. So my theory is that the bigger you get the larger the weight difference has to be for it to really matter. A 300lbs dud vs a 320lbs dud is not alarge percentage weight gap and at that size the extra weight is probably mostly fat but an 80lbs dud vs a 100lbs dud is just MASSIVE

I like your aside about pronouncing the word "niche", the way that you delivered the point.

People conflate the phrase 'size and weight aren't everything in a fight', with the phrase 'size and weight don't matter in a fight'... it is an important distinction. One statement is correct while the other is false.

Ramsey Dewey is the Stefan Molyneux of martial arts commentary. This is no insult as I absolutely adore Stefan Molyneux

World record in weightlifting can show exactly how relative strength works. Fro example: 56 kg - 307 kg, 62 kg - 333 kg, 69 kg - 359 kg, 77 kg - 380 kg, 85 kg - 396 kg, 94 kg - 417 kg, 105 kg - 437 kg, +105 kg - 477 kg Also it is interesting that 56 kg - 307 kg record for men is more than 90 kg - 283 kg record for women.

Strength difference isn't the only factor for weight categories. Body length and resulting reach will also vary and matter. A situational advantage of 5 kilo's and i.e. 7 cm reach advantage can matter significantly.

Size always matters! A good big fighter always beats a good smaller fighter! Strength between even 5kg difference is enormous. Look at weightlifting, between the classes and the weights lifted goes up massively even between 56kg and 62kg

You aren't going to wrestle a gorilla because it's laughably more powerful than a human. So you can acknowledge that there is a cap to skill vs power. The rest is just figuring out where the line is.

I used to wrestle in highschool. Even 7 pounds seemed to make a big difference. For sure the guy above was much harder to manipulate than the guy below.

I've just watched the first 14 UFCs and it started with one Open weight class, then after several went to two divisions of Heavyweight and Lightweight which was over and under 200-lbs. The next change was only a semantic naming change where they replaced the name Lightweight with Middleweight, but it was still two divisions, one over and one under 200-lbs. I haven't gone past UFC 14 yet but up to that point it's still just two divisions, one over and one under 200-lbs.

Yep, me again...I can attest that in boxing many years ago, being a welterweight& a sparring partner with middle& light heavyweights too, most of those bigger guy's punches could knock the elastic out of a smaller or even same sized guy's gym shorts if they chose to load up.

5kgs is 10% of 50kgs so yeah there is a 10% difference in weight which is noticable.

You look almost like a priest telling everybody THE TRUTH!!! XD PS: the moment anybody says to me "size and strenght don't matter"..... I know that person is training on a non-functional style (i.e aikido), under very specific rules with not much experience (i.e: wimpie jujitsu practitioners that complaint about getting beat by strenght and not technique).... or have NO IDEA what a fight is

Thank you for answering! As you guessed, i'm not a native english speaker. Is "miaou" a difficult word to pronounce in english? It would be "meow" in english (neko is japanese for cat). Didn't know weigth class were different from one sport to another, i only looked into boxing, as I started wondering this after watching "Hajime no Ippo", who is about boxing.... "Categorie" is category in english, class, group, grade (if a believe the dictionary i just looked). Sorry to assume the meaning or the spelling was the same....

agent 47?

In powerlifting the weight classes are similarly spread apart. And at the elite level, when looking at world records both drug tested and untested federations, the differences in strength between weight classes is significant.

With the voice and the tie... only lacks the sunglasses to reveal coach's real identity... agent Dewey, an upgraded agent of the matrix IV oh my god!!1 O.o (jokes aside, anothe excellent informative video from coach )

This guy’s voice though 🔥 🔥 goals

Size does matter if the size difference is 10-15kg +. When it comes to Bruce Lee vs Muhammed Ali, I would say that Muhammed Ali would probably win because of the size difference. If they were in same weight class, I'm pretty sure that Bruce Lee would win because I do believe that Bruce Lee was actually faster than Muhammed Ali also because Bruce Lee knew many different martial arts and even learned grappling. What separate Bruce Lee from all the MMA guys and boxers is that Bruce Lee was unlimited. By that I mean he could kick your knee-cap, hit you in the balls and things like that.

Amazing content thanks for sharing

That was a great question, I have always wondered about this stuff too. :) I definitely would also watch a superheavyweight category. In my mind, if your fighting sport has an upper limit, that means you need another category. If you introduce another category and it still has an upper limit, then you still need another category! You reach the right number of categories when you reach one where it's beyond the threshold of being an advantage to add even more weight. That threshold definitely naturally exists, and so therefore your categories can be open at the top end. No reason why not.

😂 Years ago I used an audition monologue that brought up the ‘niche’ conundrum. I could feel a storm brewing in the silence after Ramsey said it. Good stuff.

Rantin Rampagin Ramsey the Destroyer Dewey.... your angry voice says to me “I’m not scared yet” Gunnery Sargent Hartmann LOL 😂

I might not be the first, and I probably won't be the last, but generally the reason for larger margins in upper weight classes is (or if it isn't done intentionally, it occurs by happenstance) because of the Square Cube Law. As an object increases in the XYZ dimension by a factor of [x], its surface area increases by a factor of [x^2], and its volume increases by a factor of [x^3]. Strength is directly correlated to the cross-sectional surface area of a muscle (I think it's ~35-40 Newtons of force per cubic centimeter, though biomechanical leverage comes into play with practical testing), and mass correlates very closely to volume (humans have a density of about 0.985 - 1020 kg/m^3, depending on body composition; within the same ballpark as water at 1000 kg/m^3). Cross-sectional surface area increases at the same rate as any other surface area, so what you find is the more you increase in mass (volume), the more you increase in surface area (strength), but the latter is at a lower rate. Individuals will obviously not follow these numbers to a T, but this sort of formula will give you a ballpark of strength vs size differences.

HAHA Your rant about niche is hilarious

Great question, nice explanation. I've always wondered myself about the rationale for the boxing weight classes in particular, where you even have sub-classes in each weight division (junior, regular, and super). Some people get a little annoyed by the fact there's so many weight classes and sub-classes. But it's a double-edged sword as far as I'm concerned.

Ramsey looking like my old school principal

If boxing is any indicator, a super heavyweight MMA division will just be two huge dudes hugging each other on the mat after gassing out 2 minutes into the fight. It'll be as disappointing as Cleganebowl in GoT.

It'd be interesting to see at which point gaining more muscle and more size is no longer worth it. Like if you're now a 180cm 85kg fighter, how much better do you get by packing another 10 kilos? What about 20? How much time and effort would you really want to put into gaining mass and pure strength, compared to putting that time and energy into technique, drilling and sparring?

as a small athletic guy on 55.5kg- 57.5 kg i will say that it should be obvious that size matter, and that is why it is nice to beat a bigger guy as a small guy. And there is a TON of different fighting a big guy that is not atheletic, never trained and a big guy with experience. In the end if you are in the fighting community i feel like today there is a big level of respect, even for smaller guys. As a small guy you really have to think out of the box and be alot more creative with what you do. Once people find out of that and they realize that they can not even move or be creative as the small guy, they respect the amount of effort the little guy must have but in to learn it. Because what small guy need to be good at is movement, and movement is hard.

Anyone that has trained knows that weight matters in a fight. It's not nearly the only thing that matters though. Some 100kg guys are stronger than me at 115kg, but I am stronger than some 130kg guys. However at the elite levels, yes 5kg is a big deal.

I love how Ramsay is always calm and ponderate but loses his shit with grammar nazis

Nice tie Ramsey. Very stylish.

I think size and strenght matters, but sometimes strenght is more important, you may have a heavier guy who isn't as powerful and explosive as a 5 kg less guy, and the most powerful might win

All attributes matter (strength, speed, flexibility), skill just matters more.

Man , my trainer once made me fight someone that was 97 kg and i was 82kg(an actual match n-ar a sparing session)!!! Thats why i moced to another gym

Completely agree that if you think weight and size don't matter you don't really know what a fight is, isn't the internet beautiful? :P

I'm 140 kg and I started boxing 6 month ago (now we're on quaranty because of corona) before that I did judo and I really saw the difference in power I mean even the world champion couldn't punch as hard as I did (his also in our class)

..Third comment on the same video but yeah just have to bring it up, the Jan Błachowicz vs Israel Adesanya fight kinda make it clear what an asset size is with takedowns and ground game. Adesanya walks around at 92kg, Blachowicz had to do a weight cut to get to the 93kg, he might have been 100kg or more in the fight. That's at least a 10% difference and it really rendered Adesanya pretty much helpess in getting up from the ground and stuffing takedowns once they started.

I fear an open weight category could result in serious injuries. Some of these guys are so powerful and heavy, the could squash limbs and bones for real. Also I wouldn’t want to know how a choke feels by one of them. Maybe that’s the reason. The idea of „The mountain” killing convicts in the arena maybe isn’t stretched far from ancient reality. Even David had to use a fling to kill Goliath with a lucky shot. He didn’t grapple him to death.

You forget a point in size: the bigger you are, the better you absorb hit. I like, sometimes, looking at some street fights, you know, this phone amateur videos. And the bigger guy win like 90% of times, not only because he have more muscular mass hidden under fat, but also because his body volume help him to absorb punch, you've got more matter to the energy of hits being dissipated without dommage, that's physics.

Think about it, 10 lb is 10% of a 100lb person's body weight, but 5% of someone 200lb. Only makes sense that the weight classes are broader at heavier weights.

My dream is to one day see Openweight &/or Catch weight bare-knuckle MMA.

Great idea, super heavy weight, I will definitely watch it.

I would really like a 'Monster League', no limits on weight or drugs. Let's just see how close mankind can get to having super-men.

Weight division in most combat sports started with US insurance companies after WW2.

Martial arts are just human anatomy+physics+a dash of psychology. So therefore, more weight = more power.

two points: 1) super heavy isn't a great idea. Competition would be poor because of a lack of quality athletes. 2) gaps increase because if the size of the gap was fixed, the percentage difference in weight classes would shrink as you moved from light to heavy. Small gaps at lower weight classes also make sense because smaller muscles tend to be more efficient. So the difference 5 kg of muscle makes at 50 kg is much larger than at 100 kg.

One of your best videos ever, entertaining and enlightening! LOLing at your preemptive rant about pronouncing "niche"! Love to see a Grammar Nazi Grudge Fight in the UFC, sponsored by The Webster Dictionary Foundation, sort of a trial by combat. Winner gets to change the language itself! Also, I didn't know there was an upper limit on mass. That explains why there are no Sumo champions in the UFC. Those guys are seriously strong, and using the guard against them - impossible, and you might not be able to breathe anyway! Thanks again!

It makes a big difference

I have a very high metabolism and I fluxuate in weight all of the time, fighters are constantly having to put on weight or lose weight just to make the cut to get into the division they wish to fight in. Sometimes a fighter doesn't want to fight in a higher weight class, so he will shed weight before a fight so he can make the cut. Other fighters have to cram gains in quickly before a fight or they won't make the higher class cut. It all depends on the fighter people have different optimal fighting weights depending on their body type, you have to take endomorph, ectomorph mesomorph ratios into account and metabolism as well compared to muscle mass and body fat ratio.

I would love to see an open weight class. Let the titans clash! Maybe the champion of the class wouldn't even be that big or maybe they are a 400lb strongman build.

When I was competing in amateur boxing I was in the middleweight division at 154 lbs. At 5 ft 6 in I was giving up a lot of reach there. Yes I was strong with less than 8% body fat, but unless I could get inside their range it was a fight I was probably going to lose on points if nothing else. Yes, size can and often does matter a lot even in your own weight class.