Openweight, also known asAbsolute, is an unofficialweight class incombat sports andprofessional wrestling. It refers to bouts where there is no weight limit and fighters with a dramatic difference in size can compete against each other. It is different fromcatch weight, where competitors agree to weigh in at a certain amount without an official weight class. While weight classes are usually mandatory now, openweight competition was the norm for combat sports since antiquity and continues into the modern day.[1]
Ancient Greek boxing was an openweight competition.[1]Boxing did not useweight classes until being standardized for modern competition, though there continue to be unlimited divisions.Daniel Mendoza was a boxer famous in the 1780s and 90s for regularly fighting and beating taller and heavier challengers before being decisively beaten byJohn Jackson, who was 4 inches taller and 42 lbs heavier than Mendoza.Bob Fitzsimmons is notable for being the lightestWorld Heavyweight Champion, weighing just 165 pounds when he won the title.[2]
Althoughwrestling was contested at thefirst modern Olympic Games, there were no weight classes untilwrestling returned in 1904. Thewrestling at theancient Olympic Games never used weight classes and competitors were simply divided into two categories: men and boys.[1]
Earlyprofessional wrestling, which was mostly based on thecatch-as-catch-can andGreco-Roman styles, was usually an openweight competition. Heavyweight championships commonly functioned as openweight championships, such asMartin "Farmer" Burns frequently defending theAmerican Heavyweight Championship against challengers outweighing him by 50-100 lbs, or the championship match between 180 lbEvan "Stranger" Lewis and 300 lbYusuf İsmail.
Thoughmatch-fixing led topredetermined results and theatrics that gradually replaced the competitive sport, the legitimate aspects continued into the 1970s as wrestler vs. fan challenges. Originating in 19th century carnivals, wrestlers would challenge locals from the crowd, with the promoter offering cash or a prize if the fan could win or last a certain amount of time. Whileplants were sometimes used, usually as a set-up to convince a local to compete, matches were mostlyshoots that the professionals won, though fans have also been known to win.[3][4][5]
Mostfolk disciplines such asoil wrestling,lutte sénégalaise,[6]Mongolian Bökh,[7]Persian pahlevani,[8]belt wrestling, etc. may rarely utilize weight classes, if ever, unless being standardized for international competition.
In theInternational Lethwei Federation Japan,Dave Leduc is the Openweight Champion.[citation needed]
Like itsancient Greek ancestorpankration,[1] the sport ofmixed martial arts originally had no weight classes, with martial artists of different styles and sizes drawn together to prove which martial art is most effective in unarmed situations. The originalKing of Pancrase Championship,UFC Superfight Championship, and thefirst thirteen UFC tournaments were openweight. By the late 1990s, weight classes became common and mandatory in many countries. However,Japan became a bastion of openweight fights, nicknamed "freak show fights," with fighters such asIkuhisa Minowa andGenki Sudo commonly facing much larger opponents. Not all open-weight fights were "freak shows" however,PRIDE Fighting Championships organized in 2000 a two-night 16-fighter "Grand Prix" (tournament) called thePride FC: Grand Prix 2000 with the objective of finding "the world's best fighter" and consisted with the top fighters at the time, from 75.75kg (167 lb)Kazushi Sakuraba to 116 kg (255 lb)Mark Kerr. PRIDE did again an open-weight tournament in 2006 with thePride FC: Grand Prix 2006 which was divided in three separate events instead.
The openweight division in mixed martial arts (MMA) generally groups fighters above 265 lb (120.2 kg).
Road FC currently has an openweight division. Pancrase originally had a super heavyweight division; it was abolished and incorporated into the unlimited division.Deep currently has an openweight division called "Megaton" although the first champion was Yusuke Kawaguchi, who weighed less than 100 kg. The Japan-based mixed martial arts promotion and sanctioning organizationZST has an openweight division.Dream, now defunct, had an openweight division with tournaments called "Super Hulk Tournament - World Superhuman Championship".
This table is not always up to date. Last updated on January 17, 2018.
| Organization | Date Won | Champion | Record | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Road FC | September 24, 2016 |  Mighty Mo | 12-5 (9KO 3SUB)[9] | 2[9] |
Someprofessional wrestling promotions have officially designated Openweight Championships (IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship,GHC Openweight Hardcore Championship,NEVER Openweight Championship,KO-D Openweight Championship,MLW National Openweight Championship) while other promotions ignore weight classes to the point that most, if not all of their championships are effectively openweight. For example, theWWE Championship, traditionally promoted as a heavyweight title, has been held by wrestlers billed as weighing as light as 175 lbs., well below the traditional minimum weight for a wrestler to be classed as a heavyweight.
TheAll-Japan Judo Championships have been held annually since 1930. Organized by theKodokan andAll Japan Judo Federation, this tournament has only one openweight division. It is part of the Japanese judo triple crown(ja:三冠) alongside theOlympics andWorld Championships.
TheNanatei Jūdō (ja:七帝柔道,Seven Emperors Judo) tournament has been held annually since 1952. It has no weight classes and a unique ruleset that has drawn comparisons toBrazilian jiu-jitsu.
TheIJF held the firstWorld Judo Open Championships for openweight competition in 2008. TheWorld Judo Championships were originally an openweight competition from the first edition in1956 until the introduction of weight classes in1965. The Olympics also featured an openweight category from the sport's introduction in1964 until the1984 edition.
Absolute divisions are a staple of submission grappling at all levels. All weight categories are welcome inside the absolute division and smaller competitors must rely on skill and technique against larger opponents.[10] Organizations that hold some of the most popular openweight competitions areADCC (since 1998),IBJJF (gi since 1996 and no-gi since 2007),NAGA,Grapplers Quest, andQuintet.
In amateur and internationalsumo events, as sanctioned by theInternational Sumo Federation, openweight competitions exist alongside 3-4 weight class competitions. In professional sumo, as organized by theJapan Sumo Association, there are no weight classes and thus isde facto openweight only.
