Paul Craig’s stint in the UFC’s middleweight division has been a mixed bag so far. Although he lost his last bout in the third round to middleweight prospect, Brendan Allen at the heel of a lackluster performance, his first fight was significantly better.

‘Bearjew,’ of course, moved down from the light heavyweight division, where he had fought for his entire career, to try his hand at middleweight back in 2023. His first bout against Andre Muniz went significantly better than his last UFC outing, as he managed to win via ground and pound TKO in the second round. Which is why his next fight against Caio Borralho is so crucial. Not only will it determine his future in the middleweight division but also be an indication of his performance at 185. Ahead of his UFC 301 bout against the Brazilian, let us take a look at Craig’s walk-around weight and why he decided to move to the 185-pound division.

Paul Craig revealed his walk-around weight

In an interview with the media following his first outing at 185, Craig spoke about his weight cut and rehydration process that shed light on his walk-around weight. The middleweight fighter stated that he was comfortable in making the weight, and was able to go up to 213 pounds after rehydrating following the weigh-ins.

Craig observed that even when he fought Johnny Walker at light heavyweight on UFC 283, he only went up to 209 pounds following rehydration. Craig’s walk-around weight is somewhere in the range of 220-240 pounds as most fighters typically carry at least an additional 10-15 pounds when not training.

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Of course, the weight cut is quite steep for the middleweight fighter, as he has to cut around 40-50 pounds from his walk-around weight. And that can affect a fighter’s chin and endurance, as it seemingly did against Brendan Allen in his last bout. This is why his upcoming bout against the promising but unranked Caio Borralho is so crucial. This would give strong indications about whether Craig belongs at 185 or not.

Why did ‘Bearjew’ move down to middleweight division?

Since joining the UFC back in 2016, Paul Craig fought exclusively in the UFC 205-pound light heavyweight division, with mixed results. While his 9-7 record in the UFC is nothing to write home about, he has won several fights, including some by submission. A giant killer, Craig has some notable victories on his record.

He stopped future champion Jamahal Hill at their UFC 263 clash three years ago and also has a submission win over the man most likely to get the next lightweight title shot, Mohammed Ankalaev. This victory was achieved via a triangle choke submission in the third round.

However, after suffering a series of losses in the recent past, Craig decided to make some changes. ‘Bearjew’ went to the UFC’s Performance Institute, and worked with the personnel there to see if he could safely make the 185-pound middleweight division. He could, and decided to transition to middleweight. The Scottish fighter felt that competing at middleweight would give him an added size advantage against relatively smaller opponents.

“It’s probably not the best thing to be doing at the age of 35, but you can understand why athletes do it, why guys make these huge cuts, because it’s a huge advantage, and it showed on Saturday,” Craig said after his middleweight debut.