From beginning with no established weight classes, to establishing five legitimate weight classes, then acquiring two more weight classes, the Ultimate Fighting Championship appears to be ready to add one more to the list. After starting as an open-weight no-holds-bar promotion, the UFC had to establish rules and set weight divisions to get back into selling PPVs and relieve the pressure that critics were forcing on them to destroy the sport of MMA. Those established weight classes included the Lightweights (146lbs-155lbs), Welterweights (156lbs-170lbs), Middleweights (171lbs-185lbs), Light Heavyweights (186lbs-205lbs), and the Heavyweights (206lbs-265lbs). These weight classes became the most recognized and visible in the sport with the UFC roster taking center stage. Later on Zuffa, parent company to the UFC, acquired the WEC and kept the promotion going to focus on promoting the lighter wight classes that included Lightweights, Featherweights (136lbs-145lbs), and Bantamweights (126lbs-135lbs). During the remainder of the WEC's existence, it was always rumored that the promotion would introduce the Flyweight (125lbs & below) division into the mainstream, unfortunately this weight class was never introduced to the promotion as it was fully absorbed after their final event in December 2010. With the UFC having absorbed the Featherweight and Bantamweight divisions and rosters from the WEC, questions on if the Flyweights would ever hit the mainstream were now directed to UFC President Dana White who has had an interest in the division for some time. In an interview after the UFC 131: Dos Santos vs Carwin pre-fight press conference on Thursday, White announced that the UFC was looking to introduce the Flyweight division to the promotion soon. While the Flyweight division is not one of the most popular and recognized by average fans, it has been a desire for die hard MMA fans to see some of the fastest and most action packed fighters on the biggest stage in the sport.
After the absorption of the Featherweight division, Lightweights Kenny Florian, Tyson Griffin, and Joe Stevenson made it official that they were dropping down in weight to compete in the newly added weight class, with current contender Clay Guida recently stating that a drop in weight class may also be in his future. Many fighters have fought in weight classes where they were out-muscled and out-sized, and some of those fighters have been those who fight in the Bantamweight division. Even with great action packed performances, current UFC Bantamweight fighters like Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez are considered undersized when going into fights against opponents usually larger than themselves. Johnson is one who has made it no secret that he sees himself as a Flyweight in the Bantamweight division, but has to compete in his current weight class since it is the lightest division he can fight in under the UFC. Benavidez is in a predicament of his own as he is now fighting in the same weight class as his training partner Urijah Faber who is scheduled to fight for title soon, and neither of them want to fight a fellow teammate. The sooner the Flyweight division would be introduced, the sooner Benavidez could remove the worry of having to fight his good friend and teammate. Should the Flyweight division be introduced, the elite ranked 125ers around the world would for sure line up to join the UFC roster, and there would be a few Bantamweights ready to drop down to a weight where they feel more comfortable and might even have the size advantage for once.
A worry that die hard MMA fans may have about the Flyweight division being introduced to the UFC may be that they may not get the exposure they deserve. Leading up to the absorption of the Featherweight and Bantamweight divisions, fans were worried that fighters in these lighter weight classes, besides champions, would be used just to fill up space on preliminary cards, which has appeared to be true. Benavidez was one of the first to receive this treatment having been scheduled to fight on the untelevised portion of the preliminary card on UFC 128: Shogun vs Jones. Coming off an unsuccessful attempt to claim the title against Dominick Cruz in the final WEC Bantamweight championship bout before its absorption into the UFC, elite contender Scott Jorgensen was put as the first bout on the preliminary card for the recent TUF13 Finale, and finished that fight with a Rnd1 KO that proved he should have been on the main card. Before changes were made to the upcoming UFC Live: Marquardt vs Story card, final WEC Featherweight contender Manvel Gamburyan was scheduled to fight on the preliminary card, though that has now changed as he is scheduled to be the first fight on the main card of this event. These "lighter" weight classes, Featherweight, Bantamweight, and Flyweight all stack up with some of the most fast paced and action packed fights in the sport, and are well respected among die hard fans of the sport. Even with that respect, the problem is that the casual "average Joe" fan is more familiar with the cliche muscular figures that are commonly seen in the lager weight classes like Welterweights to Heavyweights. The things that are certain are that any division that is included in the UFC and any fighter in those added divisions will receive greater recognition and credibility in the opinions of both average and die hard MMA fans. Will we finally see the complete opposite of the Super Heavyweight division hit the mainstream?
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