Skip to 4:20 mark.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will crown a new 125-pound division No. 1 contender at the conclusion of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 24, which begins filming on FOX Sports 1 this June and wraps with a live season finale in December.
That means anyone competing in the flyweight division and working their way toward a potential title shot will have to (temporarily) yield to a reality show contestant, who gets first crack at the winner of Demetrious Johnson vs. Henry Cejudo after they compete at UFC 197 later this month.
“Mighty Mouse” reacts during his Twitch stream, as transcribed by Bloody Elbow:
“Oh wow. That’s crazy. That’s super weird. So the winner would face the champion. Joseph [Benavidez] should enter the contest! That’s kind of fucked up for all the other guys that have been in the division for a long time. That’s super interesting though because I feel like if I was in the UFC and I wasn’t the champion that I would jump on the show and get released from my contract. So what about the current flyweight contenders? No matter how amazing they perform, they’re not getting the shot. But, UFC does what they want. I just worry about myself. I just fight and that’s what I do.”
Hey Joe, where you goin’ with that gun in your hand?
In fairness to UFC, Johnson (23-2-1) — who knocked out Benavidez in late 2013 — has cleaned out his division with the exception of Cejudo. The next closest contender (see them all here) would be Jussier Formiga, who came up short against the Olympic gold medalist last November.
So … anyone going against the grain to vote in favor of the new TUF 24 title stipulation?