Before the weekend, UFC president Dana White said he expected to officially announce the addition of a flyweight division within days. It was a promise he kept.
During the UFC 140 post-fight press conference, White announced a four-man tournament that would involve current bantamweights Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez, who will shed 10 pounds to fight in their more natural class.
The tournament will eventually crown the division’s first champion.
White announced a March 3 start date for the tournament. Right now, the promotion has yet to officially announce the date and location of that event, but speculation has placed it in Australia, which would actually make it a March 4 event given its location to the west of the international date line.
Regardless, the fights are set.
Johnson will take on Ian McCall (11-2), who was the 125-pound division champ in Tachi Fighting Championship, and Benavidez will face Yasuhiro Urushitani (19-4-6), the Shooto 123-pound champ.
Johnson was last seen losing a decision to Dominick Cruz during an Oct. 1 UFC on Versus event. He’s 9-2 overall. Meanwhile, Benavidez is 15-2, riding a three-fight win streak with victories over Eddie Wineland, Ian Loveland and Wagnney Fabiano.
An addition of a flyweight division had been a longtime goal for the UFC. White first brought up the plan over a year ago, but various other projects and initiatives sidetracked it until now. The addition gives the UFC championships in eight weight classes, including bantamweight (135), featherweight (145), lightweight (155), welterweight (170), middleweight (185), light-heavyweight (205) and heavyweight (265).