Author: Nathan McCarter

Darren Elkins is currently on a five-win streak in the UFC’s featherweight division.

And he is still unranked. He is one of the most underrated and undervalued members of the UFC roster.

There are other fighters who go overlooked as well, but if you are ranked in the official UFC rankings then it is hard to argue just how underrated one may be.

Is Demain Maia often looked past? Yes, but at No. 5 in the welterweight standings he is not underrated. The same can be said for countless others.

Elkins, on the other hand, is a virtual unknown to most of the world in spite of his win streak.

He made his featherweight debut at UFC 131 against a very tough Michihiro Omigawa. At UFC 136 he took on Zhang Tiequan who was coming off a quick submission win. Elkins won both fights by decision.

Up next for Elkins was Diego Brandao.

Brandao had just won The Ultimate Fighter and looked to be a threat in the division. He had devastating power and showed decent all-around skills throughout the show. Elkins stifled him and took another decision. This is a win that should have garnered Elkins more notoriety. It did not.

Next up? Steven Siler.

Siler came in on a three-fight win streak of his own. He took care of Josh Clopton, Cole Miller, and Joey Gambino. Once again, Elkins was overlooked. Once again, Elkins took care of business for 15 minutes.

Most recently, Elkins was pitted against Antonio Carvalho at UFC 158.

Carvalho had back-to-back wins that included a split decision over Rodrigo Damm and a brutal KO of Daniel Pineda. It seemed that he would be an interesting stylistic matchup for Elkins. The featherweight out of Indiana scored a TKO.

Some considered that stoppage to be a bit premature, but regardless he had Carvalho badly hurt and got the finish. His first stoppage at 145 pounds, five straight wins and still he cannot break in to the top 10 in the rankings.

Why is he underrated?

Part of the issue is his style. He is not the flashiest character on the roster. He is a grinder.

Fans, and voters, love finishers. It is what kept Jon Fitch out of the title picture for so long, and what prevented him from getting a rematch in spite of his wins. The style is effective, but it does not excite anyone to watch the fights.

Elkins needed that finish against Carvalho. It was unfortunate that many saw it as an early stoppage.

The featherweight rankings are clogged with excellent fighters, but there is little to no excuse for Elkins to be outside the top 10 with a 5-0 record in the division considering the talent he has faced. He has not run through a litany of scrubs.

A sixth straight win would have to move him up in to the top 10. He would have a legitimate case to move in to the top five.

He will have the chance to get his recognition in his next outing. He is scheduled to face No. 1 ranked Chad Mendes on April 20. A victory there should catapult him in to the top five of the division.

Elkins can shock the MMA community and then maybe move in to a conversation of the most overrated fighters.

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The Ultimate Fighter will add some intrigue with a co-ed cast for the first time. The announcement was made just prior to UFC 158 by UFC president Dana White.

UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey joins as the first female coach in the show’s history. She will be joined by the winner of Miesha Tate vs. Cat Zingano.

In-house antics and, of course, fights have long been what has made viewers tune in to the show. Now more than ever, the anticipation of new hijinks—with females and males living together—is the focal point.

We will have to wait to see just how the in-house dynamics play out.

Here are a few pros and cons of the first ever co-ed The Ultimate Fighter cast.

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The UFC’s battle to be regulated in the state of New York continues. The fight has been long and hard, but is it necessary?

Does putting on events in the Empire State make or break the sport’s chances of mainstream success?

I don’t prescribe to that theory.

Once upon a time, that would have rang true. New York City was and still is the media capital of the world. As the song goes, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. However, that’s not where the world is anymore.

The advancement of media has taken it from a select few to the masses. The Internet and globalization have transformed the word “mainstream.”

The UFC’s growth has happened without the support of New York, and it will continue to be that way. Fans and media alike do not say that the UFC needs New York. No. They say New York needs the UFC. New York needs the economic impact that the sport brings to the cities it visits.

Other metro areas have embraced the UFC. Los Angeles, Toronto, Montreal, London, Rio and beyond.

The UFC has already received what it needs in order to achieve mainstream success—a media conglomerate’s support. The FOX deal was much more vital than being able to run events in New York.

The platform that FOX gives to the UFC is extremely valuable. It puts the UFC in millions of homes it could never have reached otherwise. It legitimizes the sport alongside FOX’s other sport properties. The UFC is now alongside the NFL, NASCAR, MLB, the World Cup and other mainstream sports.

Furthermore, what New York is needed for is media. The UFC already have the ability to go in to New York to promote their events. UFC billboards in Times Square are nothing new. Heading off to interviews in the city was never stopped. That is the only thing that matters.

Do you really believe not being able to run events in Madison Square Garden stopped the legitimacy of MMA?

Madison Square Garden was once the Mecca for professional sporting events, but that is no longer the case. It may hold a certain bit of nostalgia for some, but most are used to the new state of sports. Fans growing up today hold no special place for MSG. It’s just another venue to them.

Running events in the state of New York will bring more money to the UFC’s bottom line. That is a given. If the organization is again turned away, it will not stop the MMA’s ascent as a mainstream sport or make fans think the UFC is less of a success.

It will only make New York look like they are behind the times.

The landscape has shifted. New York is no longer needed to become mainstream. It is a new world.

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