A few months after it was announced that Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was in talks to completely absolve the men’s flyweight division, nothing much has progressed with those plans. Yes, several 125-pound fighters were let go (like this one), but Dana White hasn’t committed to out-right ending the division once and for all.
Maybe this guy knows something we don’t.
Nevertheless, some flyweights are still safe and will either keep fighting at 125 or move up to bantamweight. Among them is Joseph Benavidez, who tells ESPN’s Brett Okamato that though he isn’t too informed with the future of the division, he did ink himself a new four-fight deal.
“I just signed a new four fight deal, so I think that’s another good sign. I didn’t even know guys were getting cut until I saw them fighting in RIZIN, or whatever,” explained Joe. “I feel those things are always announced, so I heard it kind of stop. But the way I gauge is, there is a flyweight title fight, one of the best pound-for-pound guys is coming down to our weight to fight and we have a new champion headlining the first ever card on ESPN,” he added.
“I’m fighting on it, there is other fights being signed. So I Look at it like that, after the fight we will look at it again. Other than that, I haven’t heard anything, everything kind of chilled out. Once they got that fight, now it’s steady and they can’t really do anything until after the fight.”
“So it’s business as usual until you hear otherwise, is how I look at it.”
Benavidez will indeed face off against Dustin Ortiz, and could very well serve as a backup should either T.J. Dillashaw or Henry Cejudo not make it to the main event. If the promotion does indeed opt to do away with the Flyweight’s after January 19, “Joe Jitsu” can find comfort in knowing he will still have a job.