Baskin Robbins’ 31 Flavors has nothing on the UFC lightweight division.
Now that BJ Penn is back in business and Jose Aldo and Gilbert Melendez might be coming to the party, suddenly doors are opening to a slew of incredible fights in the lightweight division.
That is not to say that the division needed Penn, Aldo or Melendez because it is so thick with talent that almost anyone in the top eight or ten could take the title by force on any given night.
We also don’t know how long Penn is going to stick around. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that the lure of incredible tests against incredible fighters brings him back down to 155.
Never has the sport seen a true pound-for-pound legend like Penn try to conquer such a stacked division. In all honesty, the welterweight and middleweight divisions haven’t had as much talent and skill as the lightweight division has now: GSP and Anderson Silva never had to contend with so many serious threats to their titles.
It’s a dream come true for fight fans, not to mention Joe Silva. It is incredibly rare for a match maker to have so many “can’t lose” options at his disposal.
Then, when you factor in the very real chances of Jose Aldo moving up to challenge himself at 155, and the likely addition of Gilbert Melendez…well, it’s unlike anything the sport has seen before.
I know, this is assuming much, but let’s pretend we’re Joe Silva for a moment and look at a small sample of possibilities.