Fifteen minutes of nonstop action. That’s a typical bout in the flyweight division.
When Joseph Benavidez meets the winner of the Demetrious Johnson-Ian McCall rematch, that nonstop action may extend to a full 25 minutes with the title on the line.
That should be more than enough for any MMA fan to get excited about.
Although the UFC is just beginning to fill the roster of its newly formed 125-pound division, the relentless pace and intensity of the “little” guys should be more than enough for fans to take notice.
If the first two bouts within the division, featuring the aforementioned Benavidez, Johnson and McCall, as well as Yasuhiro Urushitani, weren’t enough to convince you, then the two bouts at UFC on Fox 3 should have done the trick.
Former Ultimate Fighter winner John Dodson welcomed Tim Elliott to the Octagon and the two engaged in an erratic and sometimes acrobatic display of striking. At one point, Elliott even did a cartwheel.
The Dodson-Elliott fight was “boring” compared to the other flyweight bout on the card between another TUF alum, Louis Gaudinot and Brazilian John Lineker.
In less than two rounds, the two fighters fired off more than 400 strikes, with neither backing down from the exchanges. As the fighters took turns rocking one another, they frequently high-fived each other to acknowledge the other’s efforts.
Gaudinot then put icing on the cake, choking Lineker unconscious with a guillotine choke near the end of the second round.
How’s that for excitement?
One thing is for certain, the flyweight division will never be plagued by cardio problems. In fact, the biggest problem for fans may be not blinking whenever the “little” guys enter the cage.
And it is only getting started. The current UFC roster has less than 10 fighters in the division. With time, that will grow and so will the excitement. So the next time you see a flyweight matchup on a fight card, make sure you’re paying attention.
Rob Tatum is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. You can also find Rob’s work at The MMA Corner. For anything related to MMA, follow him on Twitter.
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