It appears the UFC’s network television broadcasts on Fox have been designated as the official home of the flyweight championship.
Oh. Excuse me. You probably aren’t familiar with the term “flyweight,” since not a shred of Fox’s marketing efforts towards Saturday night’s sublime tilt between Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez even mentions their own 125-pound championship belt. No kidding. You’ve seen the television commercials (likely 150 times or more), so you know that there’s nary a mention of the word flyweight. Johnson is simply the “world champion,” and viewers are left to wonder if perhaps Johnson is the heavyweight champion.
And I blame this entirely on Fox, by the way, because the UFC has zero trouble promoting the flyweight championship. Back before Jon Jones canceled Christmas and UFC 151 in one fell swoop, the original fight between Benavidez and Johnson was scheduled to headline UFC 152. It was to determine the first flyweight title, and the UFC had no problems billing it as such. But then Jones McGrinch canceled Christmas and his main event was moved to UFC 152, and the lighter-weight guys were moved a notch down the card.
Still, this is the third consecutive appearance on Fox for Johnson after defenses against John Dodson and John Moraga. Perhaps someday he’ll graduate back to pay-per-view.
Or perhaps not, because he’s facing the toughest test he can possibly face in the flyweight division.
As we tend to do during fight weeks, it’s time to take a look below the surface level for each of our four main card fights at UFC on Fox 9. This one is aimed at the degenerate gambler among you, but a word of warning: If the public odds (when translated to percentages) closely hew with my own, I tend to recommend that you stay away.
This will not please those of you who want to throw your money down on every fight, but it’s the smart way to do the whole sports betting thing. If you don’t care about being smart and just enjoy the thrill of putting your hard-earned money on the line, you can either go with my winner picks or take a look at my new “Just For Fun (And Five Dollars) Parlay” on the final slide.
Let’s get started.