UFC to crown women’s flyweight champion on next season of The Ultimate Fighter

The UFC will add a 12th official weight class and title belt when TUF 26 crowns a women’s 125-pound champion.

Are you ready for another UFC weight class? Despite UFC president Dana White stating that the promotion isn’t looking to add another division this year after the shaky start to the women’s 145-pound weight class, they’ve gone and decided to add a women’s 125-pound class as well. And, like the introduction of the strawweight division in late 2014, they’ll use The Ultimate Fighter as a vehicle to decide the division’s first champion.

Here’s what they had to say in a press release:

“A new division will be created and a new champion will emerge from the next season of The Ultimate Fighter. Women’s flyweights, between the ages of 21-34 with a winning record and at least three professional fights are invited to attend the open casting call in Las Vegas. The season will also be open to females on the current UFC roster that can successfully make 125-pounds throughout the duration of the season. The previous casting call for women’s strawweights and bantamweights as well as male middleweights has been cancelled. The season will begin filming in July and premiere on FS1 later this year.”

The wrinkle there is likely that current UFC fighters are eligible to compete, and you’d have to get that some of them will. Coaches haven’t been named for the show as of yet, but we can begin speculation about the possibilities (for coaches and fighters) now.

The UFC will add a 12th official weight class and title belt when TUF 26 crowns a women’s 125-pound champion.

Are you ready for another UFC weight class? Despite UFC president Dana White stating that the promotion isn’t looking to add another division this year after the shaky start to the women’s 145-pound weight class, they’ve gone and decided to add a women’s 125-pound class as well. And, like the introduction of the strawweight division in late 2014, they’ll use The Ultimate Fighter as a vehicle to decide the division’s first champion.

Here’s what they had to say in a press release:

“A new division will be created and a new champion will emerge from the next season of The Ultimate Fighter. Women’s flyweights, between the ages of 21-34 with a winning record and at least three professional fights are invited to attend the open casting call in Las Vegas. The season will also be open to females on the current UFC roster that can successfully make 125-pounds throughout the duration of the season. The previous casting call for women’s strawweights and bantamweights as well as male middleweights has been cancelled. The season will begin filming in July and premiere on FS1 later this year.”

The wrinkle there is likely that current UFC fighters are eligible to compete, and you’d have to get that some of them will. Coaches haven’t been named for the show as of yet, but we can begin speculation about the possibilities (for coaches and fighters) now.