On May 4, the UFC sent out a press release informing the world that a new season of The Ultimate Fighter would crown the inaugural women’s flyweight champion. Hours later, UFC President Dana White told Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole that it was sent in error.
Less than a week later, it has been officially confirmed. White confirmed the news to espnW’s Katie Barnes.
The division has existed outside of the UFC’s zeitgeist. As such, fans may not know much about the current landscape or what to expect now that the flyweights are coming to the biggest promotion in the sport.
Thus, Bleacher Report’s Nathan McCarter and Steven Rondina will take you through the news, the division’s top talent and what TUF will bring to you in the upcoming season.
Overview
Nathan: The flyweight division has been a glaring omission by the UFC for some time, and the announcement of the upcoming season to introduce the division is long overdue. Steven, what were your initial thoughts of the announcement?
Steven: My initial reaction was basically a “why?”
Not because it’s a bad idea, there is most certainly enough talent out there to support a 125-pound division…but why 125 pounds instead of 105? Why now, when the new 145-pound division is in complete disarray? Why was White, as recently as two weeks ago, saying that this absolutely wasn’t happening?
The whole situation just strikes me as odd, and I mean…they couldn’t be this shaken by Bellator’s recent women’s MMA, right? Right!?
Nathan: I’ve always felt as if they have had this plan but didn’t feel pressured to execute it while forcing ex-flyweights up to bantamweight to make that division appear deeper than it actually was. I don’t think they were shaken by Bellator’s new division, but I do think it forced their hand to expedite it to ensure landing top talent.
I do agree with you that atomweight would have been the more appropriate call, but it would be dependent on getting Michelle Waterson and Jessica Penne to commit to dropping back down to the weight where they were world champions. A division marked with Waterson and Penne, along with Ayaka Hamasaki, Seo Hee Ham, Herica Tiburcio and beyond, would have been extremely exciting.
Overall, unlike featherweight, this is a good move for the UFC. It’s not built for one. Flyweight is a division with legitimate talent, and the UFC giving them a platform will only help deepen the talent pool in the long run.
Current Top and Favorite Fighters, Prospects
Nathan: If anyone is going to talk about flyweights in 2017, then they have to reference Invicta FC. It’s the premier women’s organization and has the most active flyweight division. Jennifer Maia is the current champion with Vanessa Porto and Roxanne Modafferi not too far behind.
Former Invicta FC champion Barb Honchak will get name dropped a bit as she never lost her belt, but she hasn’t fought since 2014. She shouldn’t be glossed over, but it’s difficult to ascertain when, or if, she’ll return to action.
Other key names would be Andrea Lee and Mackenzie Dern. Lee has won the Legacy FC and Legacy Fighting Alliance flyweight belts while remaining a fan favorite. Dern, on the other hand, is one of the most promising prospects in all of women’s MMA. Both would be big gets for the UFC as they launch this new division.
Earlier this year, I chronicled the best fighters who are 25-and-under. At 125, two names stood out: Ariane Lipski and Agnieszka Niedzwiedz. Niedzwiedz is already a top contender in Invicta, and Lipski is coming off a win over former top-five flyweight Sheila Gaff by first-round TKO at KSW 36. They are ideal signings to a new flyweight division.
Who else do you see at the top of the division?
Steven: Well, when it comes to the actual season, we’re not sure the entire cast will be new additions, correct? You certainly hit all the biggest names over in Invicta FC, but the UFC already has plenty of 125-pound female talent on the roster that happens to be fighting at 135 pounds.
Most of those fighters are, at best, fringe top-10 names, but most have been hindered by their size. Leslie Smith immediately comes to mind as somebody that could make waves in a 125-pound return, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that she’s coming off a big win over Irene Aldana.
Jessica Eye was a flyweight before joining the UFC and could certainly use a hard reboot of her career coming off four straight losses. Oh, and Valentina Shevchenko? If she can still make it down to 125 pounds, she is pretty handily the best female flyweight in the world.
And naturally, if there is a women’s flyweight division, we’ll see some 115-pounders move up, seeking fresh matchups and better opportunities. Claudia Gadelha would greatly benefit from a move up (and a move away from Joanna Jedrzejczyk). And depending on how the next few months shake out, it wouldn’t be too shocking if fighters like Karolina Kowalkiewicz or Jessica Andrade followed suit.
That isn’t to say that all, or any, of them would end up on the show. There are plenty of hurdles there in terms of pay, management and weight cutting that could keep them off.
All this is to say, don’t be surprised if there are some familiar faces on the show, and beyond.
Ideal TUF 26 Roster
Using precedent of The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned, each woman will enter with a ranking. We have selected a range of fighters from the best in the division to veterans of the weight class.
Way Too Early Predictions
Steven: When it comes to this season of TUF, should it come to pass, I’m largely looking at it the same way I did TUF 20. That is, I think the reigning Invicta champion, in this case Maia, should be looked at as the clear favorite to win the whole thing.
With the exception of her split-decision win over Modafferi (which probably shouldn’t have been that close on the cards), Maia has had little trouble filling Invicta‘s post-Honchak void.
While she isn’t a slam dunk in the way Carla Esparza was with TUF 20, I don’t think there is anyone else to look at as the early pick to become the first women’s flyweight champ.
That said, from a long-term perspective, I could also see her just keeping the belt warm for somebody else that is already signed to the UFC.
Nathan: Making predictions without a cast is indeed difficult, but that’s why we’re here. Right? To make bold predictions.
It’s always important to remember that TUF is two five-minute rounds. This favors strong grapplers. If Honchak returns to action and is signed, then I would make her the clear front-runner to make it to the finals. Her grappling-heavy offense is what made her the champion and kept her champion. It’s a great style for TUF, but not great for fans looking for excitement.
Beyond TUF, I’m with you Steven. Whoever wins is likely keeping the belt warm for someone else. While Eye has been lackluster at bantamweight, no one should forget she is the former No. 1-ranked fighter at 125 pounds. And all of the aforementioned veterans you mentioned that may drop or move up in weight to compete in this division.
Long-term, it’s difficult not to see Jedrzejczyk running this division and leaving strawweight behind. She didn’t make her strawweight debut until the UFC came calling. Her final pre-UFC fight was against a top flyweight in Rosi Sexton. She knocked her out. Jedrzejczyk is perhaps even stronger at 125 than at 115. But she likely won’t abandon 115 until at least 2018.
TUF: Flyweights will be a great way to establish the division with a decent champion, but much like strawweight, the talent who does not compete on the program will control the division’s future.
Steven: I’m not so sure Jedrzejczyk will leave 115 unless she’s forced out. The contracts champions have are so much more lucrative than those of the rank-and-file, and we saw back in the day with Jose Aldo that the UFC will take those perks away the first chance they get and won’t offer any kind of protection for anybody looking to take that kind of gamble.
But indeed, I expect the aftermath to be similar to TUF 20. The early stars of the division will come up through the show, but the best of the best? They don’t fight for free.
Nathan: I would be more inclined to agree with you, but Jedrzejczyk has been a flyweight first and foremost. She simply hasn’t had that opportunity in the UFC. Now she does, and if she continues to win, she’ll get an automatic title shot.
She has been vocal about moving up almost since she came into the UFC. At the TUF 23 Finale post-fight press conference she said, “We’ll go up when this flyweight division will show up” (h/t MMAFighting’s Chuck Mindenhall). And, per Steven Marrocco of MMAJunkie.com, she reiterated the sentiment at the UFC 211 conference call last week.
Even if by chance she comes to terms with the UFC to continue defending the strawweight strap, there will be plenty of upper-echelon talent to tackle this new division in her absence. This isn’t featherweight. And every fan can be thankful for that.
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