The UFC’s flyweight division has put on some solid matches so far, and two of its top three fighters will be squaring off at UFC 156 on Super Bowl weekend. MMA Weekly is reporting that Joseph Benavidez and Ian McCall have verbally agreed to the face ea…
The UFC’s flyweight division has put on some solid matches so far, and two of its top three fighters will be squaring off at UFC 156 on Super Bowl weekend. MMA Weekly is reporting that Joseph Benavidez and Ian McCall have verbally agreed to the face each other.
Benavidez and McCall were two of the four fighters involved in the UFC’s flyweight championship tournament. McCall fought Demetrious Johnson twice, once to a controversial majority decision draw and once to a unanimous decision loss. Benavidez fought Johnson in the finals after beating YasuhiroUrushitani. He also lost to “Mighty Mouse” via decision at UFC 152.
The two have been exchanging verbal barbs on Twitter for a long while now, making this one of the better rivalries in the UFC’s smaller division.
Benavidez was one of the top fighters in the WEC and in the UFC’s bantamweight division and was regarded by many as the favorite to become the UFC’s first flyweight champion. McCall, meanwhile, was ranked as the top flyweight in the world before the UFC entered the mix, but his strong reputation made him a must-have fighter for the promotion.
UFC 156 is already a solid card, headlined by a featherweight title bout between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar. Alistair Overeem versus Antonio Silva and Demian Maia versus Jon Fitch are also booked.
As usual, this is subject to change, but keep your fingers crossed that this flyweight bout comes to fruition.
Going into UFC 152—and more specifically, the flyweight title fight between Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson—there was plenty of discussion about the finishing ability of flyweights and the lower weight classes general.The general fe…
Going into UFC 152—and more specifically, the flyweight title fight between Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson—there was plenty of discussion about the finishing ability of flyweights and the lower weight classes general.
The general feeling among MMA fans and select portions of the MMA media is that guys residing in those lower weight classes don’t finish fights nearly as often as their counterparts in the heavier divisions. Part of that is probably due to the fact that heavyweight fights are a visceral experience; they’re huge dudes, they’re hitting each other in the face really hard and you can see immediate results.
But is there any truth to the idea that the guys under 170 pounds don’t finish fights? My buddy Spencer Kyte did a bit of research and wrote an excellent blog post on his Keyboard Kimurablog deconstructing the myth:
When you remove heavyweights and flyweights from the calculations – the former because they “always” finish and the latter because they “never” finish – the difference between the finishing rates of the “heavier weight classes” (LHW to WW) and the “lighter weight classes” (LW to BW) is one percent:
LHW to WW: 49 finishes from 96 total fights = 51% LW to BW: 55 finishes from 110 total fights = 50%
That means if there had been one less finish this year in the light heavyweight, middleweight, and welterweight divisions, the “heavier weight classes” would have an identical finishing percentage as the “lighter weight classes” who allegedly never finish fights.
Ready to re-think your stance on the lighter weight classes yet?
The UFC flyweight finishing rate is just 28.6 percent, which seems to validate those who believe the little guys don’t finish fights. But as Spencer points out, you have to keep in mind that there have been just seven flyweight fights in the UFC thus far. If one more of those fights had ended in a finish, the percentage would have jumped up to 42.8 percent, a number more in line with the rest of the weight classes.
Here are the finishing percentages in each weight class, again from Spencer’s blog post:
Average Finishing Percentage: 52.7% (126 finishes from 239 fights)
On first glance, it’s pretty easy to assume that flyweights can’t finish a fight the way the bigger fighters do. They’re smaller—much smaller, in fact—and so they don’t hit with the same kind of power that heavyweights do. That’s obvious. But you have to keep in mind that these flyweights are also fighting other flyweights, which means they’re punching guys who are exactly the same size as they are, which means they’re just as susceptible to being knocked out as any light heavyweight or heavyweight.
As Spencer pointed out, we just don’t have enough of a sample size to determine if these guys finish fights at a lower rate than guys in higher weight classes. The UFC’s flyweight division is still in its infancy, and fights in the weight class are few and far between at this point. We’ll need to wait at least two more years before the data gets enough volume to actually become usable.
But what about the rest of the lower weight classes? For the purposes of this article, we’ll consider 155 pounds and below as the definition of “lighter weight classes,” since that’s the way things are considered most of the time.
I’ll defer to Spencer for one final statistic:
Through UFC 152, fighters competing at 155-pounds and lower have finished 48.7% of their fights, less than 10 percent fewer than their heavier counterparts. If you eliminate the upper and lower limits, the only real difference is in terms of perception.
I think the last portion of the final sentence says it all. It’s all about perception. Fans see these little guys and automatically assume that they don’t have the power to knock someone out. They assume they’re going to see a pretty exciting fight, but they aren’t expecting a highlight-reel knockout.
We’ve been conditioned, by the UFC and by society in general, to expect large levels of violence from big athletes. Fights at heavyweight are often billed as monstrous collisions between gigantic, hard-hitting punchers who can end a fight at any moment. And that’s true, because they can. But the next time you see a bantamweight or flyweight fight billed the same way will be the first time.
But as the statistics show, there’s just a 10 percent difference between the lower weight classes and the bigger guys. That’s not a big difference. Not at all. It proves that the only difference in the way the smaller guys and the bigger guys finish fights is in the way we view them.
And it may take some time, but there will come a day when flyweights and bantamweights aren’t considered to be guys who “can’t finish fights.”
They’ll just be fighters, and they’ll be afforded the same respect that hulking heavyweights and light heavyweights get.
For the first time in what seems like an age, we’re going to step into the octagon for my latest review with a look back at the five-hour broadcast of UFC 152, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain. We …
For the first time in what seems like an age, we’re going to step into the octagon for my latest review with a look back at the five-hour broadcast of UFC 152, shown live in the early hours of this past Sunday morning on ESPN here in Britain.
We start our look with the welcome return of the preliminary fights to British screens, beginning with the featherweight encounter between Jimmy Hettes and Marcus Brimage.
These two put on a very enjoyable opener. After a brief feeling out period, Brimage began to go to work, unloading with some heavy leather and putting his man on the back foot, and at one point on his backside. However, when Brimage followed him down for a spot of ground and pound, Hettes went for a submission. As soon as this happened, Brimage got back to his feet.
While Brimage enjoyed a good first round, Hettes came back well in the second with some nice ground work. Although Brimage got back to his feet quickly after the first takedown, Hettes kept him grounded the second time around, taking his back at one point. It was clear that Hettes was the better grappler.
All of that good work was for nothing by the time the third round started. Although he managed to control the centre of the cage, it was Brimage who was scoring with the big blows. Hettes’ striking, by comparison, looked rather timid, as did his takedown attempts.
But with no finish in sight, it went down to the judges, as Brimage took the unanimous decision.
Then it was up to welterweight as Sean Pierson took on Lance Benoist.
This was a pretty good three rounder, and it looked a lot closer than the opener.
Both guys put on good striking displays throughout, with Pierson looking good in the first two rounds. It was a sound performance which caused Benoist quite a few problems.
It wasn’t all one way traffic, though. Benoist had a good chance of ending it in the second on the ground when he tied Pierson up in knots while going for a couple of submissions.
Benoist’s best moment, however, came towards the end of the third when he rocked Pierson and sent him down to the canvas. But just when it looked like we were going to get a stoppage, Pierson managed to get back to his feet, his rubbery legs carrying him to the end of the fight.
All of this meant more work for the judges, as Pierson took the unanimous decision.
It was down to lightweight for the next fight, as T.J. Grant faced Evan Dunham.
If you ever wanted to see a battle between two fighters going all out to get the win, this was the fight for you. For three rounds, these two put on an extremely entertaining and sometimes brutal battle.
It was an intriguing back-and-forth affair where one guy would connect with a great combination and the other would come back with a great combination of his own. It looked so close until Grant connected with a knee to Dunham’s head that opened up a nasty cut which turned into a gash when he connected with further knees later on.
This wasn’t all about the striking, though. Towards the end of each and every round, Dunham scored with takedowns with varying degrees of success.
The only thing missing from this was a finish, which meant more work for the judges, as Grant took the unanimous decision.
The final preliminary bout saw Igor Pokrajac taking on Vinny Magalhaes in the light heavyweight division.
The only prelim fight not to go the distance saw Magalhaes put in a dominating performance on the ground.
The action began with a lengthy clinch against the cage. After Magalhaes scored with the takedown, he went on the offensive, going for an armbar at one point. For some unknown reason, though, he let Pokrajac out of his guard.
It didn’t matter much, though. Pokrajac scored with the takedown early in the second, and once again Magalhaes went on the attack straight away, going for a triangle choke before switching to an armbar. The Croatian tapped as soon as the Brazilian flipped him over, giving him the impressive submission win.
The main shown began with featherweight action as Cub Swanson went up against Charles Oliveira.
This was a great way to open the main show. After the initial feeling out period, Oliveira scored with an impressive takedown. But when he couldn’t capitalise on this, Swanson managed to escape easily.
The end came shortly afterwards. Swanson began to connect with some crisp strikes. A left hook to the body seemed to shake Oliveira up a little. A big right moments later saw the Brazilian crashing to the ground like a giant redwood. The referee quickly stepped in to give Swanson the knockout win.
Then it was up to light heavyweight as the returning Matt Hamill faced Roger Hollett.
This was one of those fights that you either admired for it’s explosive moments or it left you pulling your hair out due to the lack of activity.
The fight began with the usual feeling out period as both men pawed at each other, trying to gauge the distance. It wasn’t long though before Hamill scored with the takedown. He quickly went to work with the ground and pound. His left fist resembled a piston, as he rained down a torrent of unanswered blows. In truth, the Canadian was lucky to survive before he made his escape.
By the time the second round started, it was obvious that Hamill was starting to tire. With that knowledge, Hollett should have gone in for the kill. Instead, he just seemed to stand in front of Hamill, trying to score with the flashy kicks before falling prey to Hamill’s takedowns.
Sadly, because he was gassed, Hamill couldn’t go in for the kill as he had in the first round, and it was the same throughout the rest of the fight. Hollett would fail establish any kind of control as Hamill scored with numerous takedowns.
With no finish in sight it was down to the judges, as all three scored in favour of Hamill.
Middleweight action followed as Michael Bisping went up against Brian Stann.
This was more like it: a great fight between two guys at the top of their game trying to get into the title picture.
Both guys looked great in the first round with their striking, with Bisping constantly moving away from the big right hand that has proven to be his Achilles’ heel in previous fights. Things looked pretty even until the final seconds of the first round when Stann connected with a big right that rocked the Brit.
Bisping recovered enough to take control from the second round onward. He soon began to out-strike Stann, allying this with a series of takedowns. Although Stann managed to reverse the positions after the first of these, he was almost powerless against them afterwards.
This was basically how the rest of the fight played out and with no finish, it came as no surprise when all three judges scored in favour of Bisping.
The co-main event saw Joseph Benavidez taking on Demetrious Johnson in the final of the Flyweight Championship tournament.
Now this was good. Really good. For five rounds, the two best fighters in the division put on an excellent encounter. It was the perfect advertisement for the company’s newest division.
Johnson looked tremendous throughout. His speed was awesome and just too much for Benavidez to handle at times. At one point, Johnson simply moved to one side when Benavidez went for a big right.
Combine that with some great striking of his own and Johnson looked almost unstoppable in the first three rounds, although Benavidez did manage to get in a few meaningful blows.
The fourth round changed that. Benavidez scored with a big right that sent Johnson crashing. He went in for the kill, going for his favourite guillotine submission. Johnson showed some sound defensive skills, though, and did enough to survive this attempt before reversing the positions and scoring with a few takedowns of his own.
After five rounds of great action the judges came into play once again, as Johnson took the split decision. Will these two go against each other again? I certainly wouldn’t complain if they did.
The main event saw VitorBelfort challenging Jon Jones for the Light Heavyweight title.
If you forget the events surrounding this fight, then what you’ve got here is an MMA legend against a future MMA legend.
Jones put in another excellent performance, although it could all have been different in the first few moments.
The action quickly went to the ground in the first round and within moments, Belfort went for an armbar. For a few seconds it looked as if the Phenom was going to take the unlikely win, but Jones survived, going on to open a cut above Belfort’s right eye with a series of elbows.
Jones’ great work wasn’t just on the ground, though. Throughout the stand-up portion of the fight, Jones targeted Belfort’s leg with a series of kicks. His striking wasn’t that bad, either, and he used his skills to make Belfort look all of his 35 years.
The end came in the first minute of the fourth round. After Belfort pulled guard, Jones went to work and quickly locked in a kimura for the submission win.
The show rounded out with filler material in the form of the welterweight encounter between Kyle Noke and Charlie Brenneman.
This was quick. After a couple of opening combinations, Noke began to up his game with a hard left jab. Seconds later, a big right dropped Brenneman, and a series of lefts and rights was enough for the referee to call time and give Noke the TKO win.
In conclusion—after all the controversy of the past few weeks, the one question left to answer is this: Was UFC 152 a good show?
I would have to answer in the affirmative. Thanks to ESPN finally getting the rights to show the prelims again, British fans were treated to a massive five-hour marathon of great MMA fights which, for the most part, delivered big time.
There really were some tremendous performances here from the guys on the undercard right through to the three main fights. Although finishes were in short supply here, that didn’t detract from the event at all.
As for my fight of the night, I had three choices. After I saw the Bisping/Stann fight, I was convinced that one couldn’t be beaten. Then the Flyweights came along, and although Jones and Belfort came into consideration the No-Prize goes to Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez this time around.
So with my five-hour (over two nights) MMA marathon finally complete, I can wrap this thing up by giving UFC 152 the big thumbs up.
And who knows, maybe we can stop the jaw-jacking about what Jon Jones did now. Until Dan Henderson gets back to full fitness, that is.
Don’t forget to check out my website at twoshedsreview.blogspot.com. It’s been online in one form or another for over 12 years now!
Dana White is fed up with people bad-mouthing the flyweights.The UFC President was noticeably upset at the post-fight press conference for UFC 152, after sifting through tons of negative tweets regarding the flyweight title fight between Demetrious Joh…
Dana White is fed up with people bad-mouthing the flyweights.
The UFC President was noticeably upset at the post-fight press conference for UFC 152, after sifting through tons of negative tweets regarding the flyweight title fight between Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez.
In one of the most competitive and entertaining title bouts of the year, Johnson defeated Benavidez by split decision to become the first ever UFC flyweight champion.
Unfortunately, most casual fans have yet to accept the 125-pound weight class. They consider the division almost freakish in a way due to the small stature of the competitors. Along with size, some are turned away due to fewer finishes than in the heavier divisions.
After reading Twitter, White had plenty to say to fans who felt like Johnson vs. Benavidez wasn’t a good fight.
“I was reading Twitter tonight, and these people were ripping on the flyweights. Let me tell you what, if you didn’t like that flyweight fight, please, I’m begging you, don’t ever buy another UFC pay-per-view again,” White said at the post-fight presser.
While the heavier fighters tend to rack up more finishes, the lighter fighters typically deliver faster and more sustained action throughout an entire fight.
As with all things, people tend to dislike what they don’t understand.
A few years ago, fans used to boo every time a grappler took the fight to the ground. Now that people have gained a better understanding of the sport, it’s common to hear fans cheer takedowns and ground transitions.
Johnson and Benavidez are both world class fighters, but like the rest of the flyweight division, they are still relatively unknown to casual fans. Even though the title bout held historical significance, there wasn’t much invested interest from the fans.
As time passes and the division grows, people will likely warm up to the flyweight division, but true fans of fighting will always love the sport, regardless of the size of the athletes.
White continues:
“Don’t ever buy another one. I don’t want your money. You’re a moron. You don’t like fighting, and you don’t appreciate great talent or heart, if you didn’t like that flyweight fight.
[Joseph Benavidez] fought his ass off tonight. Look at his face, going after a guy who is incredibly talented and picking him apart and moving and everything else. The kid never gave up. He went five strong rounds, and when I get on Twitter and I see that stuff, I get crazy man. It’s just like, please, those of you who said that, I don’t want your money.”
At UFC 152’s co-main event, Joseph Benavidez found himself a step behind Demetrious Johnson, losing the first ever UFC flyweight title bout by split decision. While Benavidez is finally in the right weight class, he will have to climb back to…
At UFC 152’s co-main event, Joseph Benavidez found himself a step behind Demetrious Johnson, losing the first ever UFC flyweight title bout by split decision.
While Benavidez is finally in the right weight class, he will have to climb back to the top if he wants to get another shot against Johnson.
Benavidez will be up to the challenge though as he wants nothing more than to be a UFC champion.
Here’s a look at some fights he could take to get back at the top.
Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez engaged in an entertaining battle to crown the UFC Flyweight championship. In the end, it was Johnson who emerged victorious, but it came with a bit of skepticism as he won via split decision. Was the fight reall…
Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez engaged in an entertaining battle to crown the UFC Flyweight championship. In the end, it was Johnson who emerged victorious, but it came with a bit of skepticism as he won via split decision.
Was the fight really close enough for a split decision, or should it have been Johnson across the board on the judge’s scorecards? As with all close fights, it depends on what and how you score different items in a fight. For example, do you credit Johnson with successfully evading the majority of Benavidez‘s strikes or award points for Benavidez being the aggressor?
Judging fights is always a debatable topic, but one that isn’t in the stat numbers involved with fights. A look deeper into the FightMetric numbers of the flyweight clash reveals the title contest wasn’t as close as you’d think.
Going into UFC 152—and more specifically, the flyweight title fight between