Finally, the flyweights have arrived in the Octagon.Come this March, the UFC will introduce the 125-pound class in a special four-man tournament which will determine the first ever flyweight champion in the UFC.Among the talent-laden field of competito…
Finally, the flyweights have arrived in the Octagon.
Come this March, the UFC will introduce the 125-pound class in a special four-man tournament which will determine the first ever flyweight champion in the UFC.
Among the talent-laden field of competitors are former bantamweight stars Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez, who have stepped aside from their positions as two of the division’s best fighters in order to make their names in the budding division.
Though Johnson and Benavidez are likely the most notable of fighters to enter the weight class, the top-level talent already exists.
These rankings are the combined efforts of some of Bleacher Report MMA‘s best writers, as we continue to try and provide you with the best content on the web.
Filed under: UFC, NewsThe UFC on FX 2 fight card will be headlined by Thiago Alves vs. Martin Kampmann and takes place March 3 (March 2 in the U.S.) at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia.
The semifinals of the UFC’s flyweight tournament will als…
The UFC on FX 2 fight card will be headlined by Thiago Alves vs. Martin Kampmann and takes place March 3 (March 2 in the U.S.) at the Allphones Arena in Sydney, Australia.
UFC on FX airs live in the U.S. on Friday, March 2 at 10 p.m. ET. FUEL will carry the undercard.
The current lineup is below.
Thiago Alves vs. Martin Kampmann
Ian McCall vs. Demetrious Johnson
Joseph Benavidez vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani Court McGee vs. Constantinos Philippou
James Te Huna vs. Aaron Rosa
Jake Hecht vs. T.J. Waldburger
Cole Miller vs. Steven Siler
Jared Hamman vs. Kyle Noke
Oli Thompson vs. Shawn Jordan
Filed under: UFC, FlyweightsWhen we assemble a list of the Top 10 flyweights in MMA, there’s a lot of guesswork involved, because the flyweight class really hasn’t been established in MMA.
That’s about to change, however, thanks to the UFC’s announcem…
When we assemble a list of the Top 10 flyweights in MMA, there’s a lot of guesswork involved, because the flyweight class really hasn’t been established in MMA.
That’s about to change, however, thanks to the UFC‘s announcement this month that it will launch the flyweight division in March. Previously, there just weren’t any high-paying fights for 125-pounders, which meant that the best natural flyweights in the world were fighting bigger opponents at bantamweight.
So as I rank the Top 10 flyweights in MMA below, I’m not only ranking the Top 10 guys who have already fought at flyweight. I’m also including former bantamweights who I expect to see at flyweight in 2012. That includes the two UFC fighters who I expect to see win their flyweight debuts in March and fight for the first UFC flyweight belt in the summer.
Top 10 Flyweights in MMA
1. Joseph Benavidez: I’ve been saying for years that Benavidez would be the best flyweight in the world just as soon as he had a flyweight class to fight in. In 2012, we’ll see if I was right.
2. Demetrious Johnson: “Mighty Mouse” has incredible speed and good wrestling and has been quite successful at bantamweight. He lost his last fight to the champion, Dominick Cruz, but now that he’s a flyweight he won’t have to face the huge reach disadvantage that he had in the Cruz fight.
3. Ian McCall: The reigning Tachi Palace flyweight champion, McCall will get a chance to prove that he’s the best flyweight in the world now that he’s with the UFC. He debuts against Johnson in March.
4. Jussier da Silva: da Silva was widely regarded as the best flyweight in the world before he lost the Tachi Palace championship to McCall. Since that loss he’s gone right back to his winning ways with three straight victories, most recently with a first-round submission win over Rodrigo Santos in Brazil. He’d be a great addition to the UFC’s flyweight class.
5. Yasuhiro Urushitani: The reigning Shooto 123-pound champion is coming off a great head-kick victory and now gets ready to face Benavidez in what should be a sensational fight.
6. John Lineker: The reigning bantamweight champion of Brazil’s Jungle Fight promotion, Lineker is expected to start fighting at flyweight in the UFC in 2012. I’m eager to see what he can do: In Brazil, he’s been incredibly active (13-0 in the last two years) and incredibly exciting, with a wild striking style that has opponents not knowing what to do. The 20-year-old Lineker still has room to improve, especially in his ground game, but that improvement is going to be a lot of fun to watch. I think he’s a future flyweight champion.
7. Darrell Montague: Montague lost to McCall in his most recent fight, but his only loss other than that was to the much bigger Robert Peralta. It should be just a matter of time before he’s a UFC flyweight.
8. Shinichi “B.J.” Kojima: Kojima was once recognized as the best flyweight in the world, but after losing to da Silva in 2009 he took more than two years off. Now he’s finally back and on a two-fight winning streak, and I expect to see him in the UFC — he told me in 2009 that he wants to fight for Zuffa.
9. John Dodson: The Ultimate Fighter’s bantamweight winner will be a natural fit for the flyweight class. He’s really too small to fight at 135 pounds, and it’s impressive that he managed to win The Ultimate Fighter despite being at a size disadvantage. Dodson had a lot of success at flyweight before his Ultimate Fighter stint, and he should have more success at flyweight in the UFC. Dodson lost to Urushitani in 2004, but that fight at the beginning of his career doesn’t tell us much about how the two would match up if they ever rematched.
Filed under: UFCJon Jones has just completed one of the greatest calendar years in MMA history. Georges St. Pierre is in the midst of the most disappointing year of his MMA career. As a result, Jones has leapfrogged St. Pierre on the latest list of the…
Jon Jones has just completed one of the greatest calendar years in MMA history. Georges St. Pierre is in the midst of the most disappointing year of his MMA career. As a result, Jones has leapfrogged St. Pierre on the latest list of the Top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts.
And Jones is No. 2 with a bullet: He’s getting awfully close to dethroning Anderson Silva as the top fighter in the sport, in any weight class. Considering that Jones is 12 years younger than Silva, it’s only a matter of time before Jones is recognized as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
For now, I have Silva just ahead of Jones, and St. Pierre next. See how I rank the rest of the Top 10 fighters below.
Top 10 pound-for-pound fighters in MMA (Number in parentheses is the fighter’s rank in the last pound-for-pound list.)
1. Anderson Silva (1): The reckless style and killer instinct Jones has shown over the last couple years reminds me of the way Silva looked early in his UFC run. Silva is a little more cautious now, but his 14-0 record in the UFC leaves him a shade above Jones in my estimation.
2. Jon Jones (3): Jones’s 2011 is the best year anyone has ever had in the UFC. In other MMA promotions, the only fighters I can recall who have had comparable years to Jones in 2011 — in terms of staying active and earning quality wins over good opponents — were Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in 2002 and Shogun Rua in 2005. Top-level fighters just don’t fight more than three times a year these days, and for Jones to go 4-0 and beat four high-quality opponents handily, all in one year, is something to celebrate.
3. Georges St. Pierre (2): St. Pierre hasn’t fought since April, and it will likely be late in 2012 before his surgically repaired ACL allows him to return to the Octagon. That’s a year and a half of his prime without a single fight. That’s a major disappointment for a great champion.
4. Frank Edgar (4): The lightweight champion of the world will finally get a new opponent when he faces Ben Henderson in February, after fighting only Gray Maynard in 2011 and only B.J. Penn in 2010. Edgar is the quickest fighter in the lightweight division and maybe the quickest in any division, and that should be a big edge against Henderson.
5. Jose Aldo (5): Aldo will defend the featherweight at home in Brazil when he faces Chad Mendes in January. Aldo has never fought a wrestler as good as Mendes before, but Mendes has never fought a striker as good as Aldo before.
6. Junior dos Santos (9): Dos Santos reached a big audience when he took the heavyweight title from Cain Velasquez on Fox. He’ll have a huge fight in 2012 against the winner of the upcoming Brock Lesnar-Alistair Overeem bout.
7. Dominick Cruz (6): Cruz and Uirjah Faber will coach against each other on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter and then meet in the cage for the third (and, presumably) final time in the summer of 2012. Cruz hasn’t really caught on with MMA fans yet, but being featured every week on FX will introduce him to a new audience.
8. Dan Henderson (NR): Two things we need to remember when ranking Henderson on a pound-for-pound list: One is that he’s the only elite light heavyweight who has also had success fighting at middleweight. The other is that one of Henderson’s recent wins was over a heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko. Henderson’s ability to transcend weight classes earns him a spot on the pound-for-pound list.
9. Joseph Benavidez (NR): I’ve been saying for years that Benavidez would be the best flyweight in the world if he fought in a promotion that had flyweights, and the UFC’s decision to launch the 125-pound class with a four-man tournament will be Benavidez’s opportunity to prove that. Benavidez is 15-2 in his MMA career, with both losses coming to Cruz, despite fighting a weight class too high. He’ll take on the reigning Shooto 123-pound champion Yasuhiro Urushitani in March.
10. Rashad Evans (NR): With one more win, against Phil Davis in January, Evans may finally get his chance to fight Jones. As great as Evans is, that’s a fight hardly anyone will pick him to win.
Last Summer Dana White was quoted as saying that he wanted to bring a flyweight division to the UFC. Last Saturday he made good on that promise, announcing the first fights in the new weight class would be scheduled for March 4th in Sydney, Australia.T…
Last Summer Dana White was quoted as saying that he wanted to bring a flyweight division to the UFC. Last Saturday he made good on that promise, announcing the first fights in the new weight class would be scheduled for March 4th in Sydney, Australia.
The news is great for fans and fighters alike, as it means another new division with brand new faces, new challengers and new opportunities for great match-ups. The smallest division in MMA will finally be given the recognition it deserves. Not to mention a new title that could headline future cards.
The problem is, adding weight classes is difficult. The featherweight and bantamweight classes have struggled to gain traction despite many great fights. With the casual fan, awareness of the two new weight classes is still low.
Until The Ultimate Fighter 14 premiered, that is. Featuring featherweights and bantamweights, TUF 14 produced great fights and was one of the most interesting seasons yet. John Dodson and Diego Brandao proved to be great fighters in winning the show and will certainly be marketable attractions to future cards.
If the UFC really wants to bring the flyweight class to the UFC sooner rather than later, why not give them immediate exposure through TUF? Introducing a new weight class through the reality series would allow fans to get to know these new fighters and help them care about the weight class as it’s being built.
Holding the season early on into the weight class’s life will allow a huge injection of talent adding depth to the roster right out of the gate. Fighters who have struggled to gain recognition outside the UFC could become household names in just 12 weeks and bring more eyes to the division as it grows.
While season 15 has already been set as welterweights and lightweights the opportunity is still there. Let season 16 be all about the flyweights. Give them and the new division the attention that they rightfully deserve.
The 
When we assemble a list of the Top 10 flyweights in 
Jon Jones
Last Summer