Basic HTML Version
February - 2015
SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
8
Here’s the rub: The mar-
keting of the flyweight di-
vision thus far has been all
about their speed. They’re
fast. Blink and you’ll miss
the action. Look at the pace
they keep! That’s great for
students of the game and
the hardcore fan base, but
for the general public, the
casual fans, well lets face
it: they’ve shown they
don’t care. Yet the focus
on speed has overlooked
the many other strengths
of the division, which in-
cludes, believe it or not,
strength. In the sense of
finishing fights.
Take Dodson, one of the
brightest stars to come
out of The Ultimate Fight-
er in years; the man who
beat current UFC bantam-
weight champion T.J. Dil-
lashaw at the TUF 14 fina-
le. Who finished him And
finished four opponents
in his last five wins (with
a loss to Johnson, he’s 6-1
overall in that stretch), all
by KO/TKO. The naysay-
ers of the flyweight divi-
sion aren’t wrong about
him bringing a spark — it’s
just that he’s an added at-
traction, a compliment to
an already exciting field of
fighters.
Or take John Lineker,
whose last four wins in the
UFC have all come by way
of TKO. He meets the ever-
popular Uncle Creepy, Ian
McCall, at UFC 183, and
with a strong win, he may
be facing Mighty Mouse
in the next flyweight title
fight.
This is something the UFC
needs to put the focus on.
The flyweights hit hard-
er than you think. They
do finish fights. They do
knock guys out.
Thus far, flyweight title
fights have often been
placed on FOX cards, with
the going theory being
that they simply don’t draw
enough to headline PPVs.
That theory was proven at
least partially correct last
May with UFC 174, head-
lined by Johnson vs. Ali
Bagautinov, which was a
disaster as far as buy rate
goes, by all reports barely
surpassing the 100,000
buy mark. Just months lat-
er, UFC 178, with Johnson
vs. Chris Cariaso headlin-
ing, performed slightly
better, but it had a huge
boost thanks to the pres-
ence of Donald Cerrone
and Conor McGregor.
Now imagine if the focus
was more on the possi-
bility of an exciting fin-
ish. Johnson himself has
three finishes in five title
defenses, and while two
are submissions, the end
result is the same: he’s
finishing top challengers.
While there will always
be those who avoid the
lighter weight classes sim-
ply because they’re lighter,
the combination of the
right challenger, and a bet-
ter approach to selling the
fight, could make the divi-
sion much more relevant
in the eyes of the fans.
For now, it remains one of
the most sadly overlooked
divisions in the UFC, but
on the flip-side, one of its
best-kept secrets.