(My God, the “TUF 18: Strawweights” team challenges are going to be OFF THE CHAIN.)
In an interview with MMAJunkie, UFC President Dana White revealed that the promotion had recently traveled to Mexico to scout fighters for a possible 115-pound division in the UFC. Considering the UFC’s hesitance to even use the word “Flyweight” during their promotion of UFC on Fox: Johnson vs. Dodson, this news should come as a pretty big surprise to most of us. Then again, The Baldfather previously stated that we would never see women’s MMA in the UFC, and now this is a thing that is happening. And according to White, the trip was a huge success:
It went very well. A lot of guys showed up, it was very successful, and the guys we sent down were very excited with what they saw.
As we know, the UFC’s flyweight division was added all of a year ago, and is currently composed of just 13 fighters. While last weekend’s event should have put all doubt to rest in regards to the legitimacy and marketability of the smaller weight classes, it also highlighted a noticeable problem in the division: matchmaking. Granted, the division is still in the infant stages of development, but if the UFC is looking to continue promoting flyweights in the long run, their focus should be on beefing up that division, not necessarily adding another. Still, this is good news for any disgruntled Ewoks, Oompa Loompas, or members of The Lollipop Guild who find themselves outmatched by the mammoth of a man that is Demetrious Johnson.
White also took some time to address the criticism currently being aimed at flyweights by many of the sport’s casual fans:
I think you had some people talking smack here and there (about the flyweights). But if you’re a real fight fan, how do you not like Ian (McCall)? How do you not like Joe (Benavidez)? How do you not like (Johnson and Dodson) that were here tonight? When people say shit like that to me, it’s hard for me to respond without being a real asshole. It’s really hard for me.
I hereby nominate “It’s hard for me to respond without being a real asshole” as the title of Dana’s eventual autobiography. Of course, that would open up all kinds of possibilities for the title of June White’s scathing response novel: “My Son, the Asshole,” “Dana White: Self-Admitted Asshole,” or the more classically-titled “Being an Asshole and the Human Response: The Story of Devil Spawn Dana White.”
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commentsThere all ready warriors, there tiny, and you could ship 50 of em over here in a 60 gallon garbage can to save on freight
In all fairness though at what point do the fights become "freak shows". The UFC doesn't have a super heavyweight division for a reason. I think bulking up the flyweight/womans div would be a better plan.
The MMAJunkie article is bullshit. First of this was not from a one-on-one interview, it was part of an informal media scrum after UFC on Fox 6 (not the formal postfight presser), with about a dozen people asking Dana White questions over the course of 30 minutes. There is video of it here: http://www.mmafighting.com/2013/1/27/3920710/dana-white-ufc-on-fox-6-post-fight-scrum-video
One dude asks Dana White about the Mexico trip and specifically about "115 lbs." fighters, and Dana responds about the Mexico trip and does not correct him on the weight class issue. It was already confirmed by a participant that the scouting trip, which required that participants must have their resume approved before showing up, was for _all_ weight classes. The prize was a long-term training camp at Jackson's MMA with full room and board for 10 fighters and a chance at a UFC contract. The idea is to get Mexican prospects in _any_ division and try and crack the market there.
Meanwhile, after being asked, I wanted to be absolutely sure there wasn't some secret Strawweight scene so I went through Sherdog's entire Strawweight database. Of the ~121,000 fighters they have listed historically, 411 are listed at Strawweight. 95% are either female or Asian. Less than 20 are male Strawweights from outside Asia. Less than 10 are male Strawweights from the Americas. Zero are male fighters from Mexico or Central America. No male Strawweights listed from outside Asia and Pacific Islands has more than 4 total fights, or 1 total win. This includes people who have been inactive for years. Look for yourself: http://www.sherdog.com/stats/fightfinder?association=&weight=13&SearchTxt=&page=1
Even if I missed some folks, or there are simply a few not listed, there is NO strawweight scene in Mexico and the UFC wasn't looking for them. Most of the quotes in that article were related to Flyweights, which Dana White got a lot of questions on because of the main-event.
Dana White said years ago he wanted to eventually go down as far as boxing does, and I'm sure he'd still like to in the future, but with a global talent pool smaller than most women's divisions, and not a single significant Strawweight who can speak English, the UFC is NOT scouting Strawweights, certainly not in Mexico. The over/under is that there were exactly zero that were present in their Mexican trip.
It was bad enough that Matt Erickson at MMAJunkie wrote this idiotic story and that the MMA UG Blog picked it up. I know you all might have a bit of a grudge against the guy but there are better ways to take shots at Dana White than repeating someone else's retardedly sloppy journalism.
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