(Johnson better chiggity-check himself before he wrecks himself, Cotton. Photo via Getty Images.)

As much as we hate the fact that Demetrious Johnson has been forced to pull out of his upcoming flyweight title fight with John Moraga, we can’t exactly declare that he hasn’t earned a little break from the sport either. Granted, an injury vacation isn’t really a vacation at all (especially with an injury as serious as Johnson’s — we’ll get to that in a second), but have any of you realized that “Mighty Mouse” has fought seven times since entering the UFC in February of 2011?

It was a damn respectable pace and one that was destined to come to a crashing halt at some point in Johnson’s career. Thankfully, it appears that Johnson’s time away from the octagon will be limited to just a few months. As first revealed by Johnson’s AMC Pankration coach, Matt Hume, the flyweight champ has suffered a torn labrum that will keep him out of action for up to three months. There has been no word yet on how this will affect Johnson’s ability to pack into a hilariously undersized car with 42 of his closest friends.

Johnson was scheduled to face Moraga at the April 13th-scheduled TUF 17 Finale, but according to a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, the two are currently in talks to meet at UFC 161 in June.

-J. Jones

(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.

A community news and forum, Stu News Laguna reported Friday that UFC flyweight Ian McCall was arrested last Tuesday on some strange, if relatively benign, charges including “possession of narcotic paraphernalia, possession of prescription meds without a valid prescription, and driving on a suspended license,” after undercover DEA agents spotted him. According to a later report from MMA Weekly, however, McCall’s manager Jason House says that McCall’s arrest happened a bit differently and with different charges.

“According to House, McCall was driving home on Tuesday when an unmarked police car recognized his vehicle from past occurrences and pulled him over.  The police ran McCall’s plates and they found an outstanding warrant in his name,” MMA Weekly reported.

“The warrant stemmed from a ticket issued in June for McCall driving under a suspended license.  McCall apparently paid the fines, but did not make a scheduled court appearance due to a miscommunication and a warrant was issued.”

With the flyweight tournament set to wrap up at UFC 152, and Ian McCall so desperate for someone to fight at flyweight that he’s resorted to calling out Louis Gaudinot, this announcement could not have possibly come at a better time. Yesterday, the manager of Shooto South American Bantamweight champion (123 lbs in Shooto) Jussier da Silva announced that “Forminga” has just signed on with the UFC.

As of now, neither a date for his first UFC bout nor an opponent for his debut have been announced.

Currently the number three ranked flyweight in the world, Da Silva is a fierce grappler with seven submission victories to his record. “Forminga” started off his career winning six straight fights and capturing Shooto South America’s Bantamweight Championship before pulling off a huge upset over then-Shooto Bantamweight World Champion Shinichi “BJ” Kojima in 2009. The only loss on his record, which currently stands at 14-1, came at the hands of the aforementioned Ian McCall at Tachi Palace Fights 8: All or Nothing last February. His most recent outing was a first round rear-naked choke over Sidney Oliveira in June.

Highlights from Jussier da Silva’s career await after the jump.

(“Good job, good effort.” — James Irvin)

Jeff Curran is living proof that dropping a weight class in MMA often has a negligible effect on your level of success. After kicking off his career as a lightweight — and losing a decision to Matt Serra in his Octagon debut way back at UFC 46 in 2004 — the BJJ black belt eventually transitioned to featherweight to pursue a championship belt in the WEC. Unfortunately, Curran took back-to-back losses against Urijah Faber and Mike Brown, which inspired him to drop another ten pounds. He didn’t fare any better at 135 either, losing decisions to Joseph Benavidez and Takeya Mizugaki in 2009 before exiting the promotion.

After two years of purgatory — in which he went 4-1 competing for the XFO and on Strikeforce and Bellator preliminary cards — the UFC brought Curran back for another run at bantamweight. And after two more losses to Scott Jorgensen and Johnny Eduardo, Big Frog was back at square one. And now there’s this:

Veteran fighter Jeff Curran (33-15-1 MMA, 0-3 UFC), whom the UFC released following back-to-back losses to bantamweights Johnny Eduardo and Scott Jorgensen, is headed to the flyweight division. That’s according to his cousin and training partner, Bellator featherweight champion Pat Curran.

“I don’t know how he’s going to make it, but he’s going to find a way,” Pat recently told MMAjunkie.com…Pat, who defeated Joe Warren for the Bellator belt earlier this year, took up the sport at his cousin’s urging. He said his mentor figure now is planning to regroup on the regional scene in the new weight class.

(Get ready for 20 minutes of fun-sized beast-mode.)

Next weekend in Sydney, Australia, the UFC will debut their brand-new 125-pound flyweight division with a pair of fights on the main card of UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann; the winners will later meet to determine the first-ever UFC flyweight champion. And because a winner must be determined in each semi-final match, the UFC is considering an unprecedented solution. As Demetrious Johnson explained to Crooklyn:

“I don’t know if anybody has said anything about it, and this is the first time I’m mentioning it, is that we (Ian McCall and himself) had to sign for a ‘sudden death’ bout. If it goes to three rounds, and the judges can’t decide who the winner is, then we’ll do a fourth round…I can’t say if it’s going to be for Joseph (Benavides) and Yasuhiro (Urushitani), because I’m not gonna say that the UFC made those guys sign, too. I’m telling you, specifically, that I signed a contract for an extra round on the bout agreement. I’m not gonna say that they did. [But] I’m assuming, in my unprofessional opinion, that they did as well.”

Gaudinot vs. Lineker should provide a clear contender for the coveted ‘Worst Hair in Professional Sports’ title.

Presumably after enduring three rounds of fatigued middleweights Chris Weidman and Demian Maia leading off UFC on FOX 2, the UFC brass figured it would be a good idea to show off its smaller fighters to the casual fans. For the organization’s third effort on FOX, the UFC will showcase two of its smallest fighters on the roster. Yesterday, the UFC announced a matchup between flyweights Louis Gaudinot and John Lineker has been booked for UFC on FOX 3.

As a bantamweight cast member of TUF 14, Louis Gaudinot lost to Dustin Pague in the fan voted “Fight of the Season” before losing his UFC debut to the much larger Johnny Bedford. As expected, Gaudinot is returning to flyweight, where he went 5-1 before his UFC career.

(You will be hit with the creepy at the 0:11 mark. Props: HDNetFights via MiddleEasy.)

Ian “Uncle Creepy” McCall made a recent appearance on Inside MMA to discuss the UFC’s addition of flyweights, and Jesus Christ, would you look at that guy. It’s like him and her had a baby. The long-haired surfer vibe that Ian used to rock in his WEC days is gone, replaced by a gentleman who looks like he might drive a surprise van in his spare time. Are the UFC’s fans ready for such mustachioed intensity?

Announcement comes at roughly the 6:25 mark. Props: MMAFighting.com

We can end the speculation. After last night’s UFC 140, Dana White announced that flyweight MMA will debut in the UFC on March 3, 2012. The event is going to be broadcast on FX and take place in the land where people ride around in their kangaroos all day, Australia. Details, such as a specific venue and fights possible for the card, have yet to be officially released, though we’re willing to bet it’ll be at Sydney’s Acer Arena (just a wild guess).

The UFC is unveiling their newest roster editions with a bang. A four man flyweight tournament is set to begin on March 3, presumably in order to crown the inaugural flyweight champion, and will feature Ian McCall vs. Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez vs. Yasuhiro Urushitani. Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez should both be fresh in your mind, as they have had successful runs in the UFC at bantamweight yet are better suited for flyweight competition. As for McCall and Urushitani, we’ve got them profiled after the jump.

Bad news: Coach Wonka insists that checks be written out to Team Oompa directly, not to the fighters. (Pic: Smosh.com)

The little guys will get a chance to make their debut in the UFC, just not as soon as earlier predicted. Dana White is now eying early 2012—not the end of this year—as a likely introduction of the Flyweight class.

The 125 pounders had a home in the Zuffa-owned WEC, but they have yet to make the crossover to the UFC. With Zuffa just now really starting to break in their freshly minted Bantamweight and Featherweight divisions, it would make sense for them to build fans around those two weight classes before adding in a brand new crop of pint-sized punchers.

In addition to the frantic pace that the diminutive fighters bring to the cage, they could potentially help tip the scales in Zuffa’s favor as they try to break into the Japanese MMA market. Many consensus top-10 Flyweight mixed martial artists hail from the Land of the Rising Sun, and with the whole Akiyama thing not working out so well, they could use dozens of tiny helping hands in their efforts abroad.

Just as we saw with the addition of the Bantam and Featherweight divisions, White expects many fighters to shed some pounds when the opportunity to compete in a lower weight class presents itself. Some fighters have allegedly already begun that process.

(Dana White runs down some current events with Ariel Helwani following the press conference. Props: MMAFighting)

The UFC hosted a press conference in Vancouver yesterday in advance of UFC 131, but the most interesting announcements had nothing to do with Saturday’s “Dos Santos vs. Carwin” event. Here’s a recap…

Five-round non-title fights: UFC president Dana White announced that the UFC will make non-title main event fights five rounds from now on; previously, only title fights were worthy of the five-round distinction. The rule doesn’t apply to non-title main events that are already booked — Dos Santos vs. Carwin, or Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis at UFC 133, for example — but it will apply to every non-title main event signed in the future, even for UFC Fight Night and UFC Live events.

Flyweight division in the works: According to White, the UFC will be adding a 125-pound division “really soon,” possibly by the end of 2011. He expected that some of the UFC’s current bantamweights would make the drop.

(Welcome to the WEC, fellas.)

From a new press release on WEC.tv:

So that’s it — Condit and Larson are gone, and they’ve taken the 170-pound division with them. And it’s only a matter of time before the WEC completes its differentiation from the UFC, axes the lightweight class, and sends Jamie Varner and Donald Cerrone up to the big leagues. But while it’s good to see the WEC adding divisions to make up for the ones they cut, you’d think a women’s division (or two) would come before a horse-jockey division. It kind of bothers me when women’s MMA is roadblocked due to a perceived lack of depth, then Zuffa installs a new men’s division where the #1-ranked fighter doesn’t even have ten wins yet, and the #8 fighter has won four of his ten fights. (And of course, how many American MMA fans out of 100 would be able to pick them out of a lineup?) Does this make any sense from a marketing perspective?

And the idea of 125-pound men fighting — doesn’t that seem kind of, I don’t know, unnatural to you? All your talk about their speed and endless gas tanks will seem beside the point when Frank Mir enters the cage and asks them to take us through the fight. Either the flyweights are going to have to stand on a step-ladder to reach the mic, or Mir is going to talk to these boys on his knees…

(Mamoru Yamaguchi and Shinichi Kojima: America is not ready.)

With their middleweight and light-heavyweight divisions officially closed down, the WEC is planning to add a new division to further differentiate themselves from their big brothers in the UFC. No, not women (at least not yet). According to MMA Weekly, you’ll soon be seeing 125-pound flyweights battling under the WEC banner: 

Quick, name three flyweight fighters. If you can do it, you’re probably a die-hard Shooto fan, since that’s where most of the top 125-pounders compete. And you can be sure that the WEC will be poaching a lot of talent from the Japanese organization. But Bloody Elbow believes that the WEC will be building their new division around Henry Cejudo, the 21-year-old American freestyle wrestler who won a gold medal in Beijing last summer competing at 121 pounds. Cejudo has been training at a boxing gym in his hometown of Phoenix, and was briefly rumored as an opponent for Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto at Fields Dynamite!! 2008. The upside with Cejudo is that he’s already something of a national hero, and can actually speak English — and therefore would be a lot easier to market than some of the other flyweight talent the WEC might bring aboard.

No matchups for the WEC’s March event have been officially announced, though a welterweight title fight between Carlos Condit and Brock Larson has been rumored.