If the UFC invested in Men’s flyweight...

[mb23100]

Trading DJ pretty much said "I don't give af about this division".

 

[Matthew Fedler]

McCall is retired and looked shot anyway. Bagautinov is moving more towards boxing lately (they were using him as kind of a barometer for signing people, a couple of guys who beat him recently got signed).

Imo they should definitely re-sign Dustin Ortiz, Jarred Brooks, Matheus Nicolau, Shorty Torres and Bibulatov. Horiguchi would be a no brainer if he decided he wanted to rejoin.

Azamat Keferov and like 5 or 6 other guys from the ACA FLW division would be good signings too.

McCall was cut after a loss to an overweight Lineker and only lost to Kape (via cut) and Horiguchi afterwards — he likely wouldn’t be a top 5 contender but he certainly wasn’t shot when he was cut. He was a world champion before the UFC signed him, took DJ to a draw and only lost to DJ and Benavidez at 125 in the UFC. Even if he wouldn’t be competing for the title he was a legit fighter who would have served as a great test for potential contenders and a boost in profile for anyone who beat him.

 

[Post 2 Decision]

Horiguchi wanted to fight in Japan, he didn't get cut or anything.

I think he will come back

 

[Hellowhosthat]

McCall was cut after a loss to an overweight Lineker and only lost to Kape (via cut) and Horiguchi afterwards — he likely wouldn’t be a top 5 contender but he certainly wasn’t shot when he was cut. He was a world champion before the UFC signed him, took DJ to a draw and only lost to DJ and Benavidez at 125 in the UFC. Even if he wouldn’t be competing for the title he was a legit fighter who would have served as a great test for potential contenders and a boost in profile for anyone who beat him.

He's retired now either way. It was more the manner in which Horiguchi crushed him that made me worry.

 

[Matthew Fedler]

Horiguchi wanted to fight in Japan, he didn't get cut or anything.

I think he will come back

My argument is that the UFC could have offered him a bit more money to stick around and maybe sweeten the deal with some headlining bouts in Japan against the likes of Cejudo, Benavidez, Dodson, etc. if they were really committed to the division.

Hopefully he makes his way back eventually.

 

[daniel san]

“If the UFC invested in Men’s flyweight...”

What have they been doing for the last couple of years? Have they not invested an INSANE amount in the division to try and force it to grow? Weren’t there lots and lots of PPVs with MM on them, either headlining or on a great PPV so that many would be forced to watch him fight?

FlW isn’t taking off because the talent is decent but far from great and there are no stars. Don’t delude yourself into thinking that “fighter X had a Y win streak, he was so good why was he cut after Z losses? Maybe because he isn’t actually very good and the FlW division is the weakest one behind HW? It has very little to do with “manlets” and it’s primarily due to a weak division (globally) and literally no interesting characters.

 

[daniel san]

My argument is that the UFC could have offered him a bit more money to stick around and maybe sweeten the deal with some headlining bouts in Japan against the likes of Cejudo, Benavidez, Dodson, etc. if they were really committed to the division.

Hopefully he makes his way back eventually.

Do you really think a fight with Benavidez and Dodson would be a barn burner? Both of them are journeymen, one better than the other. Cejudo is solid though but you can’t build a division on one single fighter.

 

[Matthew Fedler]

Do you really think a fight with Benavidez and Dodson would be a barn burner? Both of them are journeymen, one better than the other. Cejudo is solid though but you can’t build a division on one single fighter.

We might have a different definition of journeyman. Benavidez is arguably one of the best fighters never to win a belt (holds a win over Cejudo) and Dodson’s only losses at 125 were to DJ.

The fact that someone would call Joe B a journeyman is indicative of the UFC’s treatment of 125 affecting their perception among the fandom. Still can’t believe his fight with Sergio Pettis was on the Fight Pass prelims at UFC 225.

I’m not saying they should be headlining a PPV at MSG, but an international fight night? For sure.

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Do you really think a fight with Benavidez and Dodson would be a barn burner? Both of them are journeymen, one better than the other. Cejudo is solid though but you can’t build a division on one single fighter.

Joseph Benavidez is absolutely not a journeyman, that's absolutely ridiculous.