Tell Me About Men's Flyweight

[ReasonableMan]

I only watch North American MMA because I don't have time to watch Rizin, ONE, ACA, ACB, Brave....

I've seen all UFC men's FLW bouts going back to UFC's introduction of the division.

At some point, UFC just decided to hollow out its own FLW division. It got rid of skilled guys including Makovsky, Bagautinov, Nguyen, Formiga, Herrera, Horiguchi, Askarov and of course DJ.

I look at Tapology rankings and they are flooded with UFC flyweights from 1 to 25, yet I have a sense that Asian/Russian promotions should have the best flyweights overall due to the UFC neglecting this division and Asian men being of smaller stature. Right or wrong? Obviously different format (ONE's "hydrated" weigh in, ring v cage, etc) would complicate the analysis.

Maybe @HuskySamoan can help here. Thanks.

 

[Ara tech]

It is obvious and well known that some weigh-class are more competitive than others.

The UFC failed to secure more than the half of elite prospects. Because of this, they won't longer have the best roster anymore, at least in the next five years. Actually, PFL/Bellator combined, and ACA are the two and third best roster all weightclass include.

Tapology rankings are false and not accurate of course, they don't rank fighers based on their achivements or based on their skills with precision.

Ask me, I think the UFC neglect the flyweight division because it is the division that draw the less crowd, a mistake indeed.

 

[EndlessCritic]

I only watch North American MMA because I don't have time to watch Rizin, ONE, ACA, ACB, Brave....

I've seen all UFC men's FLW bouts going back to UFC's introduction of the division.

At some point, UFC just decided to hollow out its own FLW division. It got rid of skilled guys including Makovsky, Bagautinov, Nguyen, Formiga, Herrera, Horiguchi, Askarov and of course DJ.

I look at Tapology rankings and they are flooded with UFC flyweights from 1 to 25, yet I have a sense that Asian/Russian promotions should have the best flyweights overall due to the UFC neglecting this division and Asian men being of smaller stature. Right or wrong? Obviously different format (ONE's "hydrated" weigh in, ring v cage, etc) would complicate the analysis.

Maybe @HuskySamoan can help here. Thanks.

Your concerns with the difficulties of following flyweights are all correct.

I would say Kyoji Horiguchi today still has the claim to being the #1 125'er outside the UFC. Bellator appropriately scheduled Kyoji vs Makoto Shinryu for the vacant Bellator flyweight title, and when that ended in an eye poke, Rizin scheduled the rematch for the vacant 125 title on new years eve. Kyoji took care of business in impressive fashion.

At this point, it's hard not to put Ougikubo as clear #2 flyweight in Rizin. He scored big upsets over John Dodson and Makoto in the last 12 months.

Askarov leaving the UFC in weird circumstances has created a bit of a mess, which is further amplified by him only having one fight. Kerefov/Askarov would be the right matchup to decide the #1 flyweight over there.

ONE's weight class problem is a mess. I think tapology should be considering their "flyweight" (135lb) division as flyweights worldwide. Assuming you do this, Adriano Moraes has the best claim to being #1, followed by Kairat Akhmetov. How you rank the division after that is a bit of a mess, but, I'd say ONE's offiical rankings are pretty good: Wakamatsu - Kingad - Mclaren - Yong. After that, Tatsumitsu Wada and Woo Sung Hoon are right on the fringe.

I can't say I follow Brave, but obviously Mokaev has a clear claim to #1 flyweight there. Aside from Bagautinov, I can't say I've ever seen any of their guys they list in their rankings fight, but they're likely pretty good: https://bravecf.com/


tldr: Watch Kyoji vs Makoto and Ougikubo vs Makoto.

ONE's flyweight division is a treat to watch. Guys like Yong Hu and Reece mclaren bring it every time. Do yourself a favour and watch Yong Hu's last 5 fights. Dude just walks forward like the terminator:

 

[Benoitthegr8]

I agree with above post that One has more interesting little guys, I really enjoy waking up to Friday morning Muay Thai and MMA

 

[ReasonableMan]

Your concerns with the difficulties of following flyweights are all correct.

I would say Kyoji Horiguchi today still has the claim to being the #1 125'er outside the UFC. Bellator appropriately scheduled Kyoji vs Makoto Shinryu for the vacant Bellator flyweight title, and when that ended in an eye poke, Rizin scheduled the rematch for the vacant 125 title on new years eve. Kyoji took care of business in impressive fashion.

At this point, it's hard not to put Ougikubo as clear #2 flyweight in Rizin. He scored big upsets over John Dodson and Makoto in the last 12 months.

Askarov leaving the UFC in weird circumstances has created a bit of a mess, which is further amplified by him only having one fight. Kerefov/Askarov would be the right matchup to decide the #1 flyweight over there.

ONE's weight class problem is a mess. I think tapology should be considering their "flyweight" (135lb) division as flyweights worldwide. Assuming you do this, Adriano Moraes has the best claim to being #1, followed by Kairat Akhmetov. How you rank the division after that is a bit of a mess, but, I'd say ONE's offiical rankings are pretty good: Wakamatsu - Kingad - Mclaren - Yong. After that, Tatsumitsu Wada and Woo Sung Hoon are right on the fringe.

I can't say I follow Brave, but obviously Mokaev has a clear claim to #1 flyweight there. Aside from Bagautinov, I can't say I've ever seen any of their guys they list in their rankings fight, but they're likely pretty good: https://bravecf.com/


tldr: Watch Kyoji vs Makoto and Ougikubo vs Makoto.

ONE's flyweight division is a treat to watch. Guys like Yong Hu and Reece mclaren bring it every time. Do yourself a favour and watch Yong Hu's last 5 fights. Dude just walks forward like the terminator:

I appreciate this thoughtful response.

Moraes v Pantoja...we're going Moraes? I guess they're probably training partners though. That would complicate things.

 

[EndlessCritic]

I appreciate this thoughtful response.

Moraes v Pantoja...we're going Moraes? I guess they're probably training partners though. That would complicate things.

I don't think I'd play Moraes unless I was getting around +200. Pantoja rightfully deserves the #1 ranking. He's probably a better striker than Moraes.

I do want Taira to take the belt. He's gone on a spectacular run.

 

[EndlessCritic]

I appreciate this thoughtful response.

Moraes v Pantoja...we're going Moraes? I guess they're probably training partners though. That would complicate things.

I also just can't stress enough how many good fights ONE has had at flyweight. Here's another great one:

 

[Hellowhosthat]

My rankings for flyweights outside the UFC

1. Kyoji Horiguchi
2. Muhammad Mokaev
3. Askar Askarov
4. Azamat Kerefov
5. Kurban Gadzhiev
6. Adriano Morales
7. Murad Magomedov
8. Azamat Pshukov
9. Daniiar Toichubek
10. Kairat Akhmetov
11. Aren Akopyan
12. Yuya Wakamatsu
13. Hiromasa Oubikubo
14. Makoto Shinryu
15. Imran Bukuev
16. Anatoly Kondratiev
17. Azam Gafurov
18. Rasul Albaskhanov
19. Iago Ribeiro
20. Alan Gomes

 

[Bubzeh]

Daniiar Toichubek & Anis Ekubov