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Everyone says "manlets don't sell" but a lot of the most popular boxers like Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather fought near or below this weight, many of Thailands greatest legends like Yodsanklai fought as low as 112lbs. Stars have come out of these weight divisions before in other sports, so there's no reason to think they cannot do so in MMA too.
We have to look at the promotion on the UFC's side first, for a division like Flyweight to thrive it will largely be dependent on being able to penetrate nations and markets where there's large numbers of athletes and the general population being around the size of Flyweights places like Thailand, The Philippines, Japan, China, Korean, Indonesia, Singapore, Mexico, Colombia, Central America, India etc. The UFC hasn't really given much effort to penetrating any of these markets outside of Mexico. There should be doubt for anyone intelligent that the potential for a deep and skill rich Flyweight division is there, whether that potential will be met or not is another question.
Lets look at a few of the not so famous Flyweights who actually cater to specific demographics that are infact marketable too.
1. Henry Cejudo, first generation Mexican American, he's handsome, he's an olympic gold medalist wrestler, he was sponsored by Coca-Cola, he speaks the kings spanish in regards to Mexico, he was undefeated going into the DJ title fight too...was Cejudo well promoted? Did anyone outside of the hardcores even care? You couldn't have a more star friendly fighter than Cejudo in terms of 125lbs and yet...a missed opportunity by the UFC.
2. Kyoji Horiguchi, only 26 years old 19-2 record, top 5 Flyweight, one of Japan's best fighters in the world right now...Super exciting one of the most powerful strikers at that weight division, Shotokan black belt...when the UFC asked him to take the title fight vs DJ, Kyoji said he wasn't ready, that he was only 23 and felt he needed 18-24 months and 4 or so more fights before he'd want a title shot...the UFC convinced him to do it anyways, they assured the Japanese standout prospect they'd take care of him and then...once free agency opened up, they didn't bother matching Rizin's offer. Where was the promotion or marketing for Kyoji? Where's the interest in the Japanese market? In The Flyweight division?
3. Lastly, Magomed Bibulatov has anyone even heard of this guy? He's 28 years old, 14-0, he was the WSOF Flyweight champion, the ACB Bantamweight tournament champion, he was a 4x Karate world champion, he's super athletic, he's popular in Chechnya, he's an exciting well rounded fighter with big slams and dynamic kicks and the UFC didn't even mention that he was signed.
You have a guy out there like Tenshin Nasukawa who's one of the hottest stars in Japanese MMA in years, he's a 99-5 amateur kickboxer, a karate champion, a 16-0 Kickboxer with a win over a Thai champion and he's only 18 years old...did I mention he's 3-0 in MMA and Oh yeah he's a Flyweight too. If the UFC isn't willing to invest in countries and either rebuild, or build up the demographics for MMA in places like Mexico, Thailand, Japan, China, Colombia etc then the Flyweight division will always suck but if they are willing to, it may very well become of the deepest divisions in the sport. Mexican MMA is very young and it doesn't produce a lot of talent yet, there will be a lot more Brandon Moreno's and better out of Mexico at Flyweight. Even the Flyweight OneFC champion is 23-0 out of Kazakhstan, I'm telling you this is an international division if the UFC continues to just focus on the U.S. and let whatever else gets lobbed to them fall into place, Flyweight will always suck but it can be great.
We have to look at the promotion on the UFC's side first, for a division like Flyweight to thrive it will largely be dependent on being able to penetrate nations and markets where there's large numbers of athletes and the general population being around the size of Flyweights places like Thailand, The Philippines, Japan, China, Korean, Indonesia, Singapore, Mexico, Colombia, Central America, India etc. The UFC hasn't really given much effort to penetrating any of these markets outside of Mexico. There should be doubt for anyone intelligent that the potential for a deep and skill rich Flyweight division is there, whether that potential will be met or not is another question.
Lets look at a few of the not so famous Flyweights who actually cater to specific demographics that are infact marketable too.
1. Henry Cejudo, first generation Mexican American, he's handsome, he's an olympic gold medalist wrestler, he was sponsored by Coca-Cola, he speaks the kings spanish in regards to Mexico, he was undefeated going into the DJ title fight too...was Cejudo well promoted? Did anyone outside of the hardcores even care? You couldn't have a more star friendly fighter than Cejudo in terms of 125lbs and yet...a missed opportunity by the UFC.
2. Kyoji Horiguchi, only 26 years old 19-2 record, top 5 Flyweight, one of Japan's best fighters in the world right now...Super exciting one of the most powerful strikers at that weight division, Shotokan black belt...when the UFC asked him to take the title fight vs DJ, Kyoji said he wasn't ready, that he was only 23 and felt he needed 18-24 months and 4 or so more fights before he'd want a title shot...the UFC convinced him to do it anyways, they assured the Japanese standout prospect they'd take care of him and then...once free agency opened up, they didn't bother matching Rizin's offer. Where was the promotion or marketing for Kyoji? Where's the interest in the Japanese market? In The Flyweight division?
3. Lastly, Magomed Bibulatov has anyone even heard of this guy? He's 28 years old, 14-0, he was the WSOF Flyweight champion, the ACB Bantamweight tournament champion, he was a 4x Karate world champion, he's super athletic, he's popular in Chechnya, he's an exciting well rounded fighter with big slams and dynamic kicks and the UFC didn't even mention that he was signed.
You have a guy out there like Tenshin Nasukawa who's one of the hottest stars in Japanese MMA in years, he's a 99-5 amateur kickboxer, a karate champion, a 16-0 Kickboxer with a win over a Thai champion and he's only 18 years old...did I mention he's 3-0 in MMA and Oh yeah he's a Flyweight too. If the UFC isn't willing to invest in countries and either rebuild, or build up the demographics for MMA in places like Mexico, Thailand, Japan, China, Colombia etc then the Flyweight division will always suck but if they are willing to, it may very well become of the deepest divisions in the sport. Mexican MMA is very young and it doesn't produce a lot of talent yet, there will be a lot more Brandon Moreno's and better out of Mexico at Flyweight. Even the Flyweight OneFC champion is 23-0 out of Kazakhstan, I'm telling you this is an international division if the UFC continues to just focus on the U.S. and let whatever else gets lobbed to them fall into place, Flyweight will always suck but it can be great.
