The real problem with the Flyweight division

You have MM, Joe B and had Dodson and the rest are basically an afterthought.

Chances are no one would be beating Joe B either, if it wasn't for MM.

Outside of these guys, I don't see the division as anything special.
 
That fucking GSP fucking up some other thing. That prick chose not to be born with short genes. Motherfucker's been ducking MM since the womb.
 
There's no problem with the flyweight division. It's bad ass.



I think it's you who has the problem

Which other fighters in the division are "bad ass?" I enjoy watchin MM and I enjoyed watching Dodson. The rest of the division doesn't have finishing power and there is no sense of danger from any of them. MM is the exception right now. I don't think that's a necessity. If the division was invigorated with some more talented fighters, I think it would be more successful.
 
Like who? I've followed cricket my entire life and they are amongst the biggest men on the planet [A few small indians aside - Which as a side note is the only reason cricket ranks… India's population]. Football… Anyone under 160lb is a very small footballer. Messi is up around 155lb with a far more intensive cardio vascular sport… In MMA he would no doubt be heavier. Hockey I pay very little attention to, and as for tennis… You will be hard pressed to find a man under 6'0.
England's current one day captain is a small man, James Taylor was 5'5, Brian Lara was small, Tendulkar was tiny, Williamson and Mcullum are both under 5'7. There's as many small guys doing well as there is big.
 
No, it's that they're manlets .

Watching that fight with the level of disinterest that I did despite the high stakes & good finish made me realise that it's not MM's fault, it's just like having an NBA with a 5ft limit. No matter how skilled they are, there's just something essentially ridiculous and pointless about it.
 
The major problem at this stage is the lack of fights that can be made which are exciting - even to hardcore fans. There isn't much that is interesting. And there is nothing out there which is mouthwatering.

Johnson has beaten everyone.
Lineker has evacuated the division because he can't make weight.
Dodson has evacuated the division - and never fought Benavidez, a brilliant match up.
Benavidez beats everyone except DJ and Cruz, but there are no 'wow' matches out there for him.
There are some solid prospects, people like Scoggins, and guys like Horiguchi and Cejudo who can get better, but, basically, four years in, the FLW division isn't all that exciting.

That doesn't mean that the division should be canned as some people assert; too much work has gone in to it now (however, I do think it should never have been added in 2012 - it was probably half a decade premature to create FLW) . It just means that the sport is still growing and deepening. The future will most likely be great. In boxing, people of this size fight at super bantamweight, featherweight and super featherweight. Those bouts are often awesome. Hardcores get excited by those divisions. It will happen in MMA. But FLW was created prematurely. That's the bottom line.
 
They need more fighters from Asia. Then again why go to UFC if you are inclined to combat sports, most guys that size willing to fight for low pay will gamble to become a boxing champion instead of a UFC champion. The money is better if you make it to the top.

Does anyone know if the reason they postponed the flyweight TUF? Lack of recruits? To be honest I'm mainly tuned into MM fights because I want to see him break Anderson's record. Then they can fold that division and make 135lbs. awesome.

I saw a theory that it was because most of the potential fighters speak no English. TUF is a TV show - and Americans are apparently too lazy to read subtitles - so that's a problem.
 
No, it's that they're manlets .

Watching that fight with the level of disinterest that I did despite the high stakes & good finish made me realise that it's not MM's fault, it's just like having an NBA with a 5ft limit. No matter how skilled they are, there's just something essentially ridiculous and pointless about it.

The problem with your analogy would be that the hoops would be 8 ft tall and the games, from an onlooker's perspective, could be just as exciting. It's only ridiculous because you know they are shorter than average.
 
England's current one day captain is a small man, James Taylor was 5'5, Brian Lara was small, Tendulkar was tiny, Williamson and Mcullum are both under 5'7. There's as many small guys doing well as there is big.
Cricket isn't a contact sport.
 
Cricket isn't a contact sport.
I never said it was, but we were talking about how smaller athletes have nowhere to turn apart from MMA.
Basketball also isn't a contact sport and we're constantly hearing about how these guys would dominate in MMA
 
I never said it was, but we were talking about how smaller athletes have nowhere to turn apart from MMA.
Basketball also isn't a contact sport and we're constantly hearing about how these guys would dominate in MMA
Size matters in basketball as it's still physical.
 
Hundreds of millions?
And they all want to do MMA? So much so that even though there are hundreds of millions more men of a normal size, there will somehow be just as much competition at the 125lb division? Even though a huge percentage of those tiny men are from India, a country which has a minuscule amount of elite fighters...
 
And they all want to do MMA? So much so that even though there are hundreds of millions more men of a normal size, there will somehow be just as much competition at the 125lb division? Even though a huge percentage of those tiny men are from India, a country which has a minuscule amount of elite fighters...
That wasn't the question. There are hundreds of millions of people of that stature in Asia, Africa, South America etc. etc. More than there are people of "normal size"
 
That wasn't the question. There are hundreds of millions of people of that stature in Asia, Africa, South America etc. etc. More than there are people of "normal size"
No. The average height globally outside of places like India [Which barely do MMA - And certainly a sum total of less than 1% at an elite level] is between 5-8 and 5-9. So no, midgets are not the global majority, & just because you may be one, doesn't mean you need to delude the facts. [Cue: "I'm 6'4 and got beaten up by a guy who is 5'3]. Let's get the straw mans out of the way quickly :)
 
I watched the MM fight with my girlfriend yesterday and with no prior knowledge of the division she said "they're tiny, they're like midgets, he's my size, it's really weird to watch". That's the average uneducated person's initial take.
 
No. The average height globally outside of places like India [Which barely do MMA - And certainly a sum total of less than 1% at an elite level] is between 5-8 and 5-9. So no, midgets are not the global majority, & just because you may be one, doesn't mean you need to delude the facts. [Cue: "I'm 6'4 and got beaten up by a guy who is 5'3]. Let's get the straw mans out of the way quickly :)
The average height of the human male around the world is about 5'8''. There are more people that are shorter, but countries that have taller people, are much taller on average.
 
It's not coming around and won't anytime soon. They built a center for ants.
 
The average height of the human male around the world is about 5'8''. There are more people that are shorter, but countries that have taller people, are much taller on average.
Yes… Exactly what I just said… So how are there 'far' more people big enough to make the 125lb division than people who cannot?
 
Yes… Exactly what I just said… So how are there 'far' more people big enough to make the 125lb division than people who cannot?
Population wise, there are more short people in the world than people you consider "normal size". MMA might not be a thing in those parts of the world though, plus MMA in many places is a rich man's sport. Why people are shorter in some places? Nutrition.

If you need to know what kind of a manlet I am, I'm about 5'11''. And have got my ass kicked by a 5'2'' girl

EDIT. In layman terms, the majority of Earth's population is shorter than the average height.
 
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