The flyweight division still has a home in the UFC..at least for now.
Rumors were swirling all last week that the 125-pound men’s division was on the brink of extinction after several fighters got their walking papers and stating that the reason they were released stemmed from the flyweight division being phased out of the UFC.
It didn’t help matters much that former flyweight king Demetrious Johnson was traded from the UFC to ONE Championship and current champion Henry Cejudo was being targeted for a fight against bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw.
Well it turns out that fight is happening but Cejudo will be staying at flyweight with Dillashaw cutting down to 125 pounds for the fight at UFC 233 on Jan. 26 from Anaheim.
UFC president Dana White confirmed that fight on Saturday night while briefly addressing the future of the flyweight division at the same time.
“Listen, we’re working on some things right now with that division,” White said when asked about the flyweights. “Dillashaw wants to win two belts like there’s five or six guys who have done it. He wants to do it. Cejudo is absolutely fine fighting at that weight instead of going to 135 [pounds] so we made it.”
After the 25th Anniversary, it's only right we catch with the boss @danawhite. pic.twitter.com/wNMgX6nkv8
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White didn’t say that flyweight was being eradicated but then again he didn’t exactly answer with enthusiasm about the future of the division either.
For now the 125-pound division is moving forward at the very least with one more title fight planned for January with Cejudo defending his championship against Dillashaw.
It remains to be seen if the UFC decides to keep the flyweights after that fight and obviously White didn’t declare the rumors as false but rather just said they were ‘working on some things’.
Only time will tell if the flyweights will still have a home in the UFC in 2019 and beyond.
