https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAdL8ShOb7Q
After spending most of his career cutting to 125 pounds for the flyweight division, perennial top contender John Dodson is moving up to 135 pounds to compete at bantamweight. This is all according to Ariel Helwani on this week’s UFC Tonight. Dodson lost a dominant decision to UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson last month at UFC 191 in his second title shot. While he’s generally been a flyweight, he got into the UFC via a bantamweight season of The Ultimate Fighter, where he defeated current champion T.J. Dillashaw in the finals via a fast TKO.
According to what Dodson’s manager told Helwani, they’re also concerned about the ban on I.V. rehydration and the increased drug testing has eased fears about fighting enhanced fighters when moving up. Lately, for various reasons, we’ve been seeing an increased number of top fighters moving up, and so far, they’ve done pretty well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKqAFv7LEJs
The two names the immediately come to mind are John Lineker and Dustin Poirier. Poirier had actually been a lightweight (155) in the WEC, but he moved down to featherweight (145) when the WEC fighters moved to the UFC. Why? He got a big fight, a shot at then top contender Josh Grispi, and won. He only moved back up after being knocked out by Conor McGregor as year ago and so far has looked faster and more powerful at 155. Lineker never wanted to be a flyweight, kept missing weight, moved up, and stopped underrated but still highly ranked Francisco Rivera recently in a wild fight.
