Outside Source
After what transpired at UFC
256, it’s hard to imagine that the flyweight division was once
on life support in the Las Vegas-based promotion.
Deiveson
Figueiredo and Brandon
Moreno put on a show for 25 minutes in Saturday’s headliner at
the UFC Apex, battling to a majority draw that was hailed as the
greatest fight in the history of the flyweight division. Making it
even more impressive was the fact that both Figueiredo and Moreno
were competing just 21 days after earning victories at UFC 255.
“I didn’t know, you don’t know [how it’s gonna turn out],” UFC
president Dana White said at the event’s post-fight press
conference. “Then you start wondering, ‘Well, we’re gonna find out
when this thing gets into the fourth and fifth round’ and things
like that. Seriously, we throw the word around a lot, but these two
are seriously f—-ing savages. Both of these guys are absolute
savages.”
Ironically, it was a pair of flyweights who stepped up to save an
event that had lost a pair of title fights at the top of the card.
In late 2018, it appeared the 125-pound division’s days were
numbered. Rumors that the promotion were removing the weight class
began with a “trade” of former champion and pound-for-pound
contender Demetrious
Johnson to One Championship and persisted into 2019 as many
flyweight talents were released from their contracts.
Now, the potential dissolution of the flyweight division seems like
little more than a distant memory. White claims UFC matchmaker Mick
Maynard deserves the lion’s share of the credit for reviving the
division.
“I gotta give it to Mick. Mick went in and restructured and rebuilt
that division and it’s one of the most exciting divisions in the
UFC now,” White said. “Tonight, we put on a potential ‘Fight of the
Year’ and potential greatest fight ever in this division’s history.
So congrats to Mick.”
Purists will argue that the flyweight division has always had
value, even during its darkest times. White, however, argued that
the interest level just wasn’t as high in previous years when
“Mighty Mouse” reigned at 125 pounds.
“We all know nobody cared about it,” White said. “I sat up here at
press conferences before the fight telling everybody why you needed
to watch that division and why there were so many great fights. But
people just didn’t give a s—t. You can’t make people care. They
gotta care or they don’t.
“Mick had some ideas. He wanted to make some tweaks in the
division. He did it and here we are today.”
And what exactly were those tweaks?
“I think you can figure it out if you look at it,” White said.
“Look at the roster. It’s all exciting guys. Guys that are fun to
talk to. You’ve got a guy who’s a real Mexican from Mexico and
fights like a Mexican from Mexico.”
White, of course, is referring to Moreno, who became a star by
virtue of absorbing everything Figueiredo had to offer in the UFC
256 main event. Moreno, too, was a casaulty of the flyweight purge
following back-to-back losses to Sergio
Pettis and Alexandre
Pantoja. But “The Assassin Baby” worked his way back after
being released and the UFC is better off for it.
“To the body, to the head, the shots he was taking—It’s funny
because leading up to this week he was telling everybody that his
hero is Julio Cesar Chavez and that’s who he wants—when people
remember him and his career—he wants to be remembered like a Julio
Cesar Chavez,” White said. “When you look at typical Mexican
fighters, [Moreno] is the prototype. He is exactly what you think
of when you think of real Mexican fighters. He looked damn good
tonight.”
It appears that a return date between Figueiredo and Moreno is
inevitable — exactly when is unknown.
“You absolutely, positively do that rematch,” White said. “That’s
another fun fight for us all to look forward to in 2021.
“These guys just fought twice in three weeks. They’ve got nothing
but time. They can take as much time as they need.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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