Using the rating system and a relatively unscientific methodology to qualify fighters, this is what a eight-man UFC Flyweight tournament may look like, with two alternate bouts.
To qualify, fighters must fulfill one of the following:
- At least one true Flyweight bout in the last three years AND at least one bout in the US in the last 18 months OR a scheduled bout in the US on Sherdog.
- At least two bouts in the US in the last three years, where the fighter weighed in at or below 134.0. The idea here, is that they either fought a catchweight between Flyweight and Bantamweight, or have no issue making Bantamweight.
I have also excluded Dominick Cruz from consideration, as he is the current champion at Bantamweight.
All ratings were also converted to Flyweight ratings for seeding purposes.
#1/#8 -> [#2 BW] Joseph Benavidez (15-2-0) vs. [#48 BW] Darren Uyenoyama (6-3-0)
#2/#7 -> [#6 BW] Alexis Vila (10-0-0) vs. [#3] Jussier da Silva (10-1-0)
#3/#6 -> [#11 BW] Demetrious Johnson (9-2-0) vs. [#2] Ian McCall (11-2-0)
#4/#5 -> [#15 BW] Takeya Mizugaki (15-6-2) vs. [#22 BW] Eduardo Dantas (11-2-0)
Alt #1 -> [#6] Mamoru Yamaguchi (26-6-3) vs. [#61 BW] Mike Easton (10-1-0)
Alt #2 -> [#7] Josh Rave (22-8-0) vs. [#59 BW] Frank Baca (9-1-0)
Apologies if I missed anyone — I absolutely do not have all weigh-in information for all events. When it boils down to it though, who knows when the UFC will add the division and who really knows who is willing to and CAN move down to 125 pounds?
The really shocking part is how weak the Flyweight division is in comparison to Bantamweight. Let’s hope that the UFC kicks the division off with at least four fights, or else the Flyweight rankings here will be a fluctuating mess for some time.