125 Division: Fly Off The Handle

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As I sit here after another great night of fights at the Tachi Palace Casino & Resort, I cannot not help but think of the flyweight division.

Friday night at Tachi Palace Fights 8 we witnessed No. 1 ranked flyweight Jussier da Silva go down to Ian McCall. Plus TPF flyweight champion Ulysses Gomez went down in defeat to underdog Darrell Montague.

What’s the deal with this division?

Are our rankings way off base? No, I think it comes down to the division still being a work in progress, and over time will work itself out. When I take a look at the rankings there seems to be the parity that all sports fans crave at the moment: guys on the contenders list can beat anyone in the top 10 on any given night.

Is this a bad thing? Heck no, that’s why we love this sport and what makes it so exciting. But like I said, give it a year or so and the cream of the crop will rise to the top and begin to take over just like we have seen in other divisions.

Remember when the heavyweight class was pretty much the same way? Now we seem to have a pretty good idea as to what the pecking order is and where most of the big boys fit in.

Speaking of working out the pecking order, Lemoore, Calif., will be busy in the coming months as Mamoru Yamaguchi and John Dodson will toe the line May 5 at the Tachi Palace. Plus Jussier da Silva has a multiple fight deal so I’m assuming he will be back in there soon. Now the question is does TPF match Montague up against McCall? Or does one of these fighters get the winner of Yamaguchi-Dodson?

The UFC will let these smaller organizations work out the 125-pound order, then someday when they have enough room to bring in the division that has some of the most exciting fighters in the world, they will do so and people will fall in love with it.