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A weight class once thought to be on life support will crown a new champion on Saturday night. Or will it?
Despite widespread rumors the UFC was going to ditch the men’s flyweight division, which was accompanied about a year back by an obvious paring back in the roster of 125-pounders, the division lives.
[autotag]Joseph Benavidez[/autotag], one of the greatest fighters never to hold a UFC title, will meet Brazil’s [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] in the UFC on ESPN+ 27 main event Saturday.
The bout originally was set to fill the vacancy left by Henry Cejudo, who defeated longtime standard-bearer Demetrious Johnson at UFC 227 to claim the championship, then went on to win the bantamweight title at UFC 238 before relinquishing the former late last year.
However, Friday morning’s weigh-ins brought a wrinkle: Figueiredo missed the championship weight limit by 2.5 pounds, coming in at 127.5. That means if Benavidez wins, he’ll become champion. If Figueiredo is victorious, the title will remain vacant.
We’re not going to lie to you and act like Saturday night’s card is the deepest or most intriguing the promotion has ever lined up. But the potential of a new champion’s coronation in a fight that looks solid on paper is enough to merit giving this show a look all on its own. And a pair of fights that amount to de facto auditions for a shot at UFC women’s featherweight queen Amanda Nunes offer yet another fine reason to tune in.
UFC on ESPN+ 27 takes place Saturday at Chartway Arena in Norfolk, Va. The card streams on ESPN+.
Without further ado, then, here are four burning questions heading into UFC Norfolk.
Will Joseph Benavidez finally capture his elusive world title?
If one judge had scored one round differently at WEC 50, Benavidez (28-5 MMA, 15-3 UFC) would have defeated Dominick Cruz for the bantamweight title.
If one judge had scored one round differently at UFC 152, Benavidez, not Johnson, would have been the first UFC flyweight champion.
Those razor-thin margins in a pair of split decisions mark the difference between Benavidez getting counted among the ranks of world champions many years ago, and his distinction now as one of the greatest fighters never to hold a major belt.
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Now he’s finally getting another chance to change that status. Benavidez, who also lost a rematch to Johnson via knockout in 2013, has 20 victories in Zuffa counting his WEC days. And this fight with Figueiredo (17-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) isn’t just a lifetime achievement award in and of itself: He’s won three straight and nine of 10, a run that includes a victory over Cejudo to earn another crack at the gold.
Benavidez will be remembered as one of the great ones regardless of what happens Saturday. But as Michael Bisping can tell you, getting the title toward the end makes all the perception difference in the world.
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