Dana White hinted that he had a major announcement regarding the rumored flyweight division at the UFC 140 pre-fight press conference and that he’d make it sometime this weekend. At the UFC 140 post-fight press conference the UFC president announced that the flyweight division will join the UFC ranks in March 2012 with a four man tournament to establish the first flyweight champion.
Ian McCall will face Demetrious Johnson on one side of the bracket white Joseph Benavidez will face Yasuhiro Urushitani on the other side. The winners of each fight will face each other in the finals and will be crowned the first UFC flyweight champion.
Both Benavidez and Johnson have been mentioned as fighters who would excel at 125 pounds. Both fighters have challenged UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz for his title and come up short in their title fights.
With the UFC committing more resources to the lighter weight divisions, expect for more fighters to drop from 135 to 125 shortly. This will be the first weight class added since the absorption of the WEC.