Dillashaw reacts to his victory over Renan Barao in their bantamweight championship bout
With the implementation of the women's Strawweight division the UFC now has 10 champions to participate in the ambitious 2015 goal of 45 events. I’d like to share my thoughts on what makes some weightclasses more thrilling then others. Which division is worth spending your valuable time and money on? Does technique and speed get your attention as demonstrated by the lighter weight classes? Do you like seeing titans clash in epic bloodbaths? Is there an absolute perfect harmony of elements you seek that is a blend of all things?
In an insightful article from Bloody Elbow writer, Mookie Alexander illistrates how the Bantamweight division is the least active division in fight bookings, and main card placement. Due to injuries and lack of contenders this division is not generating the level of interest that it’s capable of.
Dominic Cruz put the division on hold with his injuries so long that he was stripped; Renan Barao has been significantly less active since losing the belt to Dillashaw; Assuncao has been waiting and injured between infrequent bouts; Uriah Faber is in superfight mode due to his losses to the guys at the top of the division and his relationship with Dillashaw; and finally, Dillashaw has beat Joe Soto since winning the belt from Barao at UFC 173 just over a year ago, but has had his rematch with Barao delayed multiple times first due to a bad weight cut on Barao’s part and a rib injury on his part.
There is a lot of potential for this division but because there is a lot of inactivity at the top of the mountain it’s hindering the development of interest in new faces who are trying to get more fights to claw their way out of the lowest tier of Reebok sponsorship deal. The division merged over from the WEC at the end of 2010 and yet the bad card placements, and bad luck courtesy of the injury bug is not allowing the division to come over with the fans.
If we look at the potential though, there are silver linings to look for. Dominic Cruz, Renan Barao, and TJ Dillishaw are 29, 28, and 29 respectively. That puts the 3 most exciting fighters at the top of the division at the beginning of their athletic prime and plenty of time for cage-time to build legacies and fanbases.
I feel optomistic about the future of the bantamweight division. There has got to be a streak of non-injury good luck to happen eventually and the phenominal athletes available will clash at some point. Like with boxing I believe the smaller guys will have their day and put a stamp on how great this division could be.
Update: I've included the fantastic interview of Dominic Cruz by mmafighting.com's Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour.
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