After finishing the women's weight classes yesterday, we're on to the men's divisions now and we'll start with the lightest. Men's flyweight sort of has the feel of some of the larger women's divisions where they don't quite feel like a real division. Men's flyweight is similar to women's bantamweight where the division is only approximately 30 or so fighters deep. This leads to the rankings being a little watered down and in this case, when the rankings represent half of the entire division, the back end of the top 15 doesn't carry the same meaning as being in those spots in the deeper divisions. With that said, men's flyweight has come a long way in recent years and is much more robust than it has been in eras past. I actually really look forward to the flyweight fights because things can change so quickly due to how small the division is. Fighters can slide up and down the rankings quickly and you can typically get the matchups that you want to see because it is much harder to duck opponents. Let's get into the look ahead now.
Champion - Brandon Moreno
Moreno captured UFC gold in his last fight, which was his rematch against Deiveson Figueiredo. This was one of the most inspirational moments of the MMA year as we saw Moreno climb the ladder and get all the way to the top after being cut by the UFC in the past. If there's an unfortunate aspect to all of this, it's that the story has over shadowed Moreno's actual fighting skills. Moreno is a great fighter to watch and that's due to his style. Moreno isn't the most amazing athlete in terms of his skills. He doesn't have insane hand speed, crazy power, virtuoso level BJJ, or anything of the sort. Moreno has solid skills in all facets of the sport, but he really uses his heart and will power to his advantage. He's tough and won't give up. He has good cardio and won't back down from a fight and that's taken him all the way to peak of the division. Defeating Figueiredo again won't be easy, but I think Moreno should be the favorite going in.
Next Challenger - Deiveson Figueiredo
Former champion Deiveson Figueiredo will complete his trilogy with Brandon Moreno in a couple of weeks. When I said all of that stuff about Moreno, Figueiredo is the opposite. Figueiredo is likely the most athletic fighter in the flyweight division. He has tremendous speed, power, and strength. He's powerful enough to get knockouts and has plenty of skill on the ground to finish submissions. Unfortunately, all of that strength and explosiveness comes at a cost and we've seen the massive weight cuts he undergoes really take a toll on Figueiredo at times. Moreno is more of a true flyweight and can fight all night if he has to. Figueiredo relies on those finishes that he is so great at finding. It's only a matter of time until he is forced to move up to bantamweight, but I think he has a decent chance of having one more run as flyweight champion before he moves up.
Contenders - Askar Askarov, Alexandre Pantoja, and Kai Kara-France
Askar Askarov would likely be the no doubt number one contender for the title if he hadn't missed weight in the past. Askarov is undefeated and has proven to be a major problem for everyone he's gotten in the octagon with. His wrestling is his strength and no one has been able to solve it yet. Askarov's next opponent is going to be Kai Kara-France. If Askarov is the clear number one contender, then if Kara-France can defeat him, that leaves him as the number one contender. Kara-France has found his ability to finish fights recently and that has led to him getting into the elite of the division. Kara-France is primarily a stand up fighter, so if he's able to get the jump on Askarov, that will really prove his worthiness of that title shot. It won't be easy, but the path to a title shot for him is fairly straight forward. The final contender in my eyes is Alexandre Pantoja. Pantoja will really benefit from Moreno retaining his title. Pantoja has multiple wins over Moreno in the past, so that story writes itself as long as Moreno has the belt and Pantoja is on a winning streak. It's setting itself up that Pantoja may need one more win, but after that, he has a strong of an argument as anyone for the next title shot.
Up and Comers - Matheus Nicolau, Manel Kape, and Sumudaerji
Matheus Nicolau is a name that may not stand out even to fans who watch most events. He doesn't get talked about very much and he's not the most thrilling guy to watch, but at some point, results speak for themselves. He's 5-1 in the UFC and has 4 wins a row. Unfortunately for him, he only has one win by finish in the UFC, which probably holds him back in the eyes of the fans and UFC brass. With a few more higher level wins, he'll have done too much to deny. He could be in line for some really big fights in 2022. Manel Kape is lower in the rankings, coming in at 14, and has had a rocky start to his UFC career. He's 2-2 overall and has won his last 2. He was very tentative in his first two fights, but he's been able to overcome that and get some explosive knockouts in his last two appearances. If he's able to maintain this momentum with high level finishes, he could be on the fast track to some really big fights. Sumudaerji is an interesting case. He's 3-1 in the UFC with 3 wins a row. He's 13th in the rankings and has shown a lot of promise, especially in the knockout department. What makes him so interesting is that he is still so young with so much room to grow. If he can continue to improve, especially in the grappling phase, then the sky really is the limit for him going forward. He may not push for the title this year, but he's so talented that he could find himself in some interesting matchups later this year and early in 2023.
Wild Cards - Cody Garbrandt, Alex Perez, and Brandon Royval
Of course, Cody Garbrandt is the name here that everyone knows. What makes him a wild card is that no one really even knows what to expect. We don't know if he will be staying in the division or going back up to 135. Garbrandt also doesn't have a win at flyweight, so you can't really place him in the rankings with any sort of accuracy. The thing is, we know the UFC wants to give him a title shot due to the name value he provides to a division that could really use some names. Despite everything we've seen from him over the last couple of years, Cody could find himself fighting for a title after only 2 wins in a row depending on the opponent. Alex Perez is here for me because he is in such a weird spot. His last fight was for the title, but he took that fight on short notice after Garbrandt was forced to pull out. He hasn't fought in over a year now and just had a fight cancelled a few weeks back. He really should be pretty close to a title shot since his first shot wasn't really his, but at some point he's going to have to fight again. We haven't seen him in so long that it feels like the division is sort of moving on without him and that would be so unfortunate given that he sacrificed his title shot for the benefit of the UFC and he may never get a second opportunity. Of course, with a win in his next fight, he'll find himself right back on the short list of title contenders. It would also benefit him if Moreno is still the champion since we've already seen Perez vs Figueiredo. The last fighter listed here for me is Brandon Royval. He's the true definition of a wild card for me given his style. Royval fights in an all out, kill or be killed, type of style. This leaves Royval capable of beating anyone, but also losing to anyone. This style doesn't lend itself to long winning streaks, which makes getting all the way to a title shot fairly difficult. Royval is extremely talented and I think he's capable of beating anyone in the weight class at any time. I just don't know if he can get the 3 or 4 wins in a row required to get that shot with his style. I hope he does though because he's so exciting to watch that putting him a title fight would all but guarantee insanity.
Prospects - Jeff Molina, Tagir Ulanbekov, Amir Albazi, and Muhammad Mokaev
Even though flyweight isn't the deepest division, there are some guys outside the rankings who have serious potential. Molina is probably the most well known name on this list despite only being 2-0 in the UFC. He's shown serious striking ability in both of his fights. Obviously, with only 2 fights in the UFC, he has a lot to show us, but the flash is definitely there and he seems to have the talent to make a run into the rankings at the very least. We'll see what he looks like against some stiffer competition. Tagir Ulanbekov is also 2-0 in the UFC and uses a grappling heavy style. We're going to see him get a nice step up in competition at UFC 272 when he fights Tim Elliot. Elliot will be a great test as he's also a great grappler and will not tire. If Ulanbekov can get a win there, he can find himself fighting inside the top 8 soon after. Albazi is also 2-0 and relies heavily on his grappling and submissions. He's had a lot of fights cancelled over the last year plus and they were matchups I wish we had gotten to see for him. It looks like he'll be getting a nice step up based on his cancelled fights against Raulian Paiva and Ode Osbourne, so he could find himself fighting inside the rankings by the end of the year. Mokaev has never appeared in the UFC, but he's got a lot of hype behind. He's wrestling heavy and has 2 submissions and 2 knockouts on his 5-0 resume. You can see his fights on Youtube and obviously the competition level is different, but he looks to be for real. He's called out Cody Durden and I think that would be a great way for him to start his UFC career. I can't wait to see what he looks like in the UFC and I think he has serious potential.
What do you guys think of men's flyweight? The division has come so far since the times when it seemed like the division would be removed from the UFC? Who do you like to win in the Figueiredo vs Moreno trilogy fight? Who do you think should get the next shot after that? What happens with Cody Garbrandt? How far can Manel Kape and Brandon Royval take it? Can we see the likes of Jeff Molina and Amir Albazi rise to the top of the division? Leave any and all thoughts in the comments and thanks for reading. Having a good one.
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