"We're going to add the 125-pound weight division very soon," UFC president Dana White told reporters Thursday. "Like really soon."
He did not specify exactly when but said it would be before the end of the year.
Flyweight will be the eighth division for the mixed martial arts promoter, joining bantamweight (135 pounds), featherweight (145), lightweight (155), welterweight (170), middleweight (185), light-heavyweight (205) and heavyweight (205 to 265).
White said the UFC will sign talent and go from there.
"Then you start putting on fights and you figure out who the best is and have a title fight."
He did not rule out staging a tournament to figure out who's No. 1 at 125 pounds.
Adding a division allows the UFC to increase its stable of fighters.
"We need more fights," White said.
Plus it likely opens the door to more Mexican, Asian and other countries where the UFC is looking to expand.
All UFC Non-Title Main Events Will Be Five Round Fights Going Forward
Five-round non-title fights in main events will be the standard going forward in the UFC.
UFC president Dana White made the official announcement on Thursday that any fight signed from this day forward as a main event would be a five-round fight, regardless of whether or not it’s for a title.
Any fight currently signed for a main event that’s not a title fight, such as Rashad Evans and Phil Davis, who square off at UFC 133 in Philadelphia, will remain a three-round bout.
“What I don’t want to do to guys, fights that we’ve already made and they signed the bout agreement, you’re mentally training for a three-round fight. ‘Oh, now it’s five rounds’; you can’t do that to guys,” White stated.
He was specific in stating all future bout agreements for main event non-title fights would be five-round affairs.
“From this day forward, as we speak right here, right now today, every fight that is a main event that is not a title fight will be a five-round fight,” said White. “For Spike and everything else.”
This will be the first time in the modern history of the sport that MMA has had five-round fights that are not championship bouts.
White has long talked about making the move, and said they almost made the jump at UFC 131, but bout agreements had already been signed and the fighters were already in training camps to prepare for a three-round fight.
“We’re very close to doing it,” White revealed when speaking about five round non-title fights following UFC 129.
Now it is a reality.
White also specified that this policy is in effect for any show that the UFC produces whether it’s a pay-per-view or a UFC Fight Night event, main event fights will be five-round non-title bouts.
Let the cardio and conditioning workouts begin.
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