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Josh Thomson: UFC replacing Flyweight division with 165-pound weight class

The UFC is rumoured to be finally adding their much talked about 165 lbs division after UFC 233 in January of next year.
The event is currently scheduled to be headlined by current Bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw moving down to 125lbs in a bid to defeat current Flyweight Champ Henry Cejudo and become just the third man to hold two UFC titles simultaneously (after Conor McGregor at UFC 205 and Daniel Cormier at UFC 226) and definitively kill the UFC’s Flyweight Division in the process.

Former UFC Fighter and former Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Josh Thomson took to Twitter to share the exciting rumour.

It isn’t a surprise to see that the Flyweight Division will be getting the chop, with the departure of the longtime former champ Demetrious Johnson to ONE Championship and a number of other Flyweight competitors being axed such as Justin Scoggins, Jarred Brooks and most recently Ulka Sasaki who has been newly picked up by Rizin FF.

With the collapse of one division, it would make sense for the UFC to invest in a new division, and the 165lbs division would bring an array of matchups and be a perfect fit for a number of fighters.
One particularly would be current Welterweight contender Rafael Dos Anjos, who just lost a Unanimous Decision to Kamaru Usman in the Main Event of the TUF 28 Finale in which he looked completely undersized whilst being dominated by ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Usman.

On this same card, current Flyweight Joseph Benavidez pleads for the UFC to keep the 125lb division open after finishing Alex Perez inside the first round.

RDA is just one of many big names who could find success at the 165lb weight class, other fighters such as Nate Diaz, Donald Cerrone, Kevin Lee and Michael Chiesa would be a perfect fit for the division and benefit from the reduced weight cut. Not to mention newly signed and undefeated former ONE champion Ben Askren who is scheduled to make his debut on the same card as the Dillashaw vs Cejudo fight, UFC 233. And 165 would be a perfect door for Georges St Pierre to make another triumphant return through, where a potential super fight vs Khabib or McGregor could take place.

Only time can tell if the UFC finally makes the decision to announce a new division. Dana White is still adamantly denying the inclusion of a potential ‘Super Lightweight’ title, but as we near the Cejudo vs Dillashaw bout and the potential conclusion of the Flyweight division, it seems more and more likely that the persistent talks of 165lbs will materialise into reality.

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