So what might a flyweight tournament look like?
Joey
October 18th
So the other day new broke of the UFC's discussions (I think calling them plans would be dishonest from a company that doesn't DO much planning) about potentially having a flyweight tournament to determine a new title holder. It's a relatively novel idea for the UFC because if you think about it, tournaments are all about not having control while the UFC is all about control. With a little bit of free time at work, I decided to run through some potential tournament brackets to see how things might shake out potentially. I blame @theanticool for this shizz.
https://brackethq.com/b/vm4/
This one is strictly from the UFC rankings. It's pitting 1 through 7 (B) since there's no #8. I think we need to stop and consider what the hell the point of the rankings are if we can have two #7s like it's a Wendy's drive thru. So let's say the UFC just goes by their rankings and right off the bat, a potential finals is in the first round. Joseph Benavidez vs Kai Kara-France could be a finals fight if we're being fair and honest about this whole thing. Pantoja vs Sergio Pettis is a mighty fine fight as well and I'm sure Sergio Pettis is more than happy to avoid having a fight with Jussier Formiga. Speaking of Formiga, he has a pretty clear-ish path to the finals since I'm not sure Bontorin is any good and we've already seen him beat Figueiredo as well. I think this one shakes out with Formiga waiting to see Benavidez for a third time unless Sergio Pettis can interrupt that journey.
https://brackethq.com/b/dq4/
I call this one the "Winner's Only" Bracket! In large part because the "Joseph Benavidez must not reach the finals" bracket is probably illegal. If the UFC did any sort of tournament, you figure their biggest fear is winding up with some Jussier Formiga vs Joe-B Won Kenobi finals. The best way to avoid that? Put Joe and EVERY rematch he's ever had on one side and put a bunch of folks on the other side who guarantee us a fresh fight IF Benavidez reaches the finals. As such we have one side of the brackets that's entirely Joe B, Sergio Pettis, Jussier Formiga and the underrated Alex Perez. That's called protecting yaself! On the other side of the brackets, I went with a fun little concept. I took the three flyweights I know of who have won fights (Figueiredo, Schnell and Bontorin) and then booked a rematch for Brandon Moreno and Askar Askarov. For those with shuntsy memories, those two guys had a wild split draw in Mexico a few weeks back. I figure that way if Benavidez makes it to the end, we've got a fresh match up entirely rather than a potential rematch
https://brackethq.com/b/oq4/
NFL style! The two most accomplished flyweights in this entire tournament get byes! I figure that's a fair idea given that Benavidez and Formiga have done more than anybody else at 125 lbs. So you give Benavidez and Formiga the chance to sit out and pick the four flyweights coming off wins and have them battle it out. In this scenario, you'd get Schnell vs Kai Kara France (winner gets Benavidez) and Pettis vs Figueiredo (winner gets Formiga). Wouldn't surprise me if they considered doing something like this. Theoretically what do Benavidez and Formiga have to prove by fighting somebody like Brandon Moreno? Probably not much.
https://brackethq.com/b/du4/
And for those of you who want to go and get nuts? USA vs the World! Sixteen fighters (I signed two guys per spot) with USA vs The World matching head up. I figure that'll suck a few stragglers in to get excited about. The USA vs World brackets do give us some interesting exciting weirdo matchups such as Kai Kara-France vs Jose Torres, Deveison Figuieredo vs Sergio Pettis, the debuting Sid Bice vs Brandon Moreno and Tim Elliott vs Askar Askarov. The top half of this deal is loaded up though with Benavidez/Bontorin, Kai Kara-France/Jose Torres, Perez/San Yang and Pettis/Figuieredo as well.
