The Doggy Bag

The upcoming fight between Jussier da Silva and Danny Martinez has got me thinking about the flyweight division in MMA. With Dana White saying the flyweight division will be in the UFC soon, people are starting to get interested in the weight class, but apart from smaller Japanese promotions, it is hard to see the best guys fighting at that weight. Do you think a promotion like Tachi Palace Fights could raise its profile in the next year or two by really promoting this division, letting fans know that basically, these guys are fighting for UFC contracts down the line? What about a promotion like King of the Cage, since Mamoru Yamaguchi is their 125-pound champion now? It seems like a major opportunity for some promotion to get a ton of attention by essentially doing the UFC’s work for them.
-- Scott from Mississauga

Jeff Sherwood, Sherdog.com founder: It's funny you ask this question now. I will answer it from a Tachi Palace Fights standpoint, since I was with promotion representative Jeremy Luchau on Thanksgiving morning watching Jussier da Silva get a workout in for his upcoming fight on Dec. 2 in Lemoore, Calif. When I mentioned this email to Jeremy he made his thoughts clear.

“We plan on continuing to grow and develop the 125-pound division and establish it as our marquee division,” said Luchau. “We aggressively go after the best flyweights both in the U.S. and abroad.”

Jeremy also stated, “We want these guys to grow and move into the biggest organizations in the world. We have contracts with all our fighters, but if the UFC calls them we will let them go fight.”

So it sounds like TPF gets it. They know where they stand in the big picture of MMA. They want to put on entertaining shows with good fights and let its fighters progress.

If only all promotions felt this way.