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What did you think of the flyweight title fight?

What did you think of Joseph Benadivez/Demitrious Johnson? POLL INCLUDED

8K views 144 replies 51 participants last post by  LizaG 
#1 ·
I was shocked some people seemed to be dissapointed in this fight cause I thought it was a FOTY contender and was incredibly entertained by what I thought was an exciting fight. That said what are others opinions?
 
#74 ·
Can I just say that I am not agreeing with the opinion of this being fight of the year.

It was a fun fight with big implications, both guys took it very seriously and put on a great performance.

It was the fight to crown the first Champ of a new weight division, 'filler' and 'non-important' do not apply.
 
#78 ·
I was entertained throughout - good fight. Not my FOTY though. I really enjoy the flyweights (As well as the other lighter weightclasses) because of the speed and the technicallity of the little guys ;)

BTW I still think Uncle Creepy beat Mighty Mouse the first time around, oh well :p
 
#83 ·
I got no problems with the weight, being smaller does not mean they cant stand in the pocket and bang - boxing has showed us this over the years. Its just these two didnt really do that, Benadivez wasnt landing and Johnson didnt attempt a single move that had a chance of finishing the fight...he was point fighting and Benavidez couldnt do anything about it. Nothing wrong with it, wasnt a great fight though.
 
#89 ·
I liked it, I thought it was fast paced and technical and there was the big moment in the fourth where Joseph rocked him and almost subbed him. Demeterious is something else though, would love to see him and Dodson go at it.

That said, the fight aside how on earth anyone could have given that to Joe is beyond me.
 
#91 ·
It was boring as hell. Granted I was anxiously awaiting for the Bones fight, but still. The general public just does not want to see anything below 155. That is why with fights like this, Faber/Barao, etc, Dana tries so hard to defend them. He wants to get people to like them, although in reality, I truly believe many people would rather have the 5 division than 7 or 8.
 
#93 ·
There was a time people didn't want to see anything below 170, hell that is why BJ made his initial run at WW. BJ move back down to LW is what made the LW division relevant in peoples eyes. I believe Edgar vs Aldo will be the fight that makes the FW division relevant. I get that the general public isn't interested in the lighter weight classes, it honestly though has just as much to do IMO with the fact that nobody cares about the fighters in the divisions cause they don't know who they are and they don't know who they are and they can't fight anybody anyone cares about. Its the same problem that haunts organizations like Bellator.

I am surprised though that people on the board who obviously know the fighters and understand the level of skill involved didn't all enjoy the fight.
 
#94 ·
What really is the problem with 125 is there's absolutely no depth in the division. The UFC has 5 guys signed to it. Even if you get them exposure there's no one for them to fight. There is just not enough fighters in this division - I think - for people to get excited. They have as many flyweight fighters as Jones has title defenses.
 
#95 ·
This is true, hell at least if Benevidez had won then they could have had him vs Uncle Creepy. Now they really got nothing and even Dodson doesn't even remotely excite me. There was 3 guys and then everyone else and one of them just ran through the other two. The division is on life support just as soon as it really got started and that is coming from one of the divisions biggest advocates.
 
#96 ·
Right now they should be focused on establishing 135 and 145. They just don't have the talent pool to market the smaller fighters and hope for any real success. This small of a weight class starts to suffer Heavyweight Syndrome. Human size is on a bell curve. More people fall into the mid ranges (145 to 205) than the extremes (125, 135, and 265). Less people in that weight range means less depth in the fight pool.
 
#97 ·
I posted this in the other thread but I suppose it is just as relevant, if not more so for this one:

in 2 or 3 years, once the lighter divisions have some depth. Once we all get to know the history of the fighters, the styles, the interesting matchups, the rivalries, the dramas, THEN they will be just as exciting, if not more so than the heavier divisions.

The heavier divisions all have histories, which to me, makes most fights in them interesting as we have previous bouts to compare them with.

Some people just need to give the small guys a chance. They put on a hell of a fight.
 
#99 · (Edited)
maybe its just a sense of perception when you put small fighters inside a big octagon but for me its not as entertaining as watching the bigger weight classes, sure you get to see some super fast movement as they bounce around the octagon, and credit to them they used the space well, showed great speed and cardio.

But unfortunately does not change the fact that the octagon makes them look like midgets and I miss the higher percent of added danger in the power of larger weight classes, I would not pay a PPV if I had to to watch a flyweight title fight in the main event, but I have no issues about it been on the card the way the UFC did it co-main to another upper weight title fight.

As for Joe Rogans commentary on the higher level of skill been shown, he was just doing his job and promoting not just the fight but the division that the UFC is trying to sell, everything was just at a faster pace as is natural as you move down in weight, nothing was more skillful, what did we really see aside from a mounted guillotine attempt that the fighter never really fully locked up, and some counter striking, nothing was more dynamic or skillful that we saw from Johnson than we see from other champions like Jones, Dos Santos or Silva, in fact I would say that all those champions are a lot more skillful and dynamic in there striking that Johnson by a mile even.
 
#101 ·
I thought it was amazing. Definiite FOTY contender for me. I am amazed people didn't enjoy it - I can only rationalize it as people who didn't enjoy it want to see big giants with no tekkers just flatten each other with big hits and have no appreciation for straight up amazing technique and footwork. Same as Diaz v Condit I loved it.
 
#102 ·
I watched it, I have set through much worse and not complained, it was still better than most boxing matches. The small guys are not my favorite but its still a good fight. I get some people just don't like the small guys but I don't understand the booing of those two guys.
 
#109 ·
I stopped caring about it once it became apparent Benavidez wasn't going to KO Johnson.. I'll watch flyweights, and generally enjoy the lighter weight-classes, but I really don't like guys like Cruz and Johnson.
 
#110 ·
I'm not sure if its lack of familiarity or that I just enjoy the heavier weight classes more but I don't really enjoy the lower weight classes at all. Don't get me wrong, these guys obviously have a ton of skills and a lot of heart but it just doesn't do it for me.

I'll come off sounding hypocritical because I love to watch technical battles that go back and forth but I just don't get that excitement level with the small guys that I do when two 205lb dudes are swinging for the fences, going after subs and leaving it all out there. I know lots of people will disagree with me but that's just the feeling I get when they fight. For me HW, LHW, MW and WW are really the only weight classes that I really consider draws, anything else to me at this point are fillers. I wouldn't be sinking my money into LW, BW, FW Pay per view cards that are headlined by those weight classes. I know that sounds bad but it is what it is, either you're excited by it or you're not. I'm not.
 
#112 ·
I feel exactly that way about the flyweight division. I think that the possibility of a finish is what glues us to the fight. A chance of seeing a KO or submission excites us and makes us want to watch the fight. In the flyweight division, the fighters are all so highly skilled that submissions are going to be rare, and they don't pack enough KO power. It makes one tempted to just skip to the decision and just find out who managed to outmatch their opponent.
 
#124 ·
If you see this as fight of the year you have to be joking, would fight fans have been booing if this was even a contestant at fight of the year.

When you break it down and compare to other title fights these fighters don't even come close to the level of skill displayed by other champions and contenders, there was nothing great to speak of in that fight, if so please tell me what moment stood out so much that its making people rank it so highly, was there any great moves that left you in ore? No, was there a great KO or submission? No, was we even close to a great moment? NO..

If you think that Johnson is more skilled than other champions like Anderson Silva, GSP, Jones, Dos Santos, Aldo, Henderson or even Cruse then you are kidding yourself.
 
#128 ·
Hate to say it, Liza, but in all likelihood the flyweight division is going to fold before it fleshes out. Too few fighters. The UFC has 5, I believe, on the payroll. MM has already beat two of the other 4. That's not a division.

The problem is so few men are this size and athletically gifted that the talent pool will always be smaller than the more common weight ranges. Combine that with most casual fans distaste of the lighter weight classes and it doesn't spell out a bright future.
 
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#129 ·
I can see them sticking with it what ever tbh, it wont headline many ppvs though....i can see the title fights being regulated to free cards only and the rest being prelims - only reason to can it altogether would be fighter pay....if they feel they would be making more fighting at bantamweight that is where they will go if possible.
 
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