Joseph Benavidez Signs New Four-Fight UFC Contract At Flyweight
Flyweight title contender Joseph Benavidez has signed a new four-fight deal with the UFC. This could bode well for the 125-pounds division.
The former Team Alpha Male fighter announced he’s signed a new four-fight deal in the weight class he’s fought in since 2012.
Benavidez resigning comes as a bit of a surprise considering the promotion’s rumored plans to dissolve the flyweight division. Surely the UFC informed the former title challenger that he would be moving up in weight, right? He said they didn’t actually bring it up:
“Didn’t bring it up,” Benavidez told reporters today at a media event ahead of his fight with Dustin Ortiz at UFC on ESPN+ 1 this month.
The fact that a flyweight title fight is headlining UFC on ESPN+ 1 must be reassuring to Benavidez. It did look bleak for a moment there when many of the lighter-weight fighters began getting cut.
For now anyway, Benavidez will take the no news is good news approach.
“I think everything really chilled out once they got that fight, because it’s steady, and we can’t really do anything in the division until after this fight,” Benavidez said. “Business as usual until you hear otherwise.”
From the very beginning, the flyweight fighters have had to prove themselves more so than the bigger guys. Benavidez still has that chip on his shoulders. R
“It was never welcomed as much as big guys, period,” he said. “There was never, ‘We’re on the chopping block,’ but there was always something because we were the new division. I fight my balls off either way. But since the start, we’ve needed to prove we’re the best, skilled division.”
