Why The UFC Messed Up With Women’s Featherweight

Earlier this year, the UFC announced the installment of its twelfth division: a women’s featherweight division. The only problem, however, is that it’s barely a division, and it may be fair to say that the UFC made a mistake by creating this division.

To be honest, the division was created for one reason, or rather for one fighter, and that’s former Invicta FC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg Justino. The Brazilian slugger has long been considered to be one of the very best female fighters on the planet, if not the best period. She is also a massive featherweight, which is why her debut in the UFC came long after many had hoped it would.

Cyborg has had two UFC bouts to date, with both ending in stoppage victories for her, but with both also taking place at a catchweight of 140 pounds, and even at that weight limit, she had difficulty making weight. Given the star power she possesses, the UFC essentially created a division for her, which does make a bit of sense, although she did not fight for the inaugural title, which was odd.

At UFC 208, which took place this past February from Brooklyn, New York, Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie, two natural bantamweights, fought for the newly invented women’s featherweight title. This was the first mistake regarding the division, as the UFC essentially took two fighters from a different weight class and booked them against each other in a title fight because a main event was needed rather than wait for the fighter in which the division was created for.

The problems didn’t stop there, however. De Randamie went on to beat Holm in a lackluster and somewhat controversial bout before refusing to fight Cyborg and recently being stripped of her title.

After the decision to strip de Randamie of the title, the UFC essentially had a division, if it can even be considered that, without a champion and without a list of viable contenders.

Obviously Cyborg was going to fight for the now-vacant title, but it was difficult to find her an opponent because, once again, there are no contenders waiting. Eventually, she was booked against Invicta featherweight champion Megan Anderson at UFC 214 on July 29, 2017, which was an intriguing fight because Cyborg would actually be taking on a legitimate featherweight and contender.

Unfortunately, Anderson was forced to withdraw from the bout earlier this week, which led the UFC to replace her with Invicta bantamweight champion Tonya Evinger. While Evinger was likely the best option, and she certainly deserves credit for stepping up to face Cyborg when very few fighters are willing to, it seems as if we are back to square one, as Cyborg will essentially be fighting a smaller fighter.

It simply seems as if there isn’t a division at 145 pounds. Instead, it seems as if Cyborg is the rightful champion, and she is undoubtedly a championship caliber fighter, and the UFC will constantly be faced with the task of finding her an opponent, whether that be a be a featherweight, a bantamweight, or simply any female fighter willing to face the Brazilian.

In your opinion, did the UFC make a mistake by creating this division?