The UFC has officially confirmed they will be adding a women’s flyweight division in 2017.
Last week, the UFC released a press release stating the next season of The Ultimate Fighter would feature women competing at 125 pounds with the winner earning the first UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship.
However, UFC President Dana White later said the press release was sent out by mistake and the UFC had not made a decision yet regarding bringing in a women’s flyweight division.
On Tuesday, White confirmed with ESPN W that the promotion is officially starting a women’s flyweight division.
“Women’s fighting has become very popular,” White said. “I waited for a while to pull the trigger on this division, and I think it’s time. I’m ready to do it now.”
Women fighters from both the bantamweight and strawweight division are happy about the new weight class and plan on making a switch to the division.
“We need this division in the UFC,” UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk said. “There are more good female fighters coming into the UFC. Some fighters from 135 will drop to 125 because the division is too big for them, and some fighters from 115 will go up because they are starving themselves. We need to think about our future.”
“This is the true chance to be the 125-pound champ I always knew I was going to be,” current bantamweight Jessica Eye said. “For all the women that fight at 125, it’s the true chance at stardom and the true chance at being able to be a world champion. It’s a very large jump from 115 to 135, so I’m happy they finally found some middle ground for us.”
Season 26 of TUF will begin filming in July. The show will conclude, and a women’s flyweight champion will be crowned at the end of the year.
