Merging the WEC’s lower weight classes into the UFC has yielded some of the most exciting fights we’ve seen in 2011. Denying that would mean you shop exclusively at Armani Exchange and you couldn’t see the broadcasts through your trendy sunglasses. The argument has been made to open up a flyweight division to create a home for fighters like Demetrious Johnson, Yasuhiro Urushitani, Ian McCall, Rambaa Somdet, Jussier da Silva, and Brandon Merkt, but MMA promoters have exhibited hesitations that the lower weight division would not be marketable.
Yesterday, at a press conference in Anaheim, California, Gary Shaw announced that Vic Darchinyan is leaving boxing to become the future of the MMA Flyweight division. When a boxer who’s 37-3-1 decides to leave the sport he’s dominated for over a decade, you’d assume he’s going into retirement. However, Vic Darchinyan has had his sights set on MMA for a while, and most boxing authorities would argue that he’s still very relevant as an athlete (unlike other boxers who have made similar transitions). Vic is poised to prove boxers can compete MMA and the future of MMA might have just gotten even more exciting in 2012. Here’s him talking about the move from Boxing to MMA. [Source]
