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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC introduced the flyweight division in 2012, but despite headlining placement for a few fighters, a large amount of fights in the division have taken place lower on fight cards, many of them relegated to Facebook. That includes the next challenger in the division in John Moraga, as well as the man he defeated to get that title fight, Chris Cariaso.
The 31-year-old Cariaso has appeared six times in the UFC, compiling a 4-2 mark through both the bantamweight division. Despite that success, and some entertaining fights, five of his bouts have been on Facebook. He's adding a sixth this Saturday night when he takes on Jussier Formiga in Brazil on the UFC on FX 8 card, and in an interview with MMAJunkie.com this week, he expressed his wish that things would be different for the 125 lb. field.
"We haven't been getting much love," Cariaso said. "I definitely wish they would put us on the main card. We're definitely going to put an awesome fight on."
The fight with Formiga is an important one for both given losses in their last respective fights, and with Formiga still considered a top fighter in the division, Cariaso sees this as a big opportunity despite its spot on Facebook.
"That's one of the reasons I wanted this fight," Cariaso said. "It's something that's going to get me to that belt. [Even] with that loss to Moraga, I feel like I'm right there in that hunt, and I definitely could have had a better performance. I think one or two fights, I'm in that title picture."
And he feels he can match up well with "Mighty Mouse" if he works his way to that title fight, given what Formiga's most recent opponent, John Dodson, was able to do against the Champ in January.
"Me and Dodson are very similar in the sense that we're both short, southpaw, and have good striking," Cariaso said. "I think that fight was a perfect fight to watch and learn from. I paid a lot of attention."
For now, he's concentrating on Formiga, and a fight much further away from home than the bouts he's had in Las Vegas.
"I didn't care where the fight was," he said. "I'm happy to fight down here. I've never fought in Brazil before. Obviously, fighting in Vegas is the best-case scenario because it's literally 10 minutes from my house, but if I have to come all the way down here to Brazil, I'm happy to do it."
Penick's Analysis: This Cariaso-Formiga fight is one of the better matchups on the card, but as we've seen time and again the fighters in the lower weight classes are not getting many prominent spots on cards. That certainly doesn't help them build up challengers for the public, but given Moraga's leap to a title fight it also doesn't mean fighters on Facebook are incapable of advancing. That said, moving from Facebook to main event is not the ideal path for the UFC to be pushing, and hopefully as the division gains more fighters and more respect they start getting more of a presence on TV as well.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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