USA TODAY: As UFC 162 taught us, UFC's featherweight division packs a punch

(This story appeared in today’s edition of USA TODAY.)

It’s no small thing to build a new weight class in the UFC. But if what’s going on in the 145-pound division these days proves anything, it is that patience pays off.

UFC 162 on Saturday featured two fights in the featherweight class — one between ex-lightweight champ Frankie Edgar (16-4-1 MMA, 10-4-1 UFC) and Charles Oliveira (16-4-1 MMA, UFC 4-4-1), and another between Cub Swanson (20-5 MMA, 5-1) against Germany’s Dennis Siver (21-9 MMA, 10-6 UFC). Both bouts won $50,000 “Fight of the Night” bonuses.

UFC 163 in August will be headlined by another featherweight bout, this one for the title, as champion Jose Aldo (22-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) defends his belt against “The Korean Zombie,” Chan Sung Jung (13-3 MMA, 3-0 UFC).

The debut event on Fox Sports 1 in Boston two weeks later is set for at least four featherweight bouts, including Ireland’s up-and-coming Conor McGregor (13-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC).

It all adds up to what could be a breakout summer for the division that, as recently as three years ago, was deemed not quite good enough for the likes of the UFC.

Until UFC parent company Zuffa dissolved its World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) organization in 2010, fighters lighter than 155 pounds were kept out of MMA’s big leagues, relegated instead to smaller events with smaller paychecks. But now that the featherweight class is getting a chance to grow and develop in the UFC, it’s becoming a reliable source of exciting, competitive action.

That didn’t happen by accident. After absorbing the WEC roster, the UFC also brought WEC matchmaker Sean Shelby on to handle all the new weight classes 145 pounds and lighter.

According to Shelby, it took two-and-a-half years just to get the division in a condition he was happy with, where, when original title challenger Anthony Pettis was forced out of a bout with Aldo because of an injury, the biggest problem might have been choosing between several viable options for a replacement.

“There’s a lot of great fights to make in that weight division,” UFC President Dana White said after UFC 162, citing Swanson in particular as “the exact type of guy that I love” to have in the UFC. “He’s incredibly exciting,” White said. “He’ll fight anybody, anywhere, anytime.”

At the same time, now that the featherweight class is loaded with talent — in part because adding the division to the UFC prompted some undersized lightweights to move down in weight — it’s harder than ever for fighters such as Swanson to make a case for a title shot.

That might not be what Swanson wants to hear, but it’s music to White’s ears after so much time and energy trying to build the lighter weight classes into a reliable draw.

“There’s so much talent in that division, which is a good thing,” White said when asked who might be next in line for a title shot. “It’s a good problem to have.”

For complete coverage of UFC 162, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Charles Oliveira and Frankie Edgar)