Next UFC weight class to be added? Female 125-pound flyweights

MELBOURNE, Australia – So much for the men’s 115-pound strawweight division. It appears the female 125-pounders are up next.

During a Q&A session that followed Friday’s UFC 193 fighter weigh-ins – which featured a few heated face-offs with the female headliners and co-headliners – UFC President Dana White said the next division that organization will add is female flyweights.

Just don’t expect it in the immediate future.

“There’s not going to be a division for a while, but the next division when there is one will be 125,” White said when asked if the organization will ever add a female heavyweight division. “So I’ll have a 115, 125 and 135.

“But we’ve got to have a little more time to get more women involved in the sport.”

A few years ago, White said the male 115-pounders were likely next. Instead, the organization will apparently bridge the gap between its two current female divisions, 115-pound strawweights and 135-pound bantamweights.

A 125-pound division could give some current UFC fighters new options. Specifically, with current bantamweight champ/UFC 193 headliner Ronda Rousey running through contenders, some fighters in title purgatory could get new life. Miesha Tate, for example, has two title losses to Rousey and recently got stiffed on a third.

Tate has recently expressed interest in fighting at 125 pounds, and with a potential new division, she could become an instant contender in the weight class. Of course, other bantamweights could move down, some strawweights may move up, and the organization could search for outside talent, especially fighters on the Invicta FC roster (Barb Honchak is the organization’s reigning 125-pound champ).

Check out the full Q&A above (or check out a notebook of all the Q&A topics).

And for more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.