Bellator MMA is gearing up for an announcement that’ll shake up the promotion. MMA Junkie’s Nolan King broke the news yesterday afternoon that the promotion is planning on announcing a new weight class in the coming days.
Per King, the promotion will introduce the men’s flyweight division. The man expected to be the initial face of the division is former Bellator champion Kyoji Horiguchi (31-5). Flyweight is Horiguchi’s natural weight class, but for all of his fights in Bellator, he fought at bantamweight.
The writing was on the wall for this division in the past couple of months. At Bellator 295, Horiguchi was supposed to take on former UFC title challenger Ray Borg at 125 pounds. The day of the weigh-ins, Borg pulled out of the fight not being able to make the weight. However, with this booking having happened in the first place, you could tell flyweight was inevitable.
Bellator Announcing Flyweight Division Soon
Over the next few days, perhaps even today, you should see an official announcement from Bellator. The general thought is that they’ll announce the division and along with the division, you’ll likely see a title fight booked featuring Horiguchi and another flyweight to be determined.
I could see them moving to make a Grand Prix happen at some point as they look to expand and promote the new division. I wouldn’t be shocked at all to see one announce or even start by the end of this year. A name to watch for this new division is Sergio Pettis (22-5).
Pettis is the current bantamweight champion and is set to defend his title next month against Patricio Pitbull. Like Horiguchi, Pettis is more of a natural flyweight and that’s where he competed in the UFC. If he loses to Patricio Pitbull, I could see him moving down to flyweight right away.
However, if he wins, he’ll fight Patchy Mix after that. Win or lose, I see flyweight in Pettis’ future. Exciting times for Bellator.