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What's the story?
TJ Dillashaw was interviewed by ESPN's Ariel Helwani on his MMA Show on Monday. During the interview, he revealed that UFC had a specific mission in mind for him, and was prepared to pay an immense amount of money to see that it was done properly.
In case you didn't know...
Last week was an immense one for UFC, not only because of a brilliant UFC 230 and the 25th-anniversary show at UFC Fight Night 139: Denver, but also because of the possibility of them shutting down an entire division.
UFC's Flyweight Division has not been the most successful in the history of the company, with fans not that interested in fights of the division, with the exemption of those including 'Mighty Mouse' Demetrious Johnson.
However, Johnson was traded to One Championship, while UFC signed Ben Askren in return leaving a huge gap in their Flyweight division. Since then they have released fighters from the division, some of whom have claimed that the UFC is shutting the division down, firing some fighters and offering the others the option to bump up to a higher weight class.
The heart of the matter
Now, TJ Dillashaw has stepped forward to claim that the company are paying him an immense amount of money to finish the division.
"They’re paying me a (expletive) load of money to move down and kill the 125-pound division and collect a second belt. So, it’s game time." (H/T Forbes.com)
Dillashaw will face Henry Cejudo, the UFC Flyweight Champion at UFC 233. Dillashaw is the current UFC Bantamweight Champion, and if he is able to win the second championship, he will become the third ever UFC fighter to hold two belts simultaneously after Conor McGregor and Daniel Cormier.
If what Dillashaw says is correct, then UFC is hoping he wins his fight against Cejudo, so they can shut down the Flyweight Division once and for all.
What's next?
TJ Dillashaw is set to face Henry Cejudo for the Flyweight Championship on the 26th of January at UFC 233. The outcome of the fight might have a huge impact on the future (demise?) of the Flyweight Division.
Do you think Dillashaw will be successful in winning the UFC Flyweight Belt?
