A Brief History of the UFC Flyweight Division

In the UFC, the 125-pound men's flyweight division is a tale of one man's historic dominance, as Demetrious Johnson still holds the promotion's all-time record for most successful title defenses in history. Now, with Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo fighting for divisional supremacy Saturday in Norfolk given that Johnson fights outside the UFC and title successor Henry Cejudo relinquished the belt, it's time to take a look back at how this division became one of the most compelling watches in all of mixed martial arts despite not existing at all until eight years ago.

2012: A New Division Gives Rise to Mighty Mouse

•March 3: UFC debuts the 125-pound division with two semifinal matches for inaugural tournament in Sydney, Australia. Joseph Benavidez defeats Yasuhiro Urushitani by second-round TKO and Demetrious Johnson fights to majority draw with Ian McCall.
•June 8: Johnson defeats McCall in flyweight semifinal rematch in Sunrise, Florida.
•Sept. 22: Johnson defeats Joseph Benavidez at UFC 152 in Toronto for inaugural Flyweight Championship

2013: Johnson Denies Joseph Benavidez Again

•Jan. 6: Johnson defeats John Dodson at UFC on FOX 6 in Chicago
•Jul. 27: Johnson defeats John Moraga at UFC on FOX 8 in Seattle
•Dec. 14: Johnson defeats Joseph Benavidez again at UFC on FOX 9 in Sacramento

Johnson made three title defenses this year, beating Dodson via unanimous decision, Moraga by submission, and Benavidez by knockout. What a versatile fighter this Mouse is, eh?

2014: Punishment on Pay-Per-View

•Jan. 6: Johnson defeats Ali Bagautinov at UFC 174 in Vancouver
•Jul. 27: Johnson defeats Chris Cariaso at UFC 178 in Las Vegas

Johnson wasn't challenged much in these two fights, as he dominated Bagautinov over five rounds before submitting Cariaso in the second.

2015: Dodson Falls to the Champ Again

•Apr. 25: Johnson defeats Kyoji Horiguchi at UFC 186 in Montreal
•Sept. 5: Johnson defeats John Dodson at UFC 191 in Las Vegas

Johnson submitted Horiguchi with one second left in their match, then beat Dodson for the second time via another dominating unanimous decision.

2016: Johnson vs. Cejudo, Part One

•Apr. 23: Johnson defeats Henry Cejudo at UFC 197 in Las Vegas
•Dec. 3: Johnson defeats Tim Elliott at The Ultimate Fighter Finale in Las Vegas

Johnson made light work of a future star in Cejudo, and made short work of Elliott a few months later.

2017: Same as it Ever Was

•Apr. 15: Johnson defeats Wilson Reis at UFC Fight Night Kansas City
•Oct. 7: Johnson defeats Ray Borg at UFC 218 in Las Vegas

Johnson's reign of dominance would come to an end after two easy victories over Wilson Reis and Ray Borg in 2017.

2018: A New Champion

•Aug. 4: Cejudo defeats Johnson via split decision at UFC 227 in Los Angeles, becoming the first fighter in UFC history to take the flyweight crown away from Mighty Mouse
•Oct. 27: Johnson is "traded" to Asia's ONE Championship in exchange for Ben Askren

Cejudo ended Johnson's reign of dominance, and the Mighty Mouse soon found himself in Asia, while Ben Askren embarassed himself several times over in UFC.

2019: The Cringey Reign of Triple C

•Jan 19: Cejudo defeats TJ Dillashaw at UFC Fight Night Brooklyn in first title defense
•Dec. 19: Cejudo announces he'll relinquish flyweight belt to focus on bantamweight

The division was left without a champion heading into 2020 after "Triple C" vacated his belt after just one defense.

2020: Up for Grabs

•Feb. 29: Joseph Benavidez scheduled to meet Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Fight Night Norfolk for vacant flyweight championship. Figueiredo missed weight, making only Benavidez eligible to win the belt.