While most of the best talent is under the UFC, there are still plenty of fighters yet to be signed by the top promotions of the MMA food chain. These are not necessarily 'free agents' or even prospects, they are top 100 ranked fighters who are navigating the nebulous seas of regional and international fight promotion for whatever reason.
Let's just say that the Flyweight is still in a growing period. There are both positives and negatives in that there are still many top 50 fighters available to the top promotions, the down side being that only the UFC actively promotes the division with Bellator sitting it out and WSOF having only a few 125ers on the roster. It's as shallow, if not more shallow, than Heavyweight - yet this is a class without a true star either past or present. You could possibly argue the point that Mamoru Yamaguchi was an early star, but few know the name outside of hardcores and that isn't the definition of a star. And Demetrious Johnson hasn't really broken through with today's audience even if he is in pound-for-pound consideration. Will anyone on this list be signed by a major US promotion in the near future? I'm going to say there's a pretty good chance you will as the UFC has a lot of cards to fill and they need a bit of new blood in the division.
Flyweights (125lb)
RANK | NAME | RECORD | AGE | Last Promotion |
15 | Yuki Montoya | 13-4-0 | 25 | DEEP (Japan) |
16 | Hiromasa Ogikubo | 13-3-2 | 27 | Vale Tudo (Japan) |
21 | Adriano Moraes | 12-1-0 | 25 | ONE FC (Asia) |
22 | Yuta Nezu | 17-7-1 | 32 | Shooto (Japan) |
24 | Darren Uyenoyama | 9-5-0 | 35 | PXC (Philippines) |
26 | Pedro Nobre | 17-1-2-1 | 28 | Titan FC/Face To Face (Brazil) |
27 | Min Jong Song | 7-7-0 | 23 | Road FC (S. Korea) |
28 | Kiyotaka Shimizu | 16-9-3 | 30 | DEEP (Japan) |
30 | Nildo Nascimento | 7-1-0 | 25 | Jungle Fight (Brazil) |
31 | Giovanni da Silva Santos | 15-1-0 | 27 | Coliseu Extreme (Brazil) |
33 | Czar Sklavos | 10-4-0 | 32 | Front Street |
35 | Alan Nascimento | 14-2-0 | 23 | XFC (Brazil) |
36 | Alexandre Pantoja | 15-2-0 | 24 | RFA |
37 | Shaj Haque | 6-1-0 | ? | Cage Warriors (UK) |
38 | Pietro Menga | 12-0-0 | ? | BAMMA (UK) |
39 | Tatsumitsu Wada | 12-8-2 | 26 | DEEP (Japan) |
41 | Iliarde Santos | 28-9-1 | 34 | Titan FC |
42 | Larry DiGiulio | 15-6-1 | 27 | Hoosier FC |
43 | Damacio Page | 19-9-0 | 32 | Legacy FC |
44 | Andrew Leone | 7-2-0 | ? | ONE FC (Asia) |
45 | Alvin Cacdac | 15-10-0 | ? | Road FC (S. Korea) |
47 | Nam Jin Jo | 9-6-0 | 23 | Road FC (S. Korea) |
48 | Hayato Suzuki | 11-0-2 | 28 | Grandslam (Japan) |
49 | Nick Honstein | 16-9-0 | 27 | Titan FC |
50 | Marcel Adur | 8-3-0 | 23 | Fight Time |
Big 3 in Comparison
Promotion | # Top 100 fighters | Champ |
UFC | 29 | Demetrious Johnson |
DEEP | 6 | Tatsumitsu Wada |
Pacific Xtreme Combat | 5 | Alvin Cacdac |
*All Rankings taken from Fight Matrix at time of writing. Promotions without a country listed next to it are considered US based.